Since I've owned my van there has been a fair bit of play in the steering. Took a proper look underneath tonight. Looks like one of the rubber parts has perished but there is lots of play in the box. Is it new box time or is there some kind of adjustment I can do? Trying to upload a video but it's not working. Basically the steering wheel can move 2 inches in each direction without moving the wheels or any of the steering components to the box. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Have you checked the swivel pin, hopefully doing mine this weekend. I was shocked how much play there is and the MOT guy said it was the pin
Lay underneath it while a glamorous assistant rocks the steering wheel back and forth, you will soon see where the play is. Steering idler is a common favourite.
Also check play in the steering box, I removed the steering arm and made sure there was no play in pitman arm when turning wheel through the centre. Jack wheels up first
Yep looks like something has split! I have no experience with the steering system so I'm s bit of a novice. With me lying under the van, I can grab the part at the top of the steering box (where the split rubber part is on the picture) and twist the whole lot without moving the other steering components. This translates to about 2 inches I've movement on the steering wheel either way. Not sure if I'm explaining this very well! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Some of that will be adjustable some of that is wear. If its LHD there are boxes around. If its RHD then I believe it is possible for an engineering shop to rebush the steering box replacing the cast in bushing in the side plate with a pressed in bushing for a lot less than the many hundreds of pounds you would pay for a recon unit. I did mine with a hand held Dremel and two hours of uneasy grinding. It was FUBAR once I started and I was lucky it worked well after !!. I had to remove the bronze bit and mill into the aluminium until I could push in a 33x28 x15 mm bushing into the hole. So it cost me about £3.50... This shows the wear. Basically 0.5mm clearance here equals an inch of wobble..
It sounds like you are saying that you have a couple of inches of movement at the steering wheel and that you can see that movement at the wheel and on the steering column and all down until it gets to the robber doughnut bit before anything moves further down. If so, then it sounds like the first bit that absorbing your movement is the rubber doughnut joint and they do wear out. Is rubber and reinforced with a gauze mesh through the middle. Some new ones are great and some new ones are crap. I'm not sure which are which. If the new rubber turns up and it'll have four holes for mounting , two to the colouring and two to the steering. If you can see any of the gauze mesh in the four holes you'll have to send it back. It may work ok but it will give you problems with your horn. So nice new rubber , not sure if Febi make them still, four bolts and you'll notice an improvement. When you have it apart have a look at the bottom sleeve / bearing on the column. Ozziedog............. rubbers hmm.
Sounds about right, although I'm not sure which bit is the donut? If you look at the pic above, I can grab the whole lot and twist it without the wheels moving at all. I wish the bloody video would upload! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It looks like a rubber ring or square in your pic approx three or four inches across. Just below the split you can see a metal plate connected to the bottom of the steering column possibly an oval ish shape that is connected on the other side by two bolts to the black grey rubber. On these ones it may even be square. Then it connects by two bolts onto the rest of the steering gubbins usually the steering box. There are four bolts in the rubber, two connect to the column plate and two connect the other way, you can see one of each in the picture plus a pinch bolt If someone is moving your steering while you are looking at what's happening, you should see the steering column movement, then it's fixed to the rubber doughnut thing. then the box I think, you should easily be able to determine where there is movement and what isn't moving where this point is, that's where your issue is. This will need sorting but also check that there aren't more issues further in to the steering mech. Remember it's all very old and if one part is showing wear then there is a good chance that other parts are worn too. Ozziedog,,,,, go and have a fiddle.
Of couse what I posted about doom and gloom is if it still slops after replacing the rubber coupling part. Basically this needs to be correctly reinforced, some aftermarket ones had a metal reinforcement that shorted the inner of the steering column to earth and made the horn go off. Many of them are made of short lived rubber and will not last anything like the 40+ years of the originals. I was lucky enough to buy an OG one in 2010 for twice the price of the junk ones and that is now in my bus where it is rotting more slowly than a modern one. A section of industrial conveyor belt would probably make a better coupling than some of the aftermarket ones..
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201992127705 This is the one I have just purchased. Be careful there's a lot of poor ones out there.
Looks like the plastic bush that isolates the column casing from the domed cover on some models. Judging by the witness marks its upside down and on the wrong side of the dome and bearing on the upper fixing of the coupling.
Info. Alan Schofield has a chap that comes to his place just to rebuild bay steering boxes. He rebuilds them with new parts, seals , Adjusts them and fills them with oil ready for fitment. P.s if you get 1 don't touch the adjuster screw. £280 .
