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308 QV

Discussion in '308/328' started by Anthony bentley, Jun 26, 2020.

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  1. Anthony bentley

    Anthony bentley Formula Junior

    May 20, 2006
    540
    London
    Full Name:
    Anthony Bentley
    I recently refurbed my steering rack and now my steering wheel is off slightly, removed the holding nut of the wheel and can see that spline seems to be a key way, before I go any further, does this mean I can not adjust the steering wheel spline and it only goes on one way? Do I have to adjust it at the steering rack end?
     
  2. ferrariowner

    ferrariowner Formula 3

    Feb 21, 2014
    1,109
    Mansfield, TX
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    Ron
    I don’t think you need to adjust the wheel. I think you installed the rack off by one tooth where the steering column bolts to the rack.
     
    Crowndog likes this.
  3. Andy 308GTB

    Andy 308GTB F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jun 2, 2004
    2,627
    Essex, UK
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    Andy M
    Easily done. The simple fix is a to screw the tie rods in & out on either side.
    Attempting to put the rack back but one spline more this way or that doesn't bear thinking about.
     
  4. ferrariowner

    ferrariowner Formula 3

    Feb 21, 2014
    1,109
    Mansfield, TX
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    Ron
    I agree, as long as you have the length in the tie rods. You may also need to realign the steering.
     
  5. miketuason

    miketuason F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2006
    15,517
    Cerritos, CA.
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    Mike
    Adjusting the tie rod end will mess up your toe-in / toe-out alignment unless you plan to realign your from wheels.
     
    308 milano and ferrariowner like this.
  6. Ferraridoc

    Ferraridoc F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2012
    16,057
    Gold Coast, Aust.
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    Patrick
    No, it won't. Drive the car straight onto the ramp (assuming 4 post hoist), so you know that the wheels are dead straight. Wind in the tie rod on one side, and wind out exactly the same on the other until the wheel is straight (and, yada, yada, yada - brace the wheels, mark the tie rod, loosen the boot, etc). The rack won't be perfectly centred, but if it's only off a few degrees, you won't notice.
     
  7. pshoejberg

    pshoejberg Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 22, 2007
    1,694
    Denmark
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    Peter H
    There is not much Room for adjustment at the tie rods if you want to maintain a safe amount of thread engagement in both sides. You might do you self that favour to adjust at the splines first time.

    Best, Peter
     
  8. johnk...

    johnk... F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jun 11, 2004
    10,628
    CT
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    John Kreskovsky
    The only way to do it right is to have it properly aligned. You could have made an error when adjusting the tie rod ends on the new rack. Maybe just once side is off. There is no way to be sure that both sides are off an equal amount. Anytime you mess with the front end, get it aligned, at all 4 corners.
     
    pshoejberg and 308 milano like this.
  9. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

    Apr 17, 2014
    1,527
    California SF bay area
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    Paul
    #9 kcabpilot, Jul 2, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2020
    There are some quick and dirty home based DIY methods to at least see what's going on and with a little bit of thinking and mental geometry you can actually git it pretty close.

    One way is with a piece of 1x4 (or maybe 1x6) hardwood that will span across the rim edges of the front wheel to which you fasten a laser pointer of some sort then pointing it aft you measure how far out from the center cap of the rear wheel the beam hits and compare it to the other side. You also need to compare distance between front and rear of both front wheels for toe-in using some string, plumb bobs and a long ruler.

    You're not going to put any alignment shops out of business with this mind you but you can get it close enough to safely get it to the shop and then it's fun to have them tell you how far off you were.
     
    ferrariowner likes this.
  10. ferrariowner

    ferrariowner Formula 3

    Feb 21, 2014
    1,109
    Mansfield, TX
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    Ron
    I have been thru this exercise in the past. KC is correct, you can get very close.
     

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