I mentioned this briefly last week.

tight spot(s) every 180 degrees, one annoyingly noticeable, the others just slightly/barely noticeable.

I had a friend turn the steering wheel while i watched the steering column under the hood.

Is the lower part of the column just above that weird U-joint supposed to move in an ellipse? About 1/4" movement at apogee vs perigee.

The column doesn't rotate on its cylingrical axis, it orbits around some imaginary axis.

Also, is that a set screw that connects the u-joint assembly to the column, or is that a drilled through split pin or roll pin?

Thanks,
Doug

 

The bolt that secures the spline goes through an indent in the splines on the rack, see part no. 2 in the diagram below.

It sounds to me as if you have a problem with part no.1 (lower steering column, shown in this diagram:
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/

This is NLA and will be an increasingly difficult problem to solve as our cars get older. The part is no repairable, i believe, as the swivelling parts are pressed in and punched over. To be sure you would need to test the rack, and also renew the upper UJ in the steering column (part no. 4) that the top of the above part attaches to. This part is available, and is also secured by a bolt to the column (part no. 7).

Yur best best would be a good second hand one from a lower mileage car. eg
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235977678879

 

That lower joint is kind of an odd design, if I had one in my hand, i could analyze it better. I am not sure that the lower straight part of the steering column can actually turn exactly on its center axis?? Or if its design makes it run an ellipse, even when new?

I squirted some PB blaster on the joint and its better than it was. I know the issue isn't the rack, I checked that.

I think i will look for a small CV joint (If one is even made for some application) and a used used lower Jag steering column and make a a adjustable, lockable sliding spline, CV joint that utilizes the clamp-to rack part of the jag UJ on bottom, and the top of the jag lower column inside the footwell.

Like this:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...-joint.701338/

Doug

 

I am not 100% sure that a single CV joint will work. I am no expert, but when I had this problem I think I found that the steering rack to column connection requires the ability to allow movement in more than one plane of orientation. The bottom of the column is not just at an angle to the rack splines, but also offset sideways from it. So the joint does not remain at a simple single angle when the column turns.
I lucked into a NoS one, but I honestly think that a goos second hand one is your best bet.

 

A CV joint will handle any angle that that abortion in there there now would. (look at all the complex angles a front wheel drive car must handle)

The factory joint allows in/out movement also, thats why I said a sliding spline would be necessary also.

CV joint plus spline costs more to make than that existing contraption which is probably why Jag used it, which surprises me , based on how the engineers in England seemed to go out of there way to make everything else more complex, also.

Doug

 

We'll see... and I may well be wrong; but i think that there is a 'step' in plane between the rack spline and the end of the column that a single UJ (which I think is what a CV joint is a superior version of) cannot handle.

What I am getting at is, imagine that the horizontal and vertical plane of a FWD driveshaft and its hub never crossed a single identical point in any orientation of the suspension, a CV joint could not work, indeed could not be fitted.

 

The upper u joint on the steering column handles that already. It allows the lower to be in the correct position, no matter where it is. Its no different than two drive shaft u joints where the motor is offset to the side,and above the plane of the differential input yoke. I have built a couple street rods, from scratch,, that utilize normal U joints (like the upper joint on the jag column) that connect to a rack. Nothing was laid out on paper, the racks were installed, steering columns were installed where they fit best, two (and sometimes three) U joints and rods connected the column to the rack. Three u joints require a stabilizer bearing on one of the shafts to keep everything in position.

Doug

 

Doug
I accept what you say, and stand corrected!
If you can post some pics and an explanation once you have done it, everyone will owe you a debt of gratitude. This is an increasingly common problem for almost all 1970s and 1980s Jaguars; and being able to fix it with modern components would be a real step forward in keeping our cars roadworthy.

 

The easiest would to to use standard u-joint and sliding spline, if a small cv can't be found for a reasonable cost.

https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/street...g-made-simple/

Doug

 

I have no easy access to my rack, but maybe the splined input shaft is 'standard", to other racks and readily available splined pinch U-joints are on the shelf , instead of needing an old Jag pinch collar to be to be cannibalized.
Spline count and outside diameter of the splined part of the pinion would help confirm that.

https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/street...g-made-simple/

Doug