Strut question

Peter Coomaraswamy

Peter Coomaraswamy

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Is it possible to over-tighten the nut on the strut- under the cap and simulate the same effect of reversing the washers? I think I have the washers in there correctly- I can see the ball bearing if I take the plastic cap off, and I think the larger washer goes on the bottom, (smaller diameter but slightly thicker on top), which will allow me to see the balls. Anyhow, I seem to have a return-to-center issue... once again. Any help would be appreciated
 

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I don't think overtightening would cause any ill effects other than stripping the threads and making the nut difficult (or very easy) to remove. Overtightening the nut of the strut cartridge would lock the piston, but it's free to rotate in the strut cartridge, which is free to rotate in the strut housing.

Return-to-center has more to do with caster IIRC. Or something like that.

But tell us, what strut bar is that?
 
Grasin! Yes, I have. I am aware that that's not a good practice however I used to adjust these on older American cars. I am aware that the adjustment needs to be very minor but you seem to have some experience here. What would you suggest?

Thanks,

Peter
 
In order...
From the top...
Plastic cap
Nut
Small thick washer
Dust cap concave side up
Big washer

There is a very big difference between stuck in position and won’t turn freely and won’t return to center automatically when the wheels is let go. One is a mechanical issue and the other is an alignment issue.
 
Peter Coomaraswamy said:
Grasin! Yes, I have. I am aware that that's not a good practice however I used to adjust these on older American cars. I am aware that the adjustment needs to be very minor but you seem to have some experience here. What would you suggest?

Thanks,

Peter
Click to expand...

I have no real knowledge other than what I have read about it, since I was tempted to adjust it myself a while back.
The problem seems to be that even a minor adjustment on the screw can/will tighten up the slop you might have when the steering wheel is at "straight ahead". This is where the steering wheel is at most of the time when you drive, and this will cause most wear on the shaft in the steering box at this location.
Adjusting the screw on the box, can/will tighten up this spot on the shaft, but might be too tight for all the other locations (left and right) causing a return-to-center problem.
If it's a real problem - I don't know. This is what I read in several places from different people, and made me hesitate messing with the adjustment screw.

Edit:
If you come to the conclusion that there's something other than the steering box causing your return-to-center problem, I'd be very interested in knowing how much you adjusted yours, so that I can try to do the same on mine. Everybody talks about minor adjustments, but is that 5°, 10°, 20°, 45° or more on the screw? o_O
 
Last edited:
Ok, well, I'm knee deep in fixing all the little things I didn't do correctly. I think many people will attest that when you do a total rebuild lots of things can get out-of-wack. I put all new brake lines in, a new transmission, new engine, megasquirt, all new calipers, shift linkage, exhaust, headlamps, marker lamps, basically just about every part on the car. The fact that it didn't explode is a true miracle.

I'm down to shift linkage, sticking steering, HVAC, battery connections (I relocated to the trunk and I'm getting a voltage drop) and then the megasquirt tune. Once I get the linkage on the 5-speed corrected I will loosen the adjusting nut and test drive the car. At that point I should be able to determine if the steering box is the culprit.

Thanks to all who are helping me here :-)
 
(1) steering box adjustment MUST be done in the straight ahead position as the box is designed to be tightest in that place, if you adjust it when turned it will jam up in the dead ahead position, no self centering and a very unpleasant feel to the steering,
(2) do NOT back off the screw as it has a dimple in the bottom of the screw and a single steel ball sits there as a thrust bearing, if you back the screw too much the ball falls into the depths of the box.............................. so you MUST hold the screw when backing the locknut......

don't be frightened of adjusting the box just observe the two rules!
 
@Peter Coomaraswamy
Well I finally found the courage to mess with the adjusting screw on the box.
My problems with the steering has been that when driving on bad roads that have two worn down tracks on each lane where the wheels are, the car has been tracking.
Performing an overtake (crossing several of those worn down tracks in the road) has always felt very dangerous since the car has been all over the road. I've also had some slop in the steering wheel when in straight ahead position.
I've had no problem with the above if the roads are nice and smooth, and my wheel alignment is and has been checked several times.

This left me no other option than to mess with the adjustment screw. So I loosened the nut and tuned the screw until I could feel some resistence (approx 20° in my case) backed off a tiny bit and tightened the nut. Went for a test drive and had the return to center problem. Stopped and backed off a tiny amount again - better but not good. I repeated the backing off by a tiny amount a couple of times until I didn't have the return to center problem anymore and now the steering feels like a new car compared to how it was before! Tracking issues mostly gone, steering wheel slop gone, and I can finally overtake like a BMW maniac without having the car all over the road if I want to :D
 
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