In article ,
Dave wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Dave wrote:
Took one of my Rover 45's down to the garage that the ex Rover
foreman had set up after they went bust, He put a scale on the floor
and pushed the car over it and declared that it was OK. I have not
seen one of these scales in more than 40 years, but he was right,
the tracking was perfet, except for a slight steering wheel mis-
alignment that is not big enough to worry about yet.

With R&P steering if the wheel ends up off centre the tracking isn't
correctly done - the geometry will vary as the wheels turn.

Can you expand on that, please? I assume that is because the steering
geometry varies from neutral to off set when the steering wheel turns
fron neutral, but that the RAP will be in neutral if the steering wheel
does not match it, or have I got that horribly wrong?

The rack forms part of the link between the wheels and has balljoints on
either end. If it were part of a rigid link - as on cars with a steering
box - it wouldn't make any difference to the geometry if off centre. But
because it isn't, the geometry won't be accurate when the suspension moves
or the wheels turn. May not in practice be a big error, but best avoided.
But it requires more accurate equipment - and skill - than the likes of
Kwikfit possess.

Unless the steering wheel has been moved on its splines.

No, steering wheel has been there since birth :-)

The different angle is barely noticable

*If* the tracking is correct in the straight ahead on a level surface,
adjusting each track rod end by the same amount to bring the wheel
straight should do it. But best to have it checked again afterwards.

--
*60-year-old, one owner - needs parts, make offer

Dave Plowman London SW
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