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TR2 Steering Box rebuild questions


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Hi.

 

I have been using my TR2 almost daily for a while.

It is wonderful to enjoy, but the steering box has started to annoy me and it is time to fix that issue (Along with a carburettor rebuild).

After some research here and elsewhere I have decided to go for the Revington spring loaded top plate.

But with a  rebuild I am also going to replace the worm and everything else that need to be done.

What I can't seem to find are all the bits needed to refurbish the box. There does not seem to be a "rebuild kit" as such.

The top plate and worm are key, but I believe there are all sorts of shims, seals, pegs and such that need to be done.

Is it ok to try and replace the worm or is it advisable to rather get a complete steering arm?

Has anybody done this and can give me a list of what I should replace and look at?

Also where is the best to source? I am not always convinced that Moss' items are the best and some items prices vary considerably, for instance the worm.

I have gotten good service form The Roadster Factory before.

 

Dirk

Edited by irrational
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One area which does wear, & causes "slop" in the steering is the bush (item 42) in which the "rocker shaft assembly" (item 40) rotates.

The Revington sprung peg system makes a marked improvement while traveling in straight lines by taking out any free movement

between worm & peg, but only when light steering loads are applied.

I have that system on mine & it works well, but will not compensate for slop in the bush mentioned above,

for / aft movement of the worm in the casing, or play in any of the steering ball joints.

Bob.

 

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-model/triumph/tr2-4a/steering-suspension/steering/steering-tr2-3a-1953-62.html

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My only observation of that excellent article is that I always fit the rocker shaft seal after the rocker shaft is installed.  I wrap tape around the splines of the shaft so the seal slides over the tape rather than on the sharp edges of the cut spline, which will damage the seal lip.

 

A basic parts kit for a steering box could be only two gaskets, rocker shaft seal and column bush plus enough suitable lubricant.   

You need to get the thing to bits to asses what is genuinely required.  

Often re shimming the ball races is all that is needed along with peg adjustment plus the rocker shaft bush.   I have done 4 steering box rebuilds in this past 12 months and only one needed a worm.   They all needed the rocker shaft bush and the rocker shaft peg.

Cheers

Peter W

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I have rebuilt two boxes, one for each car.

The only bits that needed replacing were the bush described above, bearings, top and front gasket and the steering box (slumping) grease. The worm and peg in both were OK. I obtained a second column and box to rebuild so when I changed them over in the car I didn't lose time overhauling the box with the car off the road.

It is critical to get the end float right, this is easy just fiddly. You should be able to turn the column by the splines with  two fingers. There should be the slightest resistance but no play. Have a few shims available. 

Replace the seal as per the above description.

I used Revington steering box tops and their phosphor bronze bushes to replace the rubber silenbloc bushes.

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I also fitted the TRR spring loaded worm pin. It does work but as previous comment, only during light steering (when the slop is most apparent). I also fitted TRR solid bushes to the ends of the centre tie rod. These make a useful improvement but, they do stiffen the steering very slightly and your chassis etc needs to be 100% un-twisted. Perhaps when they wear-in the increase in load will reduce. This upgrade does involve some critical drilling (for grease nipples) and in my case, light reaming as the bushes tightened up during fitting.

I think you can still get the square shims needed for worm shaft end-float, if not they are not too difficult to make. 

Mike

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One more thing, the idler. It is no good having a nicely restored box if the idler is sloppy.

I bought a new Moss one for my long door rebuild and it had more play then the one I had pulled out.

Any suggestions for obtaining a good new idler and bracket?

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3 hours ago, John McCormack said:

One more thing, the idler. It is no good having a nicely restored box if the idler is sloppy.

I bought a new Moss one for my long door rebuild and it had more play then the one I had pulled out.

Any suggestions for obtaining a good new idler and bracket?

My machinist does the mod too, makes all the difference. The old way to do it when none of us had any money was to grind a bit off the housing so it would screw in one more turn which was enough to take the slop out to pass a test.

Stuart.

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I too ground/filed the top of steering idlers to get them to screw in an extra thread, also did it to trunions.

With that bodge in mind, when at C&B 35 years ago I redrew the idler threaded pin , and we had them remade with a longer thread.

Cheers

Peter W

 

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