Chris Williams Wrote:Thought Martin was doing complete replacements inc the shaft for reasonable money???
Chris
Yeah, I'm aware of this, but as Martin said, there was nothing wrong with the rest of my connection. Just the lower Universal Joint was worn and sloppy. So no need to spend more than what was required.
Anyway, I ordered one of the Rover SD1 ones from Rimmer Bros, and it arrived within 36hrs of ordering it on the internet. I picked it up last night, and spend a couple of hours in the drive, flying by the seat of my pants to get it in place of the old worn one. (No jacking up, and completely lost original positions for the linking of the three sections, so had to align from scratch using best judgement, but got there on my first go. 1 & 1/4 turns in each direction, with the steering wheel almost perfectly straight in a straight line (same as before)).
Took the car for a test drive once done, and I have to say WHAT A DIFFERENCE it has made. Immediate, and much more defined reaction from the steering wheel, and without all the sloppy uncertain-ness with the original play I had (about 2cm). I might even go as far as to say that the car now feels "easy" to drive! THAT'S how much an affect it has had. The car feels lighter.
Total cost with VAT and postage and packing. £24.72. (advertised at £15.00 on their site)
It is practically identical to the original. Some minor differences, but not enough to make it not work as the original did. I could have done the job a lot quicker if it wasn't for the machined splined faces on the inside of the joint being all painted up the same as the rest of the joint. I spent a good hour scraping and cleaning the paint off the splines to get them to slide on to the bar on each end. So anyone needing one of these in the future, all you need is some perseverance and a small flat blade screwdriver to get into the the ridges of the spline, and just run the blade up and down the length of each ridge a few times to clear out the paint. Eventually, the joint will slide on to the bar without much hassle. With the paint on there though, it was impossible. I tapped it a couple of times gently with a rubber mallet, but didn't want to hit it hard as this may weaken the joint, meaning my purchase would be rendered pointless. As I say, a little patience. 8)