[Tigers] Steering rack gaiters

[Tom Hall]

At 03:38 AM 1/23/2008, you wrote:
>No the radiator (original size) is still in.  Does't look like this is
>going to be as easy as I hoped.  Oh well... Its time I flushed the
>coolant anyhow.

There's a point to be made here.  When working on a Tiger you will 
often you will find that things that are not normally related, are 
related to make the job faster and easier.  The steering column is 
one of those "related" things.  Many jobs are simply much easier when 
the column is pulled back or removed.  You don't normally think of 
this but the removal of the column is a relatively quick 
operation.  In your case, the removal of the radiator and hoses will 
make the installation of the boots (gaiters) much easier. This is 
especially true with your right hand drive Tiger. But, you still have 
to get the cup of oil back into the rack.  The rod end or ends are 
already loose (it's always recommended to change both boots at the 
time of repair).  So the only things preventing you from removing the 
rack are the 4 mounting bolts and the bottom U-joint bolt.  You have 
to be careful with the bottom U-joint because there is no flat for 
alignment as there is at the top U-joint.  Cleaning the Rack Pinion 
enough to make a lasting mark to align the slot before you separate 
the components will make this easier.  You will find that with the 
column pulled back and the rack removed that the installation of the 
boots will be much much quicker and easier.  I use a cup with a 
tapered tube that fits the "open" hole in the casting for horizontal 
filling, but standing it on-end with the pinion side up will also 
work quite well.  I also recommend the use of a hose tool to help 
stretch the boots and hoses into position.  If you don't have one in 
your toolbox, you should.  It's a screwdriver handle with a round 
tapered blade shaped like a bent number seven.  Let me know when 
you're stateside again.


Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
www.tigerengineering.net