u bolts steering rack

[triumphspitfire.eu]

Good morning to all,
What is torque setting mounting u bolts of steering rack?
I have used 22 Nm, this the result  :o :

[willcolumbine]

I am pretty sure it's 16nm. This is a pretty useful page if you haven't got a manual...

http://www.triumphspitfire.com/Torque.html

[CharlieB]

16 lbf.ft or 22 Nm.
More shoddy after market parts?

[Nick Jones]

Torque wrench calibration?

Nick

[Clive]

Nick_Jones wrote:

Torque wrench calibration?

Nick

I check mine (every few years :o ) by clamping the drive in teh vice, grab the bathroom scales and do the maths....I guess that assumes the scales are correct, which they are to about 3%

[triumphspitfire.eu]

My Mounting U bolts is original, no after market. My Torque wrench is new and quality. My manual is Haynes.
The problem is that 22 Nm. or 16 lbf ft for this Mounting perhaps excessive.
What is your experience directly ?  :)

[willcolumbine]

CharlieB wrote:

16 lbf.ft or 22 Nm.
More shoddy after market parts?

Ah yes, foot pounds it is, not nm! The only reason the 16 stuck in my head was because I, like you, had a problem with this part. In my case though it was the nut that stripped rather than the U bolt. At first I thought it might be the setting on my torque wrench, which uses some distinctly unusual units and requires a bit of conversion maths to be done before using, but I double checked and that seemed fine. In the end I thought it might have been the fact that I'd not tightened the nuts up particularly evenly. I figured if one bolt was done up tight first, the u bolt might have stopped being 'square' and this could've put more pressure on the threads when tightening the other side. A new bolt and more careful tightening seemed to sort it out in the end.

[triumphspitfire.eu]

I have tightened nuts 13 Nm  (approximately 9.59 ft lbf).
Do you think is enough ?
I fear over tighten.

[Velocita Rosso]

Ive never torqued the u bolts, Just hand tight till the bushs start to squash up . Theyve never fallen off in all the miles i do

[triumphspitfire.eu]

michael_charlton wrote:

Ive never torqued the u bolts, Just hand tight till the bushs start to squash up . Theyve never fallen off in all the miles i do

Many many thanks for his direct experience. Now I trust my steering!   8) 8)

[Nick Moore]

I'll probably get shot down in flames, but I've rarely used a torque wrench for nuts and bolts outside the engine. I find (or think I do) that you can feel how tight a fitting should be - how a bush or gasket deforms, how much it tightens up as the torque is increased, and how near a thread is to stripping. A friend called it "mechanic's feel" and that's as accurate a description as any. On the odd occasion when I've checked with a torque wrench, I've usually been pretty close.

So far it's worked, nothing's fallen off!

[rotoflex]

michael_charlton wrote:

Ive never torqued the u bolts, Just hand tight till the bushs start to squash up . Theyve never fallen off in all the miles i do

I remember a Car & Driver or Road & Track story that I think was a comparison article which included the 1500 while it was originally sold, and in it they mentioned that there was remarkable improvement in response and feel of the Spitfire steering upon pre-loading the steering rack bushes.

It is likely now that using firmer polyurethane bushes surpasses the effect of pre-loading the original rubber items, but it just seemed worth mentioning in a discussion of the rack mounts.

"Nick Moore" wrote:

I'll probably get shot down in flames, but I've rarely used a torque wrench for nuts and bolts outside the engine. I find (or think I do) that you can feel how tight a fitting should be - how a bush or gasket deforms, how much it tightens up as the torque is increased, and how near a thread is to stripping.

I really can't do that.  I can break anything I pick up, and overtighten anything.  I squashed someone's phone at work.  I have a friend who used to work in the construction industry who said that they used to call people with this problem people with "monster hands".  I have to use the torque wrench on everything.  I am intimidated when I must tighten using only a screwdriver.

[Nick Moore]

"Monster Hands" - I like that, I know a few candidates!

I remember a tale about when Lotus started building their Mk1 Cortina, and Ford were documenting the build process for the workshop manual. At one point a Ford mechanic asked Chapman how tight a bolt should be, so he tightened it to what he thought it should be, they measured it and that became the official torque setting!

[ferny]

I'm the same as you, Nick. Although I probably have far less experience! I've double checked what I feel is right and it's been pretty close too.

Although I have been known to have monster hands too. I used to have a phone which apparently could be run over by a car and be fine. I broke two screens by squeezing it a bit too tightly when I had a bad phone calls.  :B

[bob dunn]

wot is talk wench ,just tighten it up to solid plus one bit of a turn , then go for a drive , then check its tight . if its loose ,it makes a noise as you stop . it will not fall of . trust the force .

[triumphspitfire.eu]

Well,
i understand, tighten the nuts and forget about it. many thanks to all for help