Front wheel camber

[johnnydog]

Centralising the rack also ensures the correct self cancelling of the indicator stalk.

Not necessarily. I had a Stag where every single component of the system had been incorrectly set up. The upper part of the column with the self-cancelling mechanism had been misaligned at one of the joints connecting to the rack.

I guess that centralising the rack would have less significance if everything else has been incorrectly installed or set up. But centralising it assuming the upper column is correctly positioned is still advisable imo. The disadvantages of cars that have been 'messed about with' by previous owners ...

[Clifford Pope]

I do remember reading somewhere that centralising the rack is not just a matter of equalising the lock in each direction (I don't think they are or ought to be anyway) but more importantly so that the degree of power assistance is equalised just either side of the true centre point.
I remember the Stag feeling a bit odd until I corrected that point.

[johnnydog]

An extract from a Stag manual regarding the assembly of the steeringbrack, and more importantly to this topic, the centralising of the rack, which equally applies to the 2000 / 2500.

[johnnydog]

Apologies - the text highlighted with the two red dots in the first picture above is not very clear.
It states - "Rotate pinion until rack is centralised i.e. the dimple on the rack shaft lies in the middle of the thrust plunger aperture".

[Forkie]

Very interesting stuff, will keep this in mind should i need it! As an aside, my 4 wheel alignment has been put back a week frustratingly, they are having building works done and due to the 'unusually' half decent weather this week the builders are jumping on this to pour a whole new frontage to the bays - so no access!!!!! Great. To be fair i am in a similar situation with outdoor work. So it is now the following Thursday. Another week to wait !!!!

[Forkie]

Finally got this done. Both front wheels were miles out - chap could tell by just looking at them, both out by 3 degrees, both turning towards each other. Took him 2 attempts to get it bang on. O/S camber / caster fine, N/S right on the edge of the green but he assured me its pretty much there, but there is no allowance to alter anyhow with the 'fixed' drag strut.
Rears - bit of a querry here - both are fine with camber/ caster, but both are very slightly heading toward the kerb. I explained regarding the shims between shackles and subframe, so he has suggested take one from the N/S and add it to the O/S, as they just need tweaking to the right (as sitting in drivers seat). To do this, do i just slacken off all shackle bolts, on both sides, with the wheels unladen and alter the shims, then re-tighten, or are there other bolts etc that also need attention. He did say it is a very small amount, our guess is it has probably been like it since factory, as i have only re shimmed as was.

[johnnydog]

I would think that taking one shim from the outer leg of the nearside swinging arm and adding it to the outer leg of the offside swinging arm will effectly alter both from pointing to the nearside (kerb). But the thickness / number of the shims that you need to remove or add will be trial and error, surely?
I would have thought that the ideal would be to get both rear wheels parallel to each other by the adding / removal of the outer shims on each swinging arm using the 'factory' number of shims as a starting point; once they are parallel, then you have starting point to adjust them equally to give the 0 - 1/16" toe in (as stated by the workshop manual). Only then should the toe in of the front wheels (1/16"-1/8") be set relative to the rears.
I'll stand corrected, but I was taught to get the rear track / toe in correct before setting the front. If the car isn't travelling straight at the back, then the front has to compensate for any inaccuracies. If you set the front first, then alter shims at the rear, the path of the rear will then dictate the position of the front wheels either slightly to the left or right to compensate and then throw the spokes of the steering wheel out, especially if the rack and steering wheel have both been previously centralised. As the path of the rear wheels are in a fixed direction, the toe in should be set correctly and equally before any adjustments to the front. If the rack is centralised (as discussed previously) and the steering wheel then centralised on the column and the clamped, the front tracking / toe in can be adjusted equally. Theoretically, everything should be then centralised and the car should drive straight without any 'crabbing' caused from the rear track being incorrect.
You can set and check the rear toe for 'parallel' using the bar method. I have some cranked aluminium adjustable bars that sit on the floor and you adjust the width against the inner edge of the rim. When they are parallel, the bar should fit snugly between the front edge of both wheel rims, and then the rear edge both wheel rims. There is a scale to indicate the difference between the two edges of the rims. The toe can then be adjusted by removing shims of equal thickness to the 'outer' legs using the scale to measure the toe in.
I appreciate your wheel alignment chap is going to be more knowledgeable than I am, but I fail to see how you can set the rear toe correctly without at least some form of measurement (however basic!), before moving to the front.
I hope this makes some sort of sense..

[johnnydog]

And to actually answer your question Nige(!!), yes it's simply a case of loosening the shackle bolts and removing / adding the shim(s). You only need to slacken the nylocs and knock the bolts through slightly to allow enough room to access / add the shims. You may have to use a stout flat screwdriver as a wedge to open the gap between the box section as you will be fighting somewhat against the weight of the driveshaft and the force of the spring. A jack under the rear of the swinging arm should help.

[Forkie]

Ah, i see . Yes the chap did say that if i alter the rear, the front would be out slightly again. For some reason though they are not keen on doing the rear shimming themselves, so i may have to read and re-read the above a few times before attempting it! He did say that they are only very slightly out, which i assume is why he may have suggested the single shim change....