Has anybody else had the problem of a haflinger steering not centralising itself ?
Everything looks OK, hubs loose, alignment OK, steering box is free and the steering all seems to be good, it just doesn't come back to centre. It's not really been driven since i bought it as it's undergone a major refurb but i have another that has been entirely back to nuts and bolts that works just fine. I'm not entirely sure if it's previous owner did any work in this area and other than having one of the hubs in pieces i haven't done anything to this area of the running gear other than to make sure it's all good and lubricate.
Anybody shed any light on this ??
Rob
non-centralising steering
Re: non-centralising steering
Start at the beginning, Jack front up so both wheels are off the ground .
Check that steering turns smoothly without binding points when turning the steering wheel and when physically moving the wheels - go lock to lock.
You now need to check the toe in.
Make your self a stick which is just shorter than the gap between the insides of the rim. Put a screw in one end.
Now you can use the stick and adjustable screw to adjust the length of the stick and screw so it just scraps the rim on the rear part of the front rim as near to horizontal to the platform as you can manage.
Then measure that length.
Now do the same for the front part of the rim ( in front of the axle).
Measure the distance.
Turn the rim and measure again back of the rim, behind the axle and in front.
Get at least 4 measurements. This will help you spot a bent rim and also get an average measurement for the two distances.
The workshop manual tells you what the difference should be between the front and rear measurements. I seem to remember it as about 5 mm shorter in the front measurement. Impaired to the back.
If your measurements are wrong, then you adjust using the two steering track rods even number of turns on each.
Once you have some toe in, the Haf will self centre. The more toe in you have the stronger the self centre BUT also the worse tyre wear you will have. Factory setting is BEST.
John
Check that steering turns smoothly without binding points when turning the steering wheel and when physically moving the wheels - go lock to lock.
You now need to check the toe in.
Make your self a stick which is just shorter than the gap between the insides of the rim. Put a screw in one end.
Now you can use the stick and adjustable screw to adjust the length of the stick and screw so it just scraps the rim on the rear part of the front rim as near to horizontal to the platform as you can manage.
Then measure that length.
Now do the same for the front part of the rim ( in front of the axle).
Measure the distance.
Turn the rim and measure again back of the rim, behind the axle and in front.
Get at least 4 measurements. This will help you spot a bent rim and also get an average measurement for the two distances.
The workshop manual tells you what the difference should be between the front and rear measurements. I seem to remember it as about 5 mm shorter in the front measurement. Impaired to the back.
If your measurements are wrong, then you adjust using the two steering track rods even number of turns on each.
Once you have some toe in, the Haf will self centre. The more toe in you have the stronger the self centre BUT also the worse tyre wear you will have. Factory setting is BEST.
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Re: non-centralising steering
Hmmm
Pretty much done all that and wondering if there's something else amiss.
All new wheels and tyres. Steering moves freely and tie in adjusted correctly. Still has no inclination at all to come back to centre
Pretty much done all that and wondering if there's something else amiss.
All new wheels and tyres. Steering moves freely and tie in adjusted correctly. Still has no inclination at all to come back to centre
Re: non-centralising steering
Rob,
Either you have very stiff steering (king pins, ball joints on tie rods, idler rod ball joints), or steering box issues. You could try some "extreme" toe in and see if that causes it to self centre - It would be really horrible to drive if it has too much toe in and will kill your front tyres very quickly.
Do you have the workshop manual? It has a section which gives the toe in and if I remember correctly it is "0" with two people in the front! This suggests that they do not have a very strong self center action in the first place. I don't have my manual to hand right at the moment, but will look it up this evening when I get back from work.
John
Either you have very stiff steering (king pins, ball joints on tie rods, idler rod ball joints), or steering box issues. You could try some "extreme" toe in and see if that causes it to self centre - It would be really horrible to drive if it has too much toe in and will kill your front tyres very quickly.
Do you have the workshop manual? It has a section which gives the toe in and if I remember correctly it is "0" with two people in the front! This suggests that they do not have a very strong self center action in the first place. I don't have my manual to hand right at the moment, but will look it up this evening when I get back from work.
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!
Have you hit the "DONATE" button at the bottom of the page after reading this post? Many thanks if you have!!