Freeloading Cnut

[DodgeRover]

That's a lot of driving for anybody, there are quite a lot of narrow lanes round there, I have a have a good look at the map before trusting to the sat nav!

[mercrocker]

Cranleigh is one of those places that seems to be on some sort of terrestrial turntable. Used to do a car show there 15 years ago or so. I never found the place by the same route each time we went (before we had any kind of satnav) as if it clicked round on some axis by 20 degrees a year.

[angrydicky]

I was lucky, the seller lived at the bottom of a cul-de-sac with a small turning area. He offered to spin the trailer around for me as I was worried about getting it turned around in the available space. He hopped into the Freeloader and spun the rig around like it was nothing, admittedly using the neighbours drive to get the angle right which I wouldn’t have wanted to do.

[christine]

Could have provided tea and coffee I'm only about 10 miles from Cranleigh!

Any Jaffa cakes or Jammy Dodgers ?

[DodgeRover]

Could have provided tea and coffee I'm only about 10 miles from Cranleigh!

Any Jaffa cakes or Jammy Dodgers ?

One better, We've got home made millionaires shortcake!

[christine]

When i do uni chichester run on the a27 , i see the Horsham turn off sign , and think .. oh dodgerover lives somewhere near here !

[Hooli]

A24 past Horsham isn't it?

Or is it signed from further away than I remember?

[angrydicky]

Snaffled a cheap used steering rack on ebay for £40 delivered. I thought I could use it as an exchange unit to save on the time it's marooned on the ramp.
Actually, it feels bloody good with no play and no leaks. I'll compare it to the old one once it's off and if the old one feels worse, I'll stick it on. There is obvious play in the rack with the front wheels jacked up off the ground, but I'm not 100% sure if this will be as obvious off the car.
Anyway, £40 was a bargain I'd say. Beats grovelling around in the mud removing one in a scrapyard.
It barely seems worth the hassle of removing it for the seller, unless the engine was already out of course.

[angrydicky]

What a twat of a job that was. Only a three spanner job in the HBOL, but it was a lot more awkward than that.
The main problem was (typical modern) lack of access. Obviously the rack is fitted before the engine goes in at the factory. With the engine out it’s a piece of piss to fit/remove, but somewhat challenging otherwise.
There is an aperture in each inner wing for the trackrod to connect to the steering arm. The rack needs to be unbolted and withdrawn from the passenger side as the servo stops the bulky part, with the column shaft coming out of the drivers side.
Anyway it was a sodding tight fit and in the end I gave up and introduced Mr Angrygrinder to the inner wing aperture and enlarged it just enough to actually remove the rack. I’d already torn one of the rack boots in the process.
There was noticeable play in the old rack even off the car, yet the ‘new’ one felt perfect, which was a bit of a result.
With the enlarged hole it was very easy to get the new rack into position. Harder to get the mounting holes lined up but got there eventually.
Had to reuse the old fluid connection o-rings so added a drop of thread sealant on both as a belt and braces measure.
I’d already fitted new trackrod ends to the new rack, as it was false economy not to. They’re very cheap.
Refilled the system and bled the air out of it.
Feels really good now, much less vague on the road and it feels more taught over the bumps on the dreadful roads around here.
Good thing I had the ramp. Would have been a lot worse without it.

D423DF2C-78BC-45C5-97A0-F7950DC2EAF4.jpeg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 194 times

022D7AC7-FAA7-4865-BE4F-25A75100FC5D.jpeg (1.18 MiB) Viewed 194 times

[mercrocker]

To paraphrase Mr. Royce....."The improvement remains long after the knuckle-skinning arse-ache is forgotten..."