E85/E86 Steering Problems (Solved)

[boca22]

Just want to say, did this today and it worked an absolute treat. There’s still a bit of twitch there which i think is unrelated and could partially be put down to the characteristics of the car but the post about adjusting the rack seems like a good place to start. Thanks OP for the great write up, this has made the car so enjoyable again!

[FunkyGBrown]

Had a strange one with mine today.

Last year wasn't hot enough that it got sticky often.. but it still needed addressing.

Adjusted today 10mm upwards as opposed to downwards (tried that last year and it felt really loose and vague).

So, the weirdness, is that I thought leaving the bolts slightly loose would mean less aggro for adjustments, but kept the test drives somewhat short. I found that I had absolutely no sticking at all, but the micro adjustments were terrible. Tightened the bolts, steering stiffened and felt slightly stuck but no micro adjustments whatsoever.

Is this literally a case of adjusting it mm by mm to find that sweet spot?

[Joycey]

Had a strange one with mine today.

Last year wasn't hot enough that it got sticky often.. but it still needed addressing.

Adjusted today 10mm upwards as opposed to downwards (tried that last year and it felt really loose and vague).

So, the weirdness, is that I thought leaving the bolts slightly loose would mean less aggro for adjustments, but kept the test drives somewhat short. I found that I had absolutely no sticking at all, but the micro adjustments were terrible. Tightened the bolts, steering stiffened and felt slightly stuck but no micro adjustments whatsoever.

Is this literally a case of adjusting it mm by mm to find that sweet spot?

Yes mate adjust it little by little, to find the sweet spot for you.

[JimmyRichE85]

This has been a fascinating post to read and learn of your experiences - its got me wondering what the setup is on my car but being totally non-skilled at mechanical engineering, I’m wondering if anybody has any experience of working with an Indy/Specialist in the Bath/Bristol area that could look at this for me please?

[TrackMyZ]

I wonder if this is what my problem is!! Thank you so much for the info. I’m gonna run it by you and see if my description of what’s happening applies. I have had the car realigned three times in two months. It has new rods, new bushings, new everything as well. It is a track car and has race suspension as well so everything is tight. But it has this weird sense of play right in the center almost like as if it’s trying to drive for me and I have to slightly fight it sometimes even though it doesn’t pull to one side of the other or anything like that, it’s just a little play in the center. but because the steering is tight like I like it, it is very annoying. It is almost as if I can feel the rods on the road pulling the tire back from each side. I don’t know how to explain iit.

[Z4_Tom]

I have just tested this solution and it works perfectly. My steering wheel is not sticky any more and driving it is much better!

Manage to do it in situ as well. Not difficult when you have good instruction and proper tools:

- did not have to remove the seat at all.
- just run the seat all the way to the back
- column cover has one Philips screw to remove
- cover underneath has T20 screws
- remove the spring that helps with column adjustment
-get a sharpie and mark adjustment ring and the motor for original position
- use closed end of 8mm spanner
- front bolt to be released can be accessed without getting underneath on your back, just use something to extend the leverage as the 8mm spanner is quite short and these bolts are quite tight (I have locked another spanner at the open end of my 8mm one)
- you have only around 30 degrees of spanner movement space so needs to be loosen up at least 3-4 times
- for the bolt deeper behind you need to get on the floor and upside down, difficult position but doable
- loosen up same way
- what I have found after loosening the bolts was that my motor itself now could be moved a bit as well (had a play few mm each way) luckily I had it marked against each other before started moving anything.

Took me few adjustments and test drives but now it is a massive difference! Thanks guys. Let me know if anyone needs „how to” with pictures in case no one done it yet. I could have missed it.