Kriss Bickel wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I've lost my notes on straightening the steering wheel on MGB's and can't
> find the info anywhere's in the manual. Can anyone send me the specifics?
>
> Kriss
I've seen the posts recommending yanking the steering wheel and moving
it over a spline. It sounds like there is a lot of people more in tune
with their cars than I. I've never had much luck popping the steering
wheel off without the use of a puller and colorful language. Once it
pops off I never could figure out which spline it started on. And then
there is messing up the horn-thingy to worry about.
So, I've always fiddled with the tie rod adjustments. The steering rack
ends with two rods that ares threaded into the tie rod ends. There is a
jam nut on at the tie rod end to keep things tight. If you loosen the
jam nut and then loosen the hose clamp on your rubber gaiters, the tie
rod will rotate into or out of the tie rod end. You'll need a spanner
for the tie rod end and a pipe wrench to hold or rotate the tie rod.
What I've done is drive the car to see which what the wheel is pointing
and then adjust the tie rods to steer the car that way. That is, if the
steering wheel is pointing off to the left then you adjust the left tire
out and the right tire in in equal amounts.
Start off by turning the tie rods one full revolution then cinching up
the jam nut and going for a quick ride to see where the wheel is now.
Then adjust back a skosh or maybe a few R/B-CHs until the wheel is
straight. Again, the idea is to make the tires point the same way as the
steering wheel. The tie rods ends are screwed in over 20 revoultions so
a turn or so doesn't matter. As long as you adjust both tie rods equal
but opposite, this doesn't effect your toe in.
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT (broken), '75TR6 (currently get new tie
rod ends)
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