Steering Column angle adjustment

[Rubce]

Hi All

Do any of you know a way of adjusting the angle of the steering wheel and column upwards in a GT6 Mark 3? The reason I ask is that I have recently fitted new seat foams and now the wife is struggling to drive it as her legs are pressing up against the steering wheel.

Instead of taking the foam back out and cutting some material off its underside to lower the seat cushion I am hoping that perhaps I can raise the steering wheel.

Thanks

Bruce

[don cook1]

I fitted a smaller, leather rimmed, Mountney steering wheel. More room and softer feel.

[Nick Moore]

You can't raise (by which I mean lift up) the steering column, as it's bolted to the dashboard frame. You can pull it towards you, which will give a little more clearance for your legs.

The inner steering column is actually in two parts, held together by a clamp down near the pedals - see the photo below. Triumph's theory is that if you crash, the upper and lower columns telescope together and you don't get impaled.

To adjust the column, loosen the two small bolts on the clamp, which will allow you to pull the steering wheel further away from the dashboard. Then retighten it. (Don't fiddle with the centre bolt, as that calibrates how much force is needed to slip the columns in an accident). The outer column, with headlight and indicator stalks, won't move out, so you'll have to loosen the bolts behind the dash that hold it to the dash frame so that it slides out as well.

Hope all that helps!

[Docman]

Don't fiddle with the center hex screw / lock nut unless the steering collumn is sliding fore and aft (as mine was).
I bought a 13 inch steering wheel, which helps.
I think if you slide the wheel closer to you, it will create a gap behind the steering wheel hub and the collumn.  It should steer OK, it just won't look right.

[drofgum]

Docman,
If you loosen the clamps on the outer column as well as the impactoscopic  clamp you can slide the whole assembly away from (or toward) the dash. If only the inner column is moved out from the dash; the horn won't work if you move the column much.
                                                                        Cheers,
                                                                        Paul

[Docman]

I may have prespoke a little, I have't quite gotten to settting my steering up.  I'm planning on putting my steering collumn / new sterring wheel / horn brush tomorrow.  My car is a recent purchase, and I'm just starting, getting it sorted.

I had to replace my ignition switch which meant pulling the steering collumn.  In doing so I discovered the cause of my (nearly an inch) fore-aft steering wheel play, the inner shaft was sliding within the outer shaft.  Reassembly should provide a working ignition, better steering control, a working horn (it was missing from the PO), plus I look foward to some additional clearance with ingress / egress.

In trial fitting the new horn brush to the new wheel, the factory collumn settings provided an ideal driving position (for me) with having the steering wheel set fully back.  This also seemed to provide good contact on both ends of the horn brush (the new wheel must be the same hub thickness as the factory wheel).

I think if Bruce wants to pull the wheel back as Nick recommended, buying a longer horn brush may allow his horn to still function.

[Nick Moore]

If you also pull the outer column further out, complete with headlight and indicator stalks, the horn will still work without any mods. You can see the top and bottom clamps below - I haven't gotten around to painting the lower column-to-dash clamp yet. The top clamp is shown in the second shot. It's adjustable by loosening the two allen-head bolts, which I have handily left rust-coloured for easy identification.

We should add that the horn switches on small-chassis Triumphs can be tricky to get working sometimes, and DPOs often resort to dash-mounted buttons out of frustration. The switches work by creating a connection between the live 'slip ring' behind the steering wheel, through the sliding contact and to the column - which should be earthed to the chassis. Thing is, the column, despite being bolted to the car via the dash frame and steering rack, often isn't earthed at all! It's insulated from the dash frame by nylon bushes in the column, and from the rack by a link with rubber bushes (to prevent vibration). That lower connector should have a small wire connecting its two halves, but the wire tends to get broken and is hard to see, let alone replace.

Hope this helps more than confuses!

[Docman]

Nick - You describe a lower connector having a wire between the two halves - are you referencing the steering rack to steering collumn coupling knuckle?  If the collumn is insulated from the earthed rack at this location (and the horn can't function without the inner shaft earthed), are you stating that a wire must go from the both pieces of this coupling?  If so, I guess I'm not ready to put my steering collumn back in, quite yet.
I've been told that this coupling commonly wears out and that replacement sharpens up the steering feel.  I don't notice any play at this coupling with my car on stands, wheels off, but maybe wear isn't evident until driving.
I posted an ealier thread about steering vagueness, but have since identified the "H" bracket missing, and loose inner to outer shaft clamp as contributors.

I've taken a cursory look for the rack to collumn connection, and not really seen it.  Seems to be hidden by a frame member.  Have you replaced this coupling?  What is the procedure?
This seems like an appropriate time to do the job.

I bought my car with the horns missing from their underhood brackets, there was no horn brush and the horn button / ring pad was epoxied on because it was also missing spring connectors.  I've got all new components, I want horns functioning properly.

[GT6 M]

Yes the wire bridges the uni joint,
its cos the uni loint has / is separated by rubber bits,  hence the earth wire to make a contact bween the 2, follow,!!!

[Nick Moore]

Yep, as Marcus says, the wire connects the two side of the linkage to each other. The rubber cup-shaped washers are supposed to reduce vibrations from the suspension to the steering wheel, and eventually get soft from heat, oil and age. And as you've observed, they're pretty much hidden in the suspension turret and a right pain to change!

A good upgrade is to fit a universal joint instead. It's unlikely that you will notice any more vibration, and being metal-to-metal it eliminates the need for a bridging wire. Bill from Rarebits sells them.