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Location:
campbelltown
Registered:
May 2002
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RA40 heavy steering
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Mon, 17 June 2002 07:24
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hey,
took a mates ra40 for a drive today and noticed that his steering is a shiteload lighter then mine. i find this odd and even odder cuz i have 195 tyres his are 215's. i would have thought if anything the car with skinnier tyres would be lighter.
anyways, my tyres are pumped up and both use the factory steering box. can anyone suggest anything to check about this?
was going to top up the steering box oil but i have no idea on how much to put in.
thanks for any help
nathan
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Mon, 17 June 2002 07:53
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i'm not sure but it might need a wheel alignment...
i noticed that the steering on my car was a lot lighter after i got a wheel alignment done.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Mon, 17 June 2002 09:37
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yeah alignment i would say too, makes a big difference best $30 i ever spent on my ra40
Allan
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Wed, 19 June 2002 11:30
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compare tyre pressures with your friend. i am running 40 psi in my front and rear tyres which has made the steering fairly light. but i am going to drop the fronts down to about 36-38 as it likes to wander about on the highway as it is very sensative at those speeds. could possibly be some of your tie rod ends are ceased up too.
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Wed, 19 June 2002 12:48
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his mate runs 34psi in the fronts and 30-32psi in the back.
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Location:
Tasmania
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Thu, 20 June 2002 04:02
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Caster effects how heavy the steering is alot. Older cars such as RA40 Celicas and older, and KE30 Corollas, are set up from factory to have nearly no caster (strut is almost verticle) as this gives very light steering, and power steering is not needed. Newer cars are set up with more caster (strut on a angle) as this gives dynamic camber (all good) and increases handling and grip. But the extra caster makes steering heavy, so these cars also have power steering. Note that big cars, like a commodore, or trucks even, noticeably have lots of caster, and you can see the camber of the wheels when turned, and these cars have powersteering. Lots of caster makes the steering heavy because when you turn the wheel, you are actualy lifting the front of the car up a few mm. Caster makes the car go strait when you let go of the wheel as well, and gives more self centering action. Caster is a good thing, I have increased it on my KE55, but the steering is heavyer, that is ok.
If the car wanders about, your front wheels are probably toe-out or strait ahead. With a RWD car you want the front wheels toed-in. You don't need a full on wheel alighment to do this, you eye ball it crouching down infront of your car and adjust the steering rods so you have just a little toe-in.
If you have too much toe-in, the steering will be heavy.
If you have more caster on one side than the other, the car will tend to steer off to one side. If you increase the caster on both sides, this problem will be hidden.
Oil in thes steering box will make no difference, but make sure it is topped up anyhow. The level is ment to be 15mm from the top filler plug, with GL4 oil.
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
New Zealand
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Thu, 20 June 2002 04:15
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hmm. I better check my steering box. It looks like it's been leaking for years. (KE35).
FWIW: I think KE3x corollas and probably most of the RWD ones run around 1 deg castor.
I have easily made mine 3deg (+ve). This is with 195/60/14's on the front with +10 offset rims.
Standard ride height, but I don't think it will be a problem otherwise.
Karl
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Thu, 20 June 2002 12:34
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I would have to say that adjusting your toe in by eyeballing it is one of the most stupidest ideas i have heard in a long time!!!
why do you think shops would spend many thousads of dollars ona wheel allignment machine if they could "eyeball it"
i have done a bit on wheel aligning at tafe and you have to be extrmely fine with oyur adjustments.
another note. if you plan on getting a PROPPER wheel alignment do not go to quickft tyres as they are one of the dodgiest mobs around.
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Location:
Tasmania
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Thu, 20 June 2002 21:46
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OK, I am stupid, or you do not understand how I adjust the toe in. I can get it acurate to about half a turn of the steering arm adjuster. Driving on the road I can feel the difference between a bit of toe-in, a bit of toe-out, and dead strait. So how acurate do I need to be? If I can't feel the difference it does not matter. I don't just stand to one side of the car, close one eye, and say, yeah that will be ok. I actualy think about what I'm doing, and get the result I'm after. I can get the wheels lines up perfectly strait, and I want a bit of toe-in from that. Who is stupid? Please explain.
You can also use a piece of string to do this, as seen in some race suspension tuning books.
If you don't know what your doing, then its not good to adjust things yourself by eye.
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Fri, 21 June 2002 07:25
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hey i wasnt saying you were stupid. i was saying it is a stupid idea. I am not criticising now that you have explained yourself but i wouldnt mind seeing your way done then put it on a machine to compare it to factory specs. but hey if it works for you go for it
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Location:
Tasmania
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Fri, 21 June 2002 14:58
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OK. I'm not realy interested in factory specs, not relivent in my car. You can use a wheel alignment machine to acurately set up the car, but its only good if you know what specs to set them too. And if you are into driving your car hard, the factory specs for a 1978 car will have little bearing on making it handle. Also consider that when you do a wheel alignment on many of our cars, you can only adjust the caster and the toe-in. On some cars you can adjust the toe-in, and thats it. If you don't like the camber, or if its different to specs, or different from either side, too bad. Make sure you know what specs you want before getting a wheel alignment (asuming your into toyota MODS).
Considering how you can only adjust the toe-in on many cars, a wheel alignment is fiarly expensive for what they do.
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Location:
New Zealand
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: RA40 heavy steering
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Fri, 21 June 2002 20:50
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When I had a wheel alignment done after changing to Corona TT132 struts and steering arms, the toe was way out.
I had them increase the castor too, they asked me when they had it on the machines what I would like, and told me what it is.
I asked for 3deg +ve, and this is about as much as I could get, and even had to tap back a corner on the guard so the wheel could turn.
Karl
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