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steering vibration

To: british-cars@Alliant.COM
Subject: steering vibration
From: mit-eddie!mozart.AMD.COM!zahid@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Zahid Ahsanullah)
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 90 15:15:39 CDT
>I have had a nagging problem for quite a while with my 74 MGB involving a
>vibration in the "steering wheel" (ie: All I really know is that the steering
>wheel vibrates pretty hard under various conditions.)  I recently put brandy
>new chrome wire wheels and new rubber on the car which eliminated probably 70% 
>of the problem.  There is now very little shake up to 50 MPH or so.  At this 
>point the wheel begins to shake as I increase the speed.  When I reach a 
>steady 
>speed the shake almost totally quits after maybe 5 seconds or so.  Changing
>speed seems to bring the shake back on and it takes another 5 seconds for the
>shake to quit.  It seems like the car has a mind of its own.  Which, of course,
>it does.  My next stop is going to be the U-joints since it seems the shake
>occurs under load.  Any other ideas or thoughts?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Mark Rosneck
>(503) 626-1340
>Mentor Graphics Corp., 8500 SW Creekside Place, Beaverton OR 97005
>...!{sequent,tessi,apollo}!mntgfx!mrosneck   OR   mrosneck.MENTOR.COM
>

Seems to me you need to rebuild the front end. However some of the
following may also be the cause.

1) New tires show this symptom sometimes for a few weeks.
2) Backlash in the steering if it is a rack and pinion kind.
   There is a backlash adjustment for the steering where you
   put in metal washers to reduce the backlash. I did this
   on my Spitfire once long ago and the shakes never returned.
   Do this only if the steering has a lot of play. Please be
   warned not to take up all the play by this adjustment.
3) Rebuild the trunnion. A great many times this fixes the problem
   completely and its cheap and easy to do.
4) Check the rack assembly of the steering for firmness. Sometimes
   the nyloc bolts on the U-bolts holding the rack comes loose
   causing steering play.
5) Balance the front tires.


Somehow the U-joint does not seem to me to be causing this problem
but then you are the one driving it.

                                good luck
                                Zahid





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