Hi all, I’m desperately trying to get my Manta back on the road and an MOT for Wheels Day but I am having problems with extremely heavy steering, so need a bit of advice. The car is fitted with a quick rack steering, lowered and uprated 400lb front springs and Revolution 15” wheels.
When I had the old Senator 3.1 litre turbo motor installed, the steering was a bit heavy when stationary, but was light and responsive when on the move. The Rover V8 which is now fitted is probably a wee bit lighter than the Vauxhall motor, and also mounted approx 7 inches back. The only changes I’ve made to the front suspension is moving the steering rack forward 20mm and fitting new track rod ends. They are virtually in the same position as the old track rod ends, so I don’t think this the problem, although could moving the steering rack forward such a small amount cause me all this grief? I have retained both the top and bottom steering knuckles and they are both free moving.
Now the whole front end just doesn’t feel right. Just driving around the block feels very weird and unsafe, so I’m not even gonna attempt to drive the 2 miles to the test centre. Could this problem just be down to tracking? I’ve never been good at maths or geometry, but need to get a base line set up before further tweaking by an expert. Any ideas, please?
When I had the old Senator 3.1 litre turbo motor installed, the steering was a bit heavy when stationary, but was light and responsive when on the move. The Rover V8 which is now fitted is probably a wee bit lighter than the Vauxhall motor, and also mounted approx 7 inches back. The only changes I’ve made to the front suspension is moving the steering rack forward 20mm and fitting new track rod ends. They are virtually in the same position as the old track rod ends, so I don’t think this the problem, although could moving the steering rack forward such a small amount cause me all this grief? I have retained both the top and bottom steering knuckles and they are both free moving.
Now the whole front end just doesn’t feel right. Just driving around the block feels very weird and unsafe, so I’m not even gonna attempt to drive the 2 miles to the test centre. Could this problem just be down to tracking? I’ve never been good at maths or geometry, but need to get a base line set up before further tweaking by an expert. Any ideas, please?
