This is just a theory at this point, but might be worth some consideration.
The peg that rides in the worm inside the steering box is conical, but the
sides are fairly steep, and with proper adjustment both sides touch the worm
at the same time. Due to the "bell crank" configuration, there is
considerable side force on the rocker shaft when you turn the wheels. I'm
thinking that when the bushing is a bit worn (as any original bushing is
bound to be by now), it allows the rocker shaft to cock fore or aft, and the
resulting angle causes the peg to bind in the worm. This might explain why
the worm in my TR3A had so much damage to the top edge of the groove, but
the peg didn't seem to touch the damaged sections after the rebuild.
If so, this wouldn't show up while moving the linkage with the wheels off
the ground (or disconnected), but could add considerably to the force
required to turn the wheels. It would also get worse when you try to adjust
the peg per the book.
This could explain why my current TR3 steers harder than the previous TR3A,
even though everything but the steering box was moved over from the other
car. (The 3A had the split column and I decided against converting.) The
TR3 box felt good on the bench, so I didn't rebuild it (but I plan to soon).
Another thing to consider : The idler arm bracket mounting holes are a fair
bit oversize, to allow alignment with the steering box. If you just let it
droop while you tighten the bolts, you may wind up with the silentbloc
replacements in a bind. Likely this isn't very significant with the
original rubber joints, but probably is more of an issue with the harder
joints. I can definitely tell that my brass/SS replacements turn stiffer if
I let the idler droop.
Are you sure the right trunnions were installed? If you don't look closely,
it can be hard to notice the difference between the 3 degree trunnions and
the 0 degree ones. Your friend wouldn't be the first to have gotten the
wrong ones (or not realize that someone has replaced the upper A-arms with
the 3 degree versions).
Obviously, I assume everything has been properly lubricated, including the
felt bushing behind the steering wheel. I believe that using a good
synthetic GL5 gear oil in the steering box helps, but I can't really prove
it. Next time I may actually try one of the Redline gear oils, as they are
apparently even slipperier than standard synthetic.
-- Randall
triumphs@autox.team.net
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