RJC Fury R1 Design Build Drive Gallery Video Contact Me Misc Last page update was 04 Apr 2018

Steering

Perhaps the most important part of the car, since this is what really connects the driver to car and the car to the road. No expense spared on this part of the design. Top quality wheel, quality bushes and bearings, fast steering rack. The geometry set-up is also a critial part of the steering too.

Steering Wheel

Like Richard , I'm going to use a Momo 290mm Model 26 steering wheel in black with suede finish. The cheapest source I've found was Rally Nuts  but it is also available from Demon Tweeks . It is possible to get a smaller wheel in this style but this seems about ideal to me. Steering wheels can be too small. This size is well suited to a quick rack and allows the Digidash to be viewed through it.

I bought a cheap Sierra steering wheel for the SVA test and it cost me £5.88. This wheel is 380mm in diameter. It provides a larger exclusion zone, behind which instrumentation is allowed on the dashboard. This is not a problem with my dash design anyway, due to small number of switches mounted on it.

Steering Wheel Boss

The Sierra steering column has a splined end with a bolt and 22mm nut to hold the wheel in place. The steering wheel that I intend to fit has its own boss that needs to be fitted to this.

Plenty of people fit removeable steering wheels but to me, it only seems to make sense if it makes it easier to get into the car. I originally bought a standard Sierra (except 1.3) Momo boss (part no. 1211511.4517) from Mod World  but had to send it back. It is far too large and heavy and has wiring for a horn, along with self-cancelling indicator ratchet.

The only way I could find a small and light weight steering wheel boss was to use a quick release one. I decided to use the same boss/hub as Richard . This one is from Rally Design  (part number RD8604) and cost £29.50.

This needs to be welded onto the Sierra steering column but not till after the SVA test. At the moment I can't see how that can be done as this buts up against the bearings and needs to keep the spring in the column under compression.

The steering column and link are from a Ford Sierra. It is important that this is from a non-adjustable car, as later cars have adjustable steering columns which cannot be easily used. All of the columns are described as collapsible. This simply means they deform in a crash and it is important to make sure your donor column is not damaged in this way. The ignition housing, bonnet release (red lever above) and switch gear are removed with angle grinder to save weight. After doing this it weighs 1775g.

This mounts to the chassis in two places. The first is one a 90° bracket supplied by Fisher Sportscars .

The second is a flat plate with rubber mount and bearing arrangement through which the column passes. This plate is bolted to the chassis on the end of the drivers footwell.

Steering Column Extension

I forgot to pick up this part when I got my steering column but it is needed by Fisher Sportscars  so that it can be modified and extended. Got this from a breakers for £10. Because of the rubber bushes, it can't be powder coated so I painted it with black Hammerite Smooth.

Column Bearing

Some people replace the steering column bearing with a nylon equivalent to improve the feel.

My brother has a standard rack on his Striker and it was one thing I noticed that could be improved upon during a recent track day. The steering rack needs to match the uprights. The standard Fury rack is 3.4 turns lock to lock but Fisher Sportscars  sell a quicker, 2.8 rack and mounts. My preference is for something a little quicker again and various racks are available at 2.4 and 2.5 turns lock to lock. Richard  used the Quaife 2.2 turn rack but you can go too far and I'd prefer to sacrifice some of the turn speed for improved feel. A quick rack will also work well with my column mounted paddle shift gear change.

I bought a rather tatty looking rack from my local breakers yard for £15. It is servicable though and came with the rack mounts and fittings. I've looked at my Haynes manual and refurbishing my donor rack is within my abilities (just) but it will take some time and not a small amount of money. One thing to watch out for is that quick rack kits will generally only fit into genuine Ford steering racks. There are some remanufactured racks that are physically different and will not accept the kits. Refurbishing is not necessarily the cheap option as I'm going to need (assuming parts from Burton Power  (prices include VAT):

There will probably also be some other service items required as I'm not sure what comes in the Quaife kit.

I eventually took the the easy route and threw a bit more money at the problem and bought a brand new rack 2.4 ratio rack from Rally Design . In restrospect, I'd say this is the perfect ratio for my intended usage. It's not too nervous and heavy on the road and is plenty quick enough for track use. The options I looked at were:

• Burton Power  sell standard ratio racks only. They also sell quick rack kits.
• TAS Motor Sport Ltd  sell a remanufactured quick rack (2.5 turns lock to lock) for £99 + VAT (part number 187).
• Montgomery Motorsport  sell racks at 2.23 and 2.5 turns.
• Quaife  sell a 2.2 turn lock-to-lock 'heavy duty' rack but it costs around £600.
• Rally Design  sell 2.4 ratio racks but I've heard mixed reports about the quality of the 'Tecrac' equipment. They also do a bronze bushed one for £130 though.

I will use standard steering rack mounting brackets which came with my donor rack. The rack must be mounted with locking nuts to meet SVA requirements. Burton Power  sell aluminium rack mounts that don't require bushes at all but, these are expensive. I've heard mixed reports about them and I'm not sure that these will actually provide a much more rigid mount. Using firmer bushes seems to be the way to go.

Steering Rack Mounting Bushes

I'm using the polybushes (part number POLY11) from Burton Power .

Reading Tim Hovered's website  it is clear that he has had some issues with the rigidity of chassis structure on which the steering rack mounts, which are probably more noticable due to him racing his Fury. This is hugely important to me though, as it directly affects the feel and driver involvement, one of my primary goals in building a Fury. Tim has welded additional bracing into the chassis to address this. I'm looking at what is possible without welding.

These are from a Ford Escort MkII and are M14 with the metric (large) taper. These are from Burton Power  (part number TA687) but they are no longer available. The replacement part number is QR1384S .

There are various issues to be aware of with this part. On some cheap makes of track rod ends the rubber boot can split easily. Make sure the rubber boot does not hit other parts of the suspension and braking system. Mine are very close to the discs! Photo taken April 2018.

Front Hubs

The complete hub and disk assembly fit onto the Escort Mk II stub axles. The hub nuts are tightened to 27lb-ft whilst spinning the hub anti-clockwise to seat the taper bearings. They are then backed-off from 45-90 degrees, so that the hubs spin freely but are not loose. A castellated sleeve and split pin hold the nut in place. The hub nuts are 26.8mm.

SVA Test

Then SVA test requires that the wheels do not contact the bodywork at full lock and that the steering self-centres effectively.

Useful Links

• Sylva Mojo build manual 

RJC Fury R1 Design Build Drive Gallery Video Contact Me Misc Copyright © Robert Collingridge 2004