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MG MGB Technical - Steering column/rack alignment

I have the rack and steering column out of my 71 roadster to renovate. The manual says it is important to align these when replacing and gives what looks like a complicated way of doing this. Is there an easier/simpler way of aligning these?
Thanks Trev
Trevor Harvey

Hello Trev.

I will be doing this soon.
I did look at a video on Youtube from University Motors on how to align, this simple method involves just turning the steering wheel back and forth whilst somebody adds washers/spacers to the rack and tighten down, if the steering wheel started binding then another spacer was added,
This is only a quick description ... if you go on Youtube.com and enter "University Motors Steering" I'm sure it will take you to that video

Dave
dave bignell

A lot of hints here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIenGzrU02M&feature=related
Regards Steven
Steven Koster

I'd never do it that way, for a start the washers are way thicker than the shims that were used, and even then I'm pretty sure that the steering wheel would only bind when the alignment was *way way* out (which is presumably why washers as thick as that seem to work). Another way people have said is to slacken the bolts and measure the gap that opens up between the rack and cross-member mounts and fit shims to fill the gaps. OK in outer space maybe, but on Earth gravity will be pulling the rack down. Since even slight misalignment will cause raid wear of the UJ and pinion bearing, and can cause fracture, I think you really need to go for the correct method using pointers on the end of each shaft.

Moss US sells alignment gauges, I've never seen any in the UK, Simon Jansen made some here http://www.asciimation.co.nz/pics/page8.html but there are some question marks over both Moss and Simons dimensions - at least when comparing them with my CB roadster and RB V8 UJs. I've done it by carefully measuring the distance on the UJ between the clamp bolt and the centre of the spider, then wrapping stiff wire round each shaft with the end of each the measured distance from the groove in the shaft for the clamp bolt. Rotate each shaft and tweak the tip of the wire so it rotates at a single point in space and doesn't wobble, maintaining the distance from the tip to the groove, then the two wire tips should just meet, shim the rack mounts to suit. Others have recommended Blu-Tak or similar used the same way.
P Hunt

This thread was discussed on 20/01/2010

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