steering question

Could be something as simple as air pressure. Double check that. 

Wonder if steering box is dry or low?  It has 2 rubber plugs on top - if you can get to them remove and check level of gear oil (90wt).  I guess the steering stabilizer could be bad - but usually they just lose fluid and go limp.

Steering damper can freeze up, after checking for box great disconnect the pit man arm ( a bit of a pita to line up on the spline to reinstall) then pop loose the tie rods until you find what is binding up. ....Don't use a pickle fork as that will destroy the boots, just shock the tie rod loose by hitting it on the sides.

Ball joint boots available from CIP-1......cheap....

The JETS beat the Patriots???!?!?!?!  Ouch.

Another vote for the steering damper, but I'd still check your tire pressure (you never know) and the fluid level in your steering box.

With my IM I cut a circular hole in the fiberglass, just above the steering box, to allow for adjustments and to check the fluid level.

Has the position of your steering wheel changed at all?

Yeah, why in tarnation do the builders cover over the steering box w/ FG, and say "So long!!"  Original 356s had a neat little cover held by screws to allow access to the oil fill and adjuster thingy.  C'mon man, how hard would that be??  I figure I'll be cutting a hole and making such a cover one of these days.  Ron-O, pls send picture of yours, if you can.

Easy to cut a hole above the box, use a rubber plug from a Help Rack, plumber's  isle or  junk yard.

I agree, El.  I put on an access port myself.  Should be standard.

Lane: picture??

I also vote for the Steering damper... slow death ...

Caretech-IM posted:

I also vote for the Steering damper... slow death ...

Ray, I'm experiencing the same thing. Could you please explain your thoughts on the damper ? I'm doing lot's to prep for 2016. Thanks.

A long time ago I had a beetle where the damper let go and whenever I would go over a bump I would have really scary steering wheel shake, left right, etc till it would settle down.  But on my IM I had the damper go slowly by a seal leak and it would essentially act exactly as Joel described getting harder and harder to turn but it would still steer albeit it with stronger arms and hold the road well and I finally discovered the leak and ordered a new one. 

The damper is a relatively inexpensive part so if I was in doubt I would change it.... Alan might know how to diagnose it better than I would but that is what I have experienced. Ray

 Ron-O, pls send picture of yours, if you can.

Sorry, my car is in Henry's shop.  I cut the hole with something like this:

The damper is a light duty shock absorber.  It is oil filled and, once they leak and dry out, the piston hangs up inside of the barrel and drags, making the steering very heavy in both directions.  They cost less than $30 bucks and can be swapped in about five minutes - a perfect winter/spring job.  To test, you can release one or both ends and see if the steering gets easier (yes, the steering wheel might flutter without it, but it's a test, right?)  They probably should be replaced on Speedsters ever ten years or so.

Steering Box Access:  IIRC, the original VW steering box access cover was about 4"-5" in diameter with a tab on the inside bottom that caught the inside of the hole to hold it in place, and another tab on the outside top, farther out than the hole, that had a hold-down screw in it - pretty simple.  It was positioned in front of and slightly off-set towards the top of the steering box so you could access both adjusters and the filler.  I would probably look for a cover that has a couple of hold-down tabs or is oversized enough that you could screw through it into the fiberglass outside of the hole.

But before I started cutting a hole into the battery/spare tire well to get at the steering box, I would find a suitable cover about that size at a Hardware or DIY store and then make a hole suitable for the cover size.  4"-5" or so seems about right.

Remember that the steering box has a filler hole on the top, as well as an adjuster screw, but there's also a big adjuster with a BIG locknut (36mm?) on the front of the box.  If you put a portal above the box it will still be difficult to get to the front adjuster. 

If enough of you are interested in doing this during the winter, I could get out there and measure Pearl and provide that to the group to replicate (I have not yet made this mod).  I'll see what I can find for potential covers at ACE, Home Depot or Lowes and let you know (a last resort might be West Marine).

You can easily make the hole with a 4"-5" hole saw as Ron showed, or you could use a Dremel with a grout cutting tip or a 3/16" rasp and a hole cutting tool (used for cutting holes in ceilings for recessed lights) or even a saber saw as long as the cutting tool doesn't hit the steering box.

Gordon, I for one would love to have someone knowledgeable do some front work for me.  My idea would be to see what size hole saw would best suit the access needed and then set out to see if I can find any plugs to fit that hole.  Hole saws mostly equal plumbing construction so I would start in the plumbing dept.  I have a Wing Nut, screw tightening plug for 3 or 4 inch drain pipe (I can't remember which) that is used to pre-test the gravity drains of new construction.  That's my idea, but you may find a better one.  I'm going to need this idea in May when I check my steering problem.

craig

PS - Theron, what happened to UNDERLINE text?

Five Cent Racing is on top of this one, I see.  Any info you can add to this issue, Gordon, will be appreciated.  Your approach is kinda where i was going.  Pic of a real 356 arrangement attached.  Note that the hatch here is large so brake fluid reservoir can be accessed as well. From the owner's manual that came with my '56 A coupe.

I'm sure this goes without saying but be careful of wiring below where you intend to cut. My car had a major wire going from the battery right through that general area.  Fortunately it had some play in it so it could be moved to cut the access port.

Underline text is still there.

Command U on a Mac, probably something like Crl U on a PC, or go to the top of the edit screen, click "Formats" then choose underline AFTER you've selected the text you want to underline.  That Format function is pretty powerful....

Oh yea, it was hidden three layers deep.  Formats>Inline>U.  How silly of me               I'll try to remember Command U.  My Mac is new and being an artist I should love it but I hate it.  

Thanks Gordon.   

Craig: Gordon's idea is sound: first, find the cover that you want to use, THEN cut the hole.

How about we get some 356 cover plates, and use those?  Wanna keep it as original as possible, right?

Hey guys-thank for all the replies. I did replace my stabilizer on my 2006 Vintage about 3 years ago because I was getting "bump" steering-no more. I will  check the replacement and tire pressure soon.

Joel

Ok, so Home Depot was on one of my routes today, and I found three semi-suitable cover candidates, one 5" round (ceiling box cover), one square and one rectangular (both switch box covers).  All were found in the electrical department.

The outside dimensions are:
Round 5"
Square 4-7/8"
Rectangular 4-3/4" X 6-3/4"

The ones I found were vinyl (and paintable, using paint for plastics), but they are also offered in metal (steel).  You could easily fabricate a piece of stick-on door insulation strip (Frost King) between the cover and the body.  That stuff is sold in a bunch of widths and thicknesses as needed (and it's cheap).

I have  a spare tire and stuff in the way so I didn't do anything in the trunk of my car today, but might get there in a day or two.  It's New Years, after all.....time to watch football.

Anyway, this should give you guys some ideas.  It should be easy to fabricate some sheet metal strips attached to the cover and bent at the ends so that they become clips that fit into the hole and hold the cover in place without screwing it into the fiberglass.

I used auto flexible body/hole plugs.  They are black and snap in right size hole or can be RV silicon cemented in.  I used a 1" one but they come larger like 2.5 and 4".  The one I used has a recessed top and seems to be for thicker material (one below says 1/8").

Gordon's solution is better,  however, there are original covers on Samba, that may or not work with our chassis.  http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...etail.php?id=1764149

Happy New Year to all you SOC folks. I wore a SOC  shirt today, the last day of 2015!

Yeah, but who would put a $125 Porsche steering box cover on their plastic Speedster?

Greg, 

Uline.com is a company selling round mailing tubes. The plastic end cap to these tubes go all the way to 6"-8" dia. 

Just an idea.....

Tom L