What is a "normal" steering?

[babu2001]

Hi. Since I never drove another Spider except mine, I can't say if the way my steering is acingt is normal. If I'm at a dead stop, like in a parking lot, I can't turn the wheels. I know it's not a power steering car but I've already had powerless steering in the past and I'm far from being a wuss. The tires are new 185/60//14, 20 mm larger thant stock size ('83) and pressure is OK. The steering column is warping under my efforts. But as soon as I'm beginning to move, everything is fine. The car goes where I want and is very stable. One of my friend own a Crossfire and was amazed on how it rides compared to its own car. Not talking about power... So, back to my steering. Is it normal for a Spider? Or might it be a sign of rods wearing out?

[dmwhiteoak]

I have 14" tires on mine and it steers fine. Not hard at all at a dead stop. Have you done any adjustments to your steering box? At one time while adjusting the slack out of mine it did get hard to turn and I just loosened a little and all is well.

[vandor]

I wonder if your steering idler is locking up (and possibly about to break off! - it has happened to me).
Jack up the front of the car and see how hard it is to turn the steering wheel. You should be able to turn it with one finger.

[Redline]

Even with 205/60-13s I can (relatively) easily turn the wheels at a dead stop. I prefer not to, but it certainly isn't binding like you describe.

[babu2001]

I didn't checked the steering since I bought the car. With your comments, it's now on top of my TODO list. If only I had a lift in my garage... If only I had a garage...

[124ADDHE]

Babu, have a look (tighten) all those crossmember and steering box bolts and nuts while your down there too!

[124cso]

It depends upon what you are used to driving. If something with power steering, you will find it very heavy. But, even against other non power steering cars they are noticably heavier.
In 1972, my brother bought a Brand new 124 with only dealer delivery miles in it. On 13" rims & 165 /80 Michelin XAS tyres and it seemed very (shockingly) heavy to get into and out of parallel parks but was fine on the road at any speed. This as compared to My Fiat 125 on 175/80/13 Pirellis.

Every time I back my spider out of the drive, I have to apply good effort to the steering as I move forward (turning right) to bring me into my proper lane. The same turn in my truck, i can do with 1 finger on the wheel centre bar/airbag holder.

So yes, even by standards of the day, they were heavy for parking etc but brilliant at 100MPH !

[babu2001]

No, it's not a heavy feeling I have, I CAN'T turn the wheels from a dead stop. I'm pretty sure I could dammage the steering column with all the binding it's getting from my efforts. At least the support from under the dash. And no, I won't try it. I'll check it next week.

[124cso]

Could be either your suspension alignment is all up the boo-eye - Caster angle, etc or, have you got non standard wheels and the offsets are wrong ?? If that is the case, you would be effectively trying to actually move the front of the car in relation to the ground when you turn the wheels. Even say 1/2 an inch wrong offset, turning from straight ahead to full lock would be like moving the car 1/3", plus, the wheels would be fighting each other.

[Redline]

Offset won't mess up the steering that much. Standard offset is in the range of +20 to +30mm. The CD30s were +7, my CD66 repros are +10. That's your half inch, and I can't say it dramatically changes the static steering effort.

[djape1977]

for years i've driven 7x13 wheels, ET-11(yes, NEGATIVE) offset, and steering was heavy at standstill, so much so that i ended up cracking steering soloumn supports and having to weld and reinforce them in the end. so yes, it can be heavy. however, while driving, the car was very responsive and steering was not heavy at all.
thinking of how i could make it a bit easyer to paralel park, i changed all the balljoints and tie rods for high quality parts (lower internal resistance to rotation), changed the steering idler from one with plastic bushings to one with ball bearings and installed a new steering box. it made the steering aprox. 50% lighter at full stop while it remained pretty much the same while moving.

as someone already said, first jack up your car's whole front end and rotate the steering wheel from side to side. it should be rotating with very little resistance. if it ain't moving freely, something's badly fecked up

[KidDingo]

Babu,

Mine was similarly difficult to turn. Turned out the idler and steering boxes were bone dry. Pull the tops off them both and make sure they have plenty of oil in them.

Search the threads on this forum for the type of oil to get and instructions on removing the tops from the idler and steering box. They're fairly simple procedures, but the steering box is a little awkward to get to.

Once I filled them up, the steering got noticeably better - it's not perfect, but it's easier to turn while stationary.

[124cso]

[quote="KidDingo"]Babu,

.. difficult to turn. Turned out the idler and steering boxes were bone dry. ...Once I filled them up, the steering got noticeably better - quote]

I would have thought that checking such things should be in everybody's maintainance schedule. It's in the schedule in your handbook !

Don't just drive them till they drop and then think about it.

No, not picking on you 'KidDingo' . At least you thought to check !

[KidDingo]

By way of explanation, it was the PO who let it get that bad.

I bought the car in October 2011 and made that discovery in November as I proceeded to
make amends for about 15 years of mechanical neglect.

But I agree, those kinds things need to be checked regularly.