Rubber steering coupling - does this look right?

[Llessur]

I swapped out the rubber steering coupling in my 2500 today as the last one had split quite badly but on reassembly it definitely looks like it's under quite a lot of torsional strain.

I've loosened the top and bottom column clamps and also the steering rack clamps to see if a subtle shift in alignment might relieve things but nothing changed.

As the old one had already split I can't really compare the before/after situation but does this look right? It seems like a recipe for early failure of the new coupling to me but maybe that's just how they are?

[Alec]

Hello llessur,

I would sy that is normal as the two shafts are not in a straight line so the runbber must distort as the shaft is rotated.

You have anovel way of wire locking, why not drill the head?

Alec

[Llessur]

You have anovel way of wire locking, why not drill the head?

Haha, that's how they are from factory as far as I know

[johnnydog]

I have the three cars with that rubber coupling and they do distort to the position shown in the photo when fitted. It's perfectly normal as Alec says due to the angle of the column and intermediate shaft.
I trust you took the opportunity to change the bulkhead bush whilst it was disconnected?
Did it not have the rubber sleeve covering the spring or did you forget to refit it? ?

[Alec]

Hello Llessur,

my Standard Triumph workshop manual does not show any wire locking on that item nor is it mentioned in the text. If that is how it was when you got the car then I believe a previous owner decided to do that?

Alec

[Llessur]

The bulkhead bush was fine with no play and no perishing so I left it be. Unfortunately the rubber sleeve for the spring was in less healthy condition and fell apart when I touched it so I'll have to come up with an alternative arrangement there.

I'm not sure about the provenance of the wire locking but from my googling around this issue I've seen plenty of pictures of exactly the same setup (e.g. this one on Chris Witor's site: https://www.chriswitor.com/proddetail.php?prod=150213SH) so I just presumed it was factory - at least in some markets. You could only lock one set of bolts with wires through the heads as the other two are allen bolts recessed into the bushing so it makes sense just to do them both through the other end.

I know the flexible joint is there to account for the differences in alignment between the two parts of the shaft but from what I've seen online this is quite a lot of flex - it doesn't matter what orientation the wheel is at, it is always flexed to about this amount. I just wondered if I might have missed something which could have caused the two parts of the shaft to be even more misaligned than is normal but with the power steering rack bolted directly to the suspension cross member there's very little scope for movement anywhere in the setup.

I guess I'll just leave it as-is for now but keep a close eye on it. I don't trust modern bonded rubber components to be under this much strain for long periods without splitting or becoming unbonded. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised

[johnnydog]

I think you have done it well, and got it near to the original! All mine have locking wire fitted similar to how you have done it.
Attached is a picture off Ebay showing the lock wire in the parts book, although there is some confusion about the part number and what it actually relates to - some TR owners have referred to an earthing wire(??)

Also attached is a picture off CW's website showing a used steering shaft / coupling with the locking wire in place.

[Mike Stevens]

I would say that 158701 is the locking wire as there are 2 of them. 130581 is probably a horn wire to electrically connect the upper part of the column to the lower part!

Cheers,
Mike.

[Sal]

Interesting post....

I have recently refitted my steering column shaft (if that’s what it’s called!) as I bought my project with many bits unfinished and refitted the bulk head gromit/rubber at the same time however...... mine has no rubber joint on either end just two universal joints on either end, should mine be rubber jointed?

Car is 1973 2.5 PI

Thanks
Sal

[Llessur]

Does your have PAS?