Problem after swivel rebuild

[AdeParko]

I rebuilt the swivel housings on my 1996 300tdi yesterday with a new ball, bearings, seals, etc... but when testing the preload it seemed high? and this was with all the shims fitted

I carried on with the rebuild, but on completing I took it out for a test drive and noticed that the steering doesnt return back to center, the steering whould just continue in either left or right circles if you do not take the lock off yourself

Is this related to the swivel preload values big slightly high?

If it is, how do I get the preload lower? Was I meant to re-use the existing shims along with the 4no. new ones that came in the kit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Ade

[Tetsu0san]

How high is high? Did you measure it with a spring balance?

[AdeParko]

yeah, measured with a spring gauge

With seal fitted it was measuring about 8kg/18lb, but as said, that was with all the 4no. new shims fitted and top pin torqued down to 75nm

[Tetsu0san]

I would suggest this is a little high, I think 14-16lb is OK with no seal in place. It's kind of trial and error getting it right, don't just reply on a manual to tell you what shims to use. Did you do the measuring with the seal in place or without it? If you did, did the preload increase a lot with the seal in place?

Were the bearings and the seals a good quality make? Either way I would think you need to pull it off and have another go. Unless something is getting caught somewhere of course, but I can't think what.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Way too high

12-14 with no seal is what I aim for

at 18 you'll knacker the bearings fast

[AdeParko]

Thanks for the replies

As said, my figures were from when carried out with the seal in place

If from you posts above that either 12-14 or 14-16 lbs are ok, should I expect to see greater resistance once the seal is fitted?

Also, how is the resistance lowered? With more shims I suppose but I used all the new ones received in the kit and threw away the old ones. Do I need to buy more?

It's was a Brit part kit used with timiken bearings

Everything fitted perfect and the job went straight forward enough

Thanks

[David Sparkes]

You shouldn't have thrown away the old shims. Either fetch them out of the bin or buy new replacements. You use as many shims as are required to get the preload (friction damping) you want.

As said, it can be trial and error, those with experience in their finger tips might set the pre-load towards the high end of the tolerance, guesstimating it will lower to within tolerance as the parts bed in.

Another trick is to make the top shim in the pile the thinnest (5 thou?), on the basis that if the damping becomes too low when the vehicle is in service (and wheel shimmy is experienced), simply removing the thin shim will restore the preload to within limits, without having to undo all the set screws holding the big seal in place and re-measuring the preload.

"... should I expect to see greater resistance once the seal is fitted?"

Yes, but ... Bear in mind that the friction from the big seal will vary depending whether it is new and stiff or bedded in and well lubricated.

There is no figure given in the manual for setting them up with the big seal in place, although I'm sure there are some clever clogs around who will claim to do it that way, and guarantee success, but for the first time around I suggest you gain experience in your fingertips by doing it the correct way, before trying short cuts.

HTH.