lower steering column joint

[ferny]

I replaced mine about 4k miles ago, maybe a tiny bit more. It was a brand new one, old style (with rubber). I'm pretty certain it's, erm, shagged... Does that seem a bit of a short life? It's not even covered is shite yet. I'll be replacing it with an all-metal version. I won't know for certain if it's gone until I take it out - it certainly looks and feel dead - and I won't be taking it out until I get the new one ready for the MOT next month.



Blown gaskets (heard noises to suggest I may have blown another, will keep an ear on it), knackered steering joints. Maybe I really do thrash the car.  :B
Still, I'm getting 30mpg now, so it can't be too bad. ;)

[Clive]

I think the new ones are a bit pants TBH. Fit one of Bills uprated/solid ones, job done! Or I have fitted polybushes to pne on the vitesse, but its a real faff and you have to start with one of the early wired joints etc. Nor worth the hassle.

[ferny]

I didn't really want to say where I was going to get it from, just in case... ;)

;D

[Clive]

I think the new ones are a bit pants TBH. Fit one of Bills uprated/solid ones, job done! Or I have fitted polybushes to pne on the vitesse, but its a real faff and you have to start with one of the early wired joints etc. Nor worth the hassle.

[ferny]

Echo echo echo....

Mother? Are the birds talking?

[Deleted User]

I think the board's playing up again - a couple of threads went missing here in Wiltshire this morning!

[ferny]

Time to practice your knitting?

*boom boom tssssh*




I really should go back to fixing the car. Soldering iron should have warmed by now.

[Freebird]

I fitted one of those solid ones a year or so ago. It's a small UJ with spines front and back to go onto the rack and the column.

I had a hell of a job getting then to tighten sufficiently at both splines, the body seems to be far too stiff to "give" enough and the poor access to the column joint under the chassis box section made it doubly difficult. Mine came from ebay, perhaps others are different.

Anyone else suffered the same?

Glen.

[heraldcoupe]

Freebird wrote:

I had a hell of a job getting then to tighten sufficiently at both splines, the body seems to be far too stiff to "give" enough and the poor access to the column joint under the chassis box section made it doubly difficult. Mine came from ebay, perhaps others are different.

The ones regularly sold on ebay are very heavy forged parts, these are the Triumph 2000 type. The better (IMHO) parts are pressed, they tighten quite nicely with the regular pinchbolt.
In all honesty I can't see any problem with the forged parts, they should be no more difficult to tighten than the original rubber disc type, itself a cast component. I have handled them on occasions when my preferred coupling has been unavailable. Perhaps the one you received was flawed in some way?
The pressed coupling is preferred because it is slimmer, so there is greater clearance within the suspension turret. Some people have encountered difficulty in fitting 6-3-1 manifolds, the steering rack being shifted slightly to create space beteeen the manifold and the column. In these cases the forged coupling often fouls the turret. The Pressed coupling should fit all applications,
Cheers,
Bill.