Should my steering wheel be like this?

[retro]

To me, my steering wheel appears to be in a very odd position.  Firstly, it appears very low, and I have problems getting my leg under it!  Once I am in, it feels as if the seat is too far to the left, as I have to bend my leg round to use the clutch pedal (I have been told this last point might be normal, though!).




Me attempting to get in!


Me sitting in the driver's seat - somewhat uncomfortably!

Is this right?  Should the wheel really be so low that I have to squeeze under it?  How can I rectify this if not?

[Nick Jones]

This is more or less normal.  Heralds (and many of their relatives) have a slightly odd seating position.  The offset pedals are particularly notorious.

You do have some adjustment possibilites though:

The steering column is adjustable for reach (albeit fairly limited and needing spanners to acheive).  In your photo it looks as though yours is as close to the dash as possible (and thus as low as possible).  If you adjust it up towards the driver this will also raise it helping one of your objections.

There are also some seat height adjustments (spanners again), which involve using different holes in the frame as the pivot point.  You may be able to lower the front of the seat a little, again giving a little more room.

However, if like me, you are tall (I'm 6'3") you may find you simply have too much leg to fold into the available space and the only cure I've found is a smaller steering wheel.  Don't worry, once you've solved the basic fit problem you'll soon get used to the offset pedals.  Even now that that I drive the Herald or Vitesse less often (and various other vehicles in between times) I find that I make the transition automatically and don't even notice the pedal position.

Nick

[heraldcoupe]

The steering column is adjustable, the inner column has two telescoping sections. If you check below the end of the outer column, you will find a clamp which fixes the two sections together. Loosen the the two 7/16" head bolts a little (don't touch the central fixing), then pull the steering wheel away from the dashboard. As well as adjusting the distance from the dash, it will rise above your leg position as it moves, basic geometry. Once you find the ideal position, you will need to loosen the outer coloumn clamps and move that to the same relative position. Best to do this with the battery disconnected as the horn ring will be live and can make contact with the inner column as it's moved.
The other adjustment available is the front seat pivot. There are two sets of holes on both seat frame and slider assembly. By mixing and matching you can adjust the height of the seat's front edge, the rear of the seat is adjusted by rotating the rubber blocks to different positions.
How much you can achieve with the adjustment will depend on your height, I'm 5'10" and I sit pretty comfortably in a Herald, with the wheel set around mid-travel.
Cheers,
Bill.

[Deleted User]

Bill,
What you say is basically correct, but I must disagree about "only" loosening the two 7/16" head bolts and not touching the central fixing - this is the WRONG method, and could potentially compromise safety.

The factory manual is very specific about torquing up this coupling.  the two 7/16" head bolts MUST be torqued first, followed by the central one.  If the outer two are loosened after the central one is torqued, then the load created by torquing the central one (to a higher torque than the outer ones) is lost completely, which could lead to excessive movement in the joint.

The Spitfire manual says the following - I don't have a Herald manual, but I assume it is very similar.

Quote
4. Offer up clamp halves to steering mast ensuring the straight member sits across the flat on the steering mast.
5. Engage bolts complete with spring washers.
6. Slide the clamp rearwards until it is against the steering mast housing. Ensure plastic thrust washer is located between clamp bracket and mast housing.
7. Tighten clamp bolts to 6 to 9 lbf ft (0.8 to 1.2 kgf m)
8. Tighten grubscrew to 18 to 20 lbf ft (2.5 to 2.8 kgf m)
9. Tighten locknut.
Unquote

If you undo the clamp, you MUST undo the grubscrew. When you refit the clamp, you MUST tighten the clamp BEFORE tightening the grubscrew to the correct torque. If you remove the clamp, and then just refit it then the torque loading on the grubscrew will be totally inadequate and could result in poor steering control

[retro]

Thanks for the replies guys.  The tips are all greatly appreciated.  I'm glad to hear I can sort this out!

Kevin, I have the Standard Triumph manual so I'll check the settings - thanks for the words of warning! 

I'm not hugely tall (5'8") so hopefully I'll fit comfortably.  I think I agree, I'm sure I'll get used to the pedals.. just that squeezing in isn't much fun!  I shall have a play.

[heraldcoupe]

[quote by=KevinR link=Blah.pl?b=hervit,m=1132418285,s=3 date=1132423531]
The Spitfire manual says the following - I don't have a Herald manual, but I assume it is very similar.

Quote
7. Tighten clamp bolts to 6 to 9 lbf ft (0.8 to 1.2 kgf m)
8. Tighten grubscrew to 18 to 20 lbf ft (2.5 to 2.8 kgf m)
Unquote
[/quote]

The Herald (& early Spitfire) manual is nowhere near as specific. There is no mention of the grub screw in terms of dismantling. For reassembly, it does suggest tightening the clamp bolts first, then:
"Using a socket key tighten the screw by hand as much as possible without bending the wrench. Tighten the locknut."
I appreciate that this is different to the way I've always approached this.
Referring back to the general specification section of the manual, the torques recorded are very close to those from the later Spitfire manual. I'm obviously not going to recommend anyone goes against a procedure which involves any safety related component. I wonder if allen keys are calibrated to bend at 18-20lb.ft of torque?
Cheers,
Bill.

[Deleted User]

18-20lb-ft is actually very tight - and I'd be surprised if you can get it this tight just by hand with just an allen key on its own.  I think your hand will bend first  :'(  Maybe an extension tube will help a bit - but beware of cheap allen keys as the key might suddenly snap under the the torque.
I've always used a 3/8" drive socket with an allen key in the end on a small torque wrench and it's fairly easy.