Forum:
ive had a shackle lift and my steering seems to have gone a bit funny, when the wheel is straight the motor wanders to the side and feels a bit light it never used to do it i haveto hold the wheellike quarter way round to keep it straight! can anyone help
Shackle lift
Hi, anything more than around 2" extra in the front shackles will have a noticable effect on the steering, how much longer are the shackles you have fitted? When you fit longer shackles or any other suspension lift you increase the distance between the axle and the chassis but the steering drag link remains the same length so, assuming your car is right hand drive, the drop arm at the steering box has to move to the left in order to compensate, this means your steering wheel will need re-setting on the splines as it will be slightly turned when you are travelling straight ahead. Also by fitting longer shackles to the springs you will rotate the axle slightly which will alter the steering geometry, if the shackles are at the front of the spring such as on the F20/F50 it will quicken the steering and increase bump steer, if they are at the rear of the spring such as on the F70/F75 it will slow the steering and decrease bump steer. The longer the shackles are the more pronounced the effects will be, that is why your steering will feel different to before. You can reduce this effect by fitting wedge shaped shims between the spring and the axle in order to rotate the axle back to its original position. Hope this helps.
thanks
both very helpful im gonna get on it and i tell ya how i get on thanks!
Lift
Dogs boss is most likely right (he knows what he is talking about - clever bloke), the only other thing i can think of is who made the shackles? are all the bends the same and holes drilled in symetrical places so theres no limping to one side, dont know the actual answer to this so might be talking out my you know what!! To alter the steering wheel is easy but tuff, flip of the centre cap, undo the big nut, find yourself a big hammer and large centre punch, sit in the seat,push your knees up hard against the bottom of the wheel and clout the punch in the centre of the thread, it might take a couple of trys but its the easiest way ive taken of wheels before (ps mind your nose - a flying steering wheel hurts)
Full of ideas but no time to do them!!
www.bloodredoffroad.com
www.milneroffroad.com
eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%6d%75%64%6e%75%74%72%75%63%6b%40%67%6f%6f%67%6c%65%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%22%3e%6d%75%64%6e%75%74%72%75%63%6b%40%67%6f%6f%67%6c%65%6d%61%69%6c%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b'))
youtube: Redfourtrack