Steering Fixed on the VP

I replaced the whole steering system last weekend. It was meant to last another week, as last weekend was meant to be the weekend to fully move out of the old house and get it ready for inspection. As it turned out, I had to do it during the week after work.

The job was really easy. I just got the front of the car up on chassis stands, removed the hydraulic lines and reservior from the pump, removed the steering linkage and hydraulic lines from the steering rack, then replaced the rack and pump, and hooked up the hydraulic lines again.

The old rack was really worn, with one of the steering rods having over 2mm of play. When the new rack went on, setting the toe-in was quite difficult. I got it near enough and went down to the wheel alignment place and got it done properly. The only other hassle was doing up the rods without breaking the rubber boots on the rack. Where the boot goes over the rod, it fits quite tight. As the rod has to be turned to tighten it, the boot tends to twist. The boots are crucial for keeping dust and road muck out of the rack. I removed the clips on the end of the boots pushed them back a bit and put WD-40 under the boot. This allowed the steering rod to turn inside the boot without damaging it.

The car now feels much better. I hadn't realised that rod was loose. The car now doesn't tend to take it's own course when it hits an irregularity in the road. Now I'm not fighting the car, it's much more relaxing to drive and gives me much more confidence at speed.

Now to do the rest of the suspension, in the next few weeks I'm getting Kings springs, Koni shocks and Nolethane bushes all round. Upgraded swaybars and a strut brace will soon follow, all in preparation for the new power plant.