Safety announcement: Check your steering mechanism’s safety, especially if a little sloppy.

[AK260]

 

Not wishing to double post, I urge you to read my post under the link below and check your car over!! This could have had SO MANY bad endings!!!

 

https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/check-your-steering-is-safe-please.27074/

 

(I hope linking to another forum doesn’t violate any rules, please let me know if it does and I will double post).

 

 

Edit: apologies to the moderators, I realised I put it in the wrong place after I hit the post button but can’t move it.

[Zed Head]

Just an experiment.  Copy and paste.  Let's see if it worked.

Well, the fun of the keep her on the road jobs continues.

I’ve been investigating a little slop at my steering wheel. At first I was afraid, I was petrified, thinking I’ll have to leave the Z car outside. Song over, I was sure it was the rack.

Then I discovered a little movement in the lower UJ ....





Having gone to bed thinking about it, I decided there must be more slop somewhere else. I had read about the splines in the collapsible steering column playing up but before condemning it, I decided to look further up the shaft and found something scary ...



Once I looked deeper, I was utterly horrified and went cold thinking about what could have happened. Thank God it didn’t and I may have to go sacrifice a goat as an offering of praise!



I urge you all to check your steering and suspension bolts - ALL of them - and torque them up correctly.

My car will be out of action for sometime until I have done just that and trust it again. I now trust NOTHING the PO has done mechanically. Especially as I discovered only 2 nuts out of three on the passenger side strut. Or the compression rod that had only one bolt which I discovered when I first bought the car. OK, I appreciate there is no tension on those nuts but still, why not put one on?

The rear of the car is next but at least it gives me an excuse to drop in the 3.9 diff. So there is a small silver lining.


Beware, beware and again, beware of the PO’s incompetence. Make no assumptions about anything that can affect your safety!!!

 

Last edited: Today at 3:49 PM

AliK, Today at 3:32 PM

#1

 

[Zed Head]

So did the clamping bolt fall out and the shaft was working its way free?

Sorry, I like to know the answer first then back fill with the details.

Edit - so I watched the third video and see that it was loose with the bolt in.  I didn't see the fix though.  I think that you could probably push your steering wheel in to get more bite on the clamp.  It probably has a gap up there somewhere inthe cabin.

I have vague memories of realizing that the shaft and wheel could be pulled in to the cabin once the coupler was detached.  From when I replaced the the coupler with a urethane unit.  I think that that is how I made space to get the old one out and the new one in.  It might be a wrong memory though.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Zed Head

[AK260]

Thanks chap.

So the issue I found was that the bolt was tightened very tight but from the wrong side!!! Meaning that the bolt was tightened against the threaded part and doing nothing at all in closing the clamp.

I sprayed the shaft in situ when I transplanted the new engine a couple of years ago, so the rusty 1cm or so has moved since then - I am assuming I can get it back to where is should be with what you mentioned.

The moral of the story was really that the clamp joint having zero tension had expanded enough (or splines / rust worn away enough) over time for it to become massively noticeable at the driver end. Just think what that would have done if it had let go on a hard 40-50MPH corner! Or worse still at silly speeds on a track with other cars around. My confidence in driving the car has been totally shaken, so the front of the car is slowly coming apart until I am totally happy with all bolts and the metal work being solid. Then I’m staring on the rear. Thankfully we have a week of sun forecasted so she can stay on the tilting lift on the driveway.

I haven’t fixed it yet as I am having difficulty removing the clamp by the UJ at the bottom - which I want to test on a bench and replace. The majority of the problem with removing the stubborn bottom clamp bolt is having to entertain the kids all day, keep the peace, keep the wife happy, attempt the cooking thing, vacuum the house, clean the bathrooms, etc (God I miss our cleaners)!!

[siteunseen]

I miss my cleaners too.

 

[grannyknot]

Glad you caught it, that could ruin your whole day.  PO's are one of the reasons I completely dismantle every old car I buy before it gets on the road.

[zKars]

Yup, that’s new one I haven’t ever seen before. I can see how it could happen. 

i do have to note that no matter which way you put that bolt in, there is a large cross groove in the splines that the M10 bolt has to pass through, that locks the splines from slipping out of the yoke. Yes, if its in the wrong way, or is loose, the splines can come loose and there could be play, but I don’t see how that joint could come apart as long as the bolt is still in place through the groove. If the bolt falls out, then yes, it can come apart.  

If the splines were not inserted far enough so that the lock bolt can pass IN FRONT of the entire shaft, than that is a real problem, but I think the over all length constraints would make it hard to assemble all the components without realizing something was wrong.

Wish I’d made a list of all the critically wrong stuff I’ve seen on the Datsun’s I’ve touched. Everything from rusted out seat belt mounting points to seats barely bolted down. Trust nothing unless you’ve checked it yourself.

Edited May 25, 2020 by zKars

[AK260]

Thanks for that. I did see the flat but hadn’t thought it through - it’s a clever fail safe. [emoji106]

 

As for the UJ I understand that the moose ones are used by some ...

 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F373055234955

 

But are there any other recommendations?

 

[grannyknot]

There is a Kawasaki Ujoint that I think @Patcon pioneered.

[Patcon]

I didn't pioneer it but I did post up some details and work arounds I went through. I believe they are in my build thread.

It is possible the actual Kawasaki part doesn't require the mods I had to make

https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Master-Universal-Joint-ATV700/dp/B000GZRASO

[Namerow]

I also used the same U-joint successfully.  IIRC, I might have needed to grind down the shoulders of the spider casting a bit to get the clearance required to make them fit.  The bigger issue for me was removing the original spiders.  I ended up having to cut through one of the spider's legs using my Dremel and a cutting disc.  If you find that you need to do this, you'll be extra-careful not to damage the yoke while you're cutting through the spider.

[AK260]

Thanks chaps appreciate all of the food for thought and advice.

And thanks Mr Patcon for the link. This looks like a more involved job than I had anticipated but one well worth doing. [emoji106]