Re: (ET) Steering

[RJ Kanary <rjkanary consolidated net>]

<   The steering on my E15 is shot. There are two related problems. The first 
is that the sleeve which connects the rack (fan gear) to the horizontal steering 
bar has a lot of play -- about 90 degrees of steering wheel movement without any 
turning of the horizontal shaft. I suspect I'm not using the right hardware to 
connect the shaft to the horizontal shaft.>



<   Secondly, the rack and pinion disengage -- under load the teeth of the pinion push 
the rack (fan gear) forward where it then disengages and "clicks" rather than 
actually turning the wheels. Are either of these gears the kind of thing that can strip?  
Or is there a mechanical trick to keeping the rack from being pushed forward by the teeth 
of the pinion?>

               The first thing to address is all the lost motion on the 
sector shaft.The bushing needs to be replaced and the mesh depth with the 
pinion gear is determined by the shim pack on the roll pin side of the 
sector shaft.More shims on the pin end, the tighter the mesh.


        The gears can be ruined by continued operation with too much 
play.Salvage may still be possible if the clearances are reduced.

       Another area to 'cheat' is to grind down the pinion shaft pedestal 
to permit it to penetrate the sector gear more deeply.Some pinion gears 
have a shoulder in the wide end of the pinion teeth that will limit how 
deeply it can engage the sector. Others do not and this permits a better 
chance of having mesh in undamaged areas.

       Yet another area of concern is the way the sector gear is affixed 
to the sector shaft.The shaft is soft, allowing the Woodruff key to wear 
the key  way in both the shaft and the gear. The then retaining pin 
fractures.

       A talented welder can get these dissimilar metals to hold hands and 
play nice.

       A tip.With a bit of inventiveness, commonly available flat 
Torrington® bearings and wear plates can be used to set end play and 
reduce friction in various places in the steering gear. :)

       The shafts, however are too soft to permit roller bearings to run 
on them directly.You have to stick with bushings or sleeve the shafts with 
bearing race material . :(

RJ



On 5/20/2012 2:35 PM, John Rieffel wrote:
> The steering on my E15 is shot. There are two related problems. The first 
> is that the sleeve which connects the rack (fan gear) to the horizontal 
> steering bar has a lot of play -- about 90 degrees of steering wheel 
> movement without any turning of the horizontal shaft. I suspect I'm not 
> using the right hardware to connect the shaft to the horizontal shaft.
>
> Secondly, the rack and pinion disengage -- under load the teeth of the pinion push 
> the rack (fan gear) forward where it then disengages and "clicks" rather 
> than actually turning the wheels. Are either of these gears the kind of thing that 
> can strip?  Or is there a mechanical trick to keeping the rack from being pushed 
> forward by the teeth of the pinion?
>
> Regards, jr
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