pete mk3 spit Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Good evening all. I have just fitted a reconditioned steering rack to my Vitesse but it only has 3.5 turns lock to lock. I am sure it is a vitesse rack as it has the pinion with only 6 teeth rather then the 7 on a herald ( im sure it is that way round)I centred the rack by turning it from lock to lock and then back by half but the car still has nearly a whole turn more left lock, seems ive got myself in a bit of a muddle so could anyone point out if i have done something wrong or is the rack at fault? any help would be much appreciated , Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkuser Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Does your rack have a drilling in it to check centrallising like the Spit has?Removing the grease nipple and inserting a wire to feel for the drilling will check that the rack is centrallised. Then check the wheel alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 3 1/2 (or more correctly 3 3/4) turns lock to lock is a Herald/Spitfire rack. Six cylinder cars (GT6/Vitesse) had a 4 1/4 turn lock to lock rack from new. Unfortunately as I found out recently a lot of suppliers don't differentiate between the the two (we do!) so you could be sold either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Vit rack has two grooves machined around the input shaft splinesloads of suppliers sell anything so long as its Blackcanleys were the only trader that understood the difference, but now youve got the wrong one you might forfit the surcharge as whats handed in is not lilke for likehaving been down this route i prefer the low ratio rack , some like the high ratio but you may need two shredded wheat for manuovering especially if a smaller hand heel is used....peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve AKA vitessesteve Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 The quicker rack does make the steering heavier when parking but once you get going you will not notice the extra effort. I have a quick rack on my Vitesse bought back in the John Kipping era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete mk3 spit Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 Thanks for all the advice everybody still a little bit unsure as the turns lock to lock sugest it is a herald rack, while as mentioned above the input shaft has 2 grooves in it as per a vitesse. I am sure i have read that the only difference between the herald and vitesse racks are that the vitesse has one less tooth on input shaft that connects to the steering column and have checked that i only have six teeth on mine while the herald rack that came out of the car has seven teeth on this part. This was apparently to give the steering a lower gearing to help with the weight of the six cylinder engine. Would anybody be able to confirm whether this is the case?And to pick up on the point made by junkuser have already looked for the centralising hole and it doesnt have it, of course the knackered herald rack that came out does, the one on my stepdads project vitesse does and so does the strangely bent rack i have that came out of a gt6 ::) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 The Vit/GT6 rack should definately be lower geared than the Hearald/Spit, I changed mine when I got the car due to loads of slop only to find it was the UJ hidden under the engine mount that was mullerd. I'm sure I was sold a Herald rack - the supplier claimed they are all the same nowadays.So now I've got heavier steering than before and am out of pocket as the old rack was probably fine!You live and learn. :BGlen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 so its as said , deep pockets or two shreaded wheat having been sold theres only one rack , changed it for the 6 tooth and now taken off the smaller Mountney and reveted to the original dia. Motolita I can steer anywhere on one shreaded wheatand my arms are'nt hunched up fighting that little wheel,, I may get a fuzzy cover as the rims a bit thin ,,, sad really Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete mk3 spit Posted June 24, 2007 Author Share Posted June 24, 2007 I must admit i found the vitesse a bit of a handful with a herald rack especially on twisty lanes . Sounds like a lot of people have had a similar problem, maybe steering racks for the gt6 and vitesse are made by the mg mafia having a laugh at our expense ;DAlthough my car runs quite well ive just found out its got very low compression on cylinders 2 and 3 so at least the engine isnt going to be in the way taking the rack out again as i took it out today. how lucky is that, sort of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbinnington Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 lily livered wassocks!!!the best rack to have is the spit/herald quick rack, even on the sixes. I have tried both and went out of my way to make sure i had a quick rack.turns steering at speed into a thought process rather than a physical movement, manouvering = turn the steering wheel while the car is movingj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Hmm, J dont think you are quite right, wassocks dont by triumphs to start with. and most havent got lily's liver either.at the end of the day its a matter of preferance and big wheel, small wheel ,fast rack ,slow rack surely needs the same amount of thought process .or does it only apply to those with 7 teeth ??? happy motoring ,,, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete mk3 spit Posted July 1, 2007 Author Share Posted July 1, 2007 well as so many were so kind as to give me advice, i thought i would let you know what was wrong with my rack. I stripped it today along with my bent gt6 one with the workshop manual as reference,Turns out that someone had put a 2 inch or so spacer on the actual rack that stopped it going the full distance thus cutting out about 3/4 of a steering wheel turn ??). when this was got rid of and the rack centred everything was as it should be with 4 1/4 turns lock to lock. Havent a clue why that was done but im happy now ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 Intersting. could this have been one of the approved ways of stoping the use of full lock? I want to do something on my spit like that, ideally without stripping the rack though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotoflex Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Is the Spitfire rack a direct replacement for the GT6 rack, or are modifications needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 the racks are all interchangeable its the the ratio between the pinion and rack teeth inside that varies 4 pots have 7 theeth and 6 pots have 6 teeth hence the difference in lock to lock turns,, the ratio and steering load is down to personal preferance theres lots of notes on all the club boards about this. peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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