Steering Rack Leak can it be fixed ?

[Shayne]

AA said my all inclusive cover does not cover home breakdown but they can add it to my policy for an additional 100 something quid . It took ADAC half as long to apologise because it will take 90 minutes to arrange recovery to a garage via the AA

 

[Shayne]

Waste of time I have sent this letter of complaint to the AA instead .

I called the AA today for the first time believing i held comprehensive cover for breakdown and repair costs and your representative informed me that i have been miss-sold cover by the AA and unless i upgraded my membership at a cost to me of around £100 the AA would not assist .


Instead i called ADAC with whom i am also a member . ADAC response was swift as they felt steering problems presented a danger and so they would have my vehicle recovered to a garage . Unfortunately ADAC obviously requested AA assistance with this and as a result an AA van arrived half hour late and the driver stated my vehicle should not be driven with a steering rack leaking so badly , then offered to follow me while i drove the car to a garage .


I sent your driver on his way accepting all i had purchased from the AA was a reason to waste money on phone calls and i will be happy to accept a full no quibble refund forthwith of all monies paid by myself to the AA for a service they do not provide .


I will allow 7 days to pass before directing this complaint to the financial ombudsman .

 

[Sag]

Can't believe they said that,I've phoned them over alsorts and never been told no,hope you get this sorted Shayne as that's bang out of order,I will be shocked if they don't offer the extra free of charge.keep us posted hope it's sorted soon.

 

[Shayne]

What extra ? i have paid for it all already the only thing i didn't accept was european cover for which they wanted about 400 quid a year and they would not accept i only needed it for a fortnight .

 

[Sag]

Il have a look what mine says Shayne and let you know buddy so at least you've got more ammunition and say no your definitely wrong as I know someone who has this cover and has claimed for similar things,il let you know when I get back at teatime if that's ok.

 

[Shayne]

I wouldn't worry about it Sag , i'm not .

I think i paid about £250 though i haven't checked but i do remember likening it to the cost of a new starter motor when i'm in a motorway service station 300 miles from home somewhere in the "who is doing what maintenance today" thread .

It was family cover for both cars , repair , breakdown , travel , accommodation the works . I didn't think i needed it as we both drive a cruisers but i justified it because i am often away from home and a single repair might make it worth having .

I am just glad i found out now the AA is not worth a carrot instead of wasting a few hours at the side of a motorway before arranging my own recovery .

 

[Shayne]

It looks a simple enough job and as i've already added atf to cure one leak i am going to order a new rack and have a go at fitting it myself , the only question i can think of is will gravity be enough to flush the atf contaminated fluid out with new fluid if i pour a bottle through when the racks removed ?

 

[Shayne]

Bollox its not raining much for a change but i can't go anywhere because a new rack is being delivered today so i just went to put the spare on Helen's truck because she has a puncture and the spare is flat too

I am tempted to just say sod it and take them both to a garage .

 

[Shayne]

I'm grounded now

 

[Shayne]

Do i need to take it to a garage for tracking or will it be ok if i just use a string to line up with the rear wheels ?

 

[Chris]

SHAYNE! Is that a hammer I see there?

What HAVE you been doing?

 

[Shayne]

Split pin or i would have used my big hammer

 

[Chris]

OK fair enough. I thought you might have been 'adjusting' something delicate

 

[Shayne]

No adjustment required , i hope i'm not tempting fate because i haven't driven it yet but it was surprisingly easy .

 

[Jimmyarm]

Get the 'tracking' checked, tyres are expensive !

I say 'tracking' because it needs to be done on a four wheel alignment gauge and not just a check of the toe in/out of the front wheels.

You would be amazed at the difference spending £50 ish can make to how a vehicle drives when it is set up properly, with decent equipment and by somebody that knows what they are doing !

 

[Sag]

Got to agree with jimmyarm on that Shayne I had mine done straight after fitting my new tyres and the difference was amazing.

 

[Shayne]

Thanks Jimmy i get what your saying but i don't think the rear on these trucks can be altered ? I can't imagine why a new steering rack would upset anything other than straight line track but i thought i would ask in case i'm missing something ?

Last time i reset them with string the garage later said they were well in spec and didn't charge me .

 

[Jimmyarm]

It's a lot more complicated than most people think !

You can get it fairly close with the string method but I wouldnot trust it completely.

The bushes in the rack are new so it's position may have altered slighty, the steering arms and track rod ends are either new and you have measured them as best you can to match the old ones or you have refitted the old ones and done them up slightly tighter or looser etc.

I fitted new lower arms to a disco three a while back, usual bush issues. it drove fine before apart from the bush issue. It was almost undriveable afterwards !

The trick is, to find a place that can do it properly. Most fast fit centred etc don't do a proper 4 wheel alignment. Even if the rears aren't adjustable you still need to baseline the wheels so they are are pointing dead straight ahead before adjusting anything.

 

[Shayne]

New inner track rods they came already fitted in the rack , i reused the outer and all the rack bushes are new . I will see how it drives i suppose most shops won't accept my truck because its slightly modified .

 

[Beau]

I think in a case where Shayne's just replaced the rack, all that will need adjusting would be the Toe in/out, which is fairly easy to do with a string...

Sometimes places can mess up the 4 wheel alignment if your rear axle isn't perfectly straight.