hi

I put a bit of everyones info together to make My MK Indy self centre for its SVA

and here is how to make it self centre almost as good as a production car

snoopies advice first on the springs

this takes about 20 minutes and is not dangerous or any of that crap

take rubber gaitors of rack both sides and youll see the rack bar a knuckle then a few inches of bar again before it goes into the rack housing..

I got two old valve springs per side

the knuckle need undoing(right hand thread) with monkey wrench or whatever carefully then slides out put the two springs on the bar then put the knuckle back on the springs will compress a little

do this both sides and put the rubber covers back on turn the steering wheel on the spot and youll see the wheel bounce back the wheel will be no stiffer

I found this not enough when driving though

NOTE the springs will reduce your lock slightly which is not a problem as thyeve got way to much lock anyway like a london cab'

then set your wheels straight at the front
actually set them up if there not straight either

then now the other end of the rack by the wheel the track rods turn these out a few turns each not loads

the car will still handle adequate for the general drive to the SVA

and your steering wheel will fly back to the centre

also pump your tyres up to 35psi

hope that helps anyone coming up to it

if you start setting your toe out dangerously or looking silly the SVA bloke at shrewsbury now brings out loads of tools which are simple effective ways of checking the angles of your front wheels etc

there logging onto it with MK's

so he knew there were springs in there

BUT big BUT he cant see them

ok ta

chris

Many Many thanks,

been struggeling with this one for some time.

just need to find some old springs, the local ford dealer does not keep any new ones as they "never" need them.

what sort of spring do you use and what is the best engine to get them off?

Ditch

Pinto valve springs are perfect

any idea where best to get them?

Ditch

just some old valve springs from an engine shop he had some lying around and they looked perfect

mine slipped on just nice

probable an old montego engine or something

I couldn't be bothered looking round scrap yards so I bought 2 new ones from Burton in Ilford - £4.50 each.

Cheers

Stu

nor me thats why i just popped in to local engine shop

any valve springs mate

take your pic was the answer

took an handful out of box and left donation

guess what i'm upto then this weekend. it beats laying paving slabs

Many thanks

ditch

just ordered some zetec E springs from burtons for £2.50 each.

ditch

Be careful - they may not fit.

I tried some from a 16 valve motor [k series] and they were too small - the Zetec is also a 16v so you may have the same problem.

Stu

I agree Zetec ones are very narrow diameter.
Steve.

I used land rover valve springs £3.25 delivered for 2 off ebay. Fit nicely.

MK just send me some springs for me to try, but one the steeringwheel side (left, in my case), it seems to get stuck in the steeringrack, and I can't steer to the right anymore. Hmm. How can that happen??!?!?!? And how can I solve this?

Sigh....

It turned out that both springs entered the rack, and one of them got stuck in such a way that the rack just blocked. I've now made some spacers, so the springs actually press against the rack-housing, and now the problem is solved. It does limit the steering angle a lot, and I haven't tried the self-centering yet.

By the way; using a lot of negative camber will also help self centering, right? The dutch distributor told me to have the top of the front wheel 2 cm inwards, compared to the bottom. I'm gonna give that a try also.

I did measure the caster angle, and if I'm correct, it is 7.2 degrees. That should be more than enough for self centering, right? If so, what is the limiting factor then?!?!

Does anyone know how much caster other seven's with Sierra uprights have? (Westfield SDV, DAX Rush, Raw Striker, etc.etc.). Do they suffer from the same problem?

Marcel

mate dont get to technical it works perfect and simple the way I explained

it makes things more hard work for yourself

the way Ive told you is all you need to do

and it does reduce lock but only gives you about the same as a normal production car anyway so no big deal

chris

The lack of lock probably helps, as alot of people have a problem with the cycle wing brackets touching the flexis.

Well, I'm also looking for a solution that will give the car self-centering AFTER getting it through SVA. Coming out of a corner with self-centering is so much more confidence inspiring than without (at least for me: I drove a self-centering Striker after driving my Indy, and I must say the feeling of the Striker coming out of a corner was waaaay better). Maybe it just has to do with personal taste, but let's be honest; it's not to annoy us that they want to see self-centering at SVA.

Of course, my main objective is to get it through SVA, but I'm really looking for an overall improvement also.

I do agree on the steering lock though...

Quite a lot of powerful older front wheel drive production cars don't self centre under power due to torque steer - as long as you expect it I've never found it to be a problem.


Stu

Yesterday I had the opportunity to look at a Dax Rush with Sierra uprights. They seem to have no problem with self centering, and I'm trying to find out why. The castor angle seems to be larger with the Dax, so that at least one explanation for the difference. However, I also noticed that the arms of the steeringrack are perpendicular to the wheel with the Dax (when looking from above), while at the MK they point rearwards. In other words, the rack is mounted more to the rear in the Indy. Could that also influence the self-centering somehow?

Marcel

Anyone got any pics of how to make the rack self centre with springs and how to fit them please?

matt

Am I doing something worng. Tried this and got about 10degrees of turn on the wheels - Hey it bounced back no probs.
But wouldn't like to drive it - it would have the turning circle of the titanic.

I had the same problem with mine, the amount of lock I lost was horrendous. In the end I cut one on the valve spring (on each side) in the rack in half to give a little better lock. now I have about 1.5 turns lock to lock, and it passed the SVA without a problem (just don't tell Mr SVA that what you've done)

what would be the reason for illegalness of this solution?

i mean springs arent they reliable?

valve spring are very high quality things!

also they wanted self centreing not good angles per hub / design..

Tks

with my 2 springs in each side I had about the same lock as a production car

even with less lock there still perfectly driveable

I did miles with mine

quote:

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Originally posted by zxrlocost
with my 2 springs in each side I had about the same lock as a production car

even with less lock there still perfectly driveable

I did miles with mine

---

phoenix - do you have a quickrack?

any pics of this solution guys? please

quote:

---

Originally posted by Toady1
phoenix - do you have a quickrack?

---

Please excuse my ignorance, but why don't they self center when you add some caster? Is a pair of adjustable A-arms all you need? Or is this just to pass the SVA which self centering specs are unrealistic?
Cheers.

my springs were from a montego

the Mk doesnt self centre so we have to do this for SVA

i can fast road the car perfectly without the need to self centre

See this link for a diagram of the spring solution:

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=39012

So what sort of caster numbers do you guys run normally? I can't live w/o lots of caster. I need the wheel to spin itself to center under power, especially at AutoX. Then again Im not a great driver and tend to over steer a little bit .
Cheers.

What actually is the inherent problem that causes the lack of self-centring on them?

Is it that the Indy top wishbone adheres to the incorrect book 11mm castor that should really be 22mm?

Cheers,
James