Stiff Steering Mk2 Cortina

[cruza]

Hi to all, my mk2 cortina has steering that feels heavy, wont center after going around corners left or right, I thought it was the steering box so i changed that with another one. The replacement box felt nice and smooth when not connected to the drag link, but there is still the non centering issue when connected and driven, so i had the alignment done and still no change....Do the shockies have a bearing at the pivot point on the struts? I have even changed the front tyres thinking they might have something to do with it. I'm hoping someone can shed a bit of light on this as it makes the car drive like a pig.

[foxtrot3]

Hi. Might pay to check the lower ball joints, might find one of them is seized. Dont think they had a bearing in the top plate but unless there is a massive amount of rust on the shocker shaft it wont be any harder to turn there than it was when it left the factory. Cheers MD

[cruza]

ok thanks, i never thought about the ball joints

[Rallye Sport]

Might be a mk1 drag link. Had the same issue with my mk1, turned out it had a mk2 link in it... may be the other way around in your case...

[yearby]

Most, not all mk 2 Cortina's had a rubber mount at the top on the suspension strut which flexed when the steering wheel was turned. That is the rubber distorted when turning and the rubber would return to it's original position when the steering wheel was released, thus centralising the steering. If the rubber joint has deteriorated, or some one has fitted it wrong, or put a left side one in the right side for instance, it would cause havoc with your steering.

Peter

[chappy60]

I would hazard a guess and say it would be the drag link bushes had the
same problem some years ago the originals are hard nylon when they supply
new bushes they are polyurethane or nolathane these I found had problem
gripping the drag link pin that went through them e.g. heavy steering and
steering not centralising replaced with the original type bush and the problem was
solved