jthod
Mr. Goodwrench
So, since I've had this car for about a year, it's always had a little loose steering linkage. I figured it was a intermediate shaft, so I grabbed one from the junkyard a while back, but all I've gotten around to doing was check the pinch bolt at the rack. I did tighten it up a bit, and it helped a bit. I'm kind of skeptical to put this one in, because I don't know how 'good' it is.
About a week later I felt this wierd shift in the wheel while going through a long sweeping left curve on the highway. Then, turning back to the right on a similar turn right after, it made the same shift the other way.
I had it in the shop today, I watched the intermediate shaft while turning the wheel. I foun it was moving on the shaft. Unlike most of the steering wheels I've dealt with, this was not splined. The shaft was round, with a flat spot on four sides, and the wheel's hole was flat on two sides. I was able to watch the wheel turn on the shaft about 2-5 degrees. Not good.
The wheel pulled right off. The shaft and wheel both looked good, I reinstalled and torqued the bolt to see if it held, but it didn't.
Solution (kinda), I took two 1" fine finish nails, and cut them to about 3/8", and ground them flat. I then drove then into the two spaces created by the two 'unused' flat sections on the shaft. I torqued the bolt down, and it can no longer turn.
Anyone heard of this problem?
Engineering at it's best....
About a week later I felt this wierd shift in the wheel while going through a long sweeping left curve on the highway. Then, turning back to the right on a similar turn right after, it made the same shift the other way.
I had it in the shop today, I watched the intermediate shaft while turning the wheel. I foun it was moving on the shaft. Unlike most of the steering wheels I've dealt with, this was not splined. The shaft was round, with a flat spot on four sides, and the wheel's hole was flat on two sides. I was able to watch the wheel turn on the shaft about 2-5 degrees. Not good.
The wheel pulled right off. The shaft and wheel both looked good, I reinstalled and torqued the bolt to see if it held, but it didn't.
Solution (kinda), I took two 1" fine finish nails, and cut them to about 3/8", and ground them flat. I then drove then into the two spaces created by the two 'unused' flat sections on the shaft. I torqued the bolt down, and it can no longer turn.
Anyone heard of this problem?
Engineering at it's best....
I just got this funny image of looking under someones dash to see those breakaway cabinetry spacers...
