Refitting steering box and linkage

[geofftjones]

I’ve just had the Burman-Douglass steering box restored on my 1936 Rover 12 Tourer, and reading the instructions from the manual it says to centre the steering wheel, point road wheels slightly to the left and ” ensure that the steering is limited by the axel stops, and not by the limits within the steering box”. However my wheels seem to turn left and right to a greater amount than the steering box. Has anyone any ideas where I might be going wrong please. I’m also not sure what the axel stops are.

[TonyG]

Hi Geoff,

I believe the axle stops are small lugs at the axle ends close to the king pins. These prevent the wheel hub turning too far lock to lock. However, while these are visible on my ‘37 saloon, they have been removed on my 36/37 Tourer. My assumption was that this modification was undertaken to improve maximum lock when the car was used in competitions pre-war, since it has various other mods for that reason. Your query makes me wonder if this was actually quite usual for P1 Tourers.

Clearly, the intention is to avoid excess strain on the box. This might happen if,say, a kerb was bumped on full lock as the impact would transmit directly to the box. That said, this has never been a problem for me and, when I stripped out the box to replace the nut, there was no evidence of adverse wear on either the worm or nut at the ends or with the casing or mountings.

What I did find was that the steering box drop arm fouled on the o/s spring, preventing full left lock. To overcome this I fitted the drop arm upside down and turned the steering rod end over. This problem also existed on my P2 saloon when I first bought it so I modified it in the same way when I refurbished all the front suspension and steering.
Also, it was necessary to set up the ‘straight ahead’ position of the box with the wheels on and jacked off the ground so that full lock each way could be established without either tyre rubbing on the chassis. Quite simple but involved removing and refitting the drop arm a number of times to get the optimum operation. I’ve yet to do this with the P2 as the wings have yet to be fitted after spraying but I suspect the lock available to be less because of the inner wing arrangement on this model.

In short, I doubt you are doing it wrong. More a matter of fitting it and ensuring that everting operates correctly. It may be, of course, that the box has been rebuilt with less movement than the original?

Hope this helps. No idea where you are but you are welcome to look at my cars if you are near Colchester.

Tony Gilbert

[geofftjones]

Hi Tony,
Thank you for your reply, I've since refitted the drop arm and have taken her out for a couple of runs. I've marked the steering wheel with a bit of red tape and make a point of not turning it beyond the two extremes. I can't see anything is missing and at some time in the future might think about getting a blob of weld applied in the right spot on the brake back plates. The great thing is that with the steering rebuild the car drives miles better. I live in Alton Hampshireso quite a way from Colchester, but thanks for the offer and maybe some day.
Thanks again for your help.

Cheers Geoff

[TonyG]

Geoff,

Great to hear that it’s driving nicely. Where did you get your box refurbished and was it very expensive? While the nut has been renewed on my Tourer box, there remains a bit of play so a full rebuild would be desirable at some point.

Maybe catch up with you at the National Rally next year?

Tony.

[luli]

hello Tony,
See here (all 3 parts) it also contains address of a good steering refurbish person http://wp.me/pXLKy-V9
best wishes!

[TonyG]

Hi Luli,

As always a hugely comprehensive reply. I must confess that I marvel at the incredible detail with which you have recorded every piece of work undertaken on your cars! Such a bonus to the rest of us as we blunder along in the dark tackling so many challenges on our cars. Reading your web pages always reminds of the original Haynes manuals that were created, I believe, by dismantling a car of each type and rebuilding it again. Except that you cover every part with excellent pictures and Haynes didn’t do one for our cars!

Is it possible to convert the text to English. I’m sure you have been asked before how we should do that on this forum, but I can’t find the response.

Many thanks for your help.

Tony.

P.s how is progress with your Tourer?

[luli]

Hi Tony,
You can get almost reasonable translation by using google's browser Chrome. All you need to do is click a right click on the text and choose "translate to English". Chrome is a free browser and you can download and use it very quickly.
The tourer progress is very slow but steady. You can see the latest here https://wp.me/pXLKy-3UA and go back by clicking PREV in the bottom of each part. And your tourer is my inspiration!
luli