Holy Sh*t TA22 Steering Improvement!!!

[75Ta22LT]

Me being one that doesn't want something to break at 100kms/h+ have so far left my steering components the hell alone!

There was however, a fair amount of free play in the steering wheel, roughly 1/5 of a turn.
After playing around with a spare steering box, and isolating that it was indeed the cause of free play in my one, I managed to work out how to tighten the sucker up (lacking a manual of any shape or form of cause). I'm sure all this is documented elsewhere, but here it is anyway.

-Crack the lock nut on top, wind it outwards 3-4 turns. (mine needed about 8 rotations)
-There is a threaded screw with a flat head screwdriver mount on top of the box, screwing this clockwise will tighten the internal gearing of the steering box.Be careful not to overtighten the gearing, this will do more damage than if it was loose.
-Tighten up the lock nut at the desired position, keep the screwdriver in place so as to not throw out your adjustments..

I had not had this adjusted since buying the car, and pretty much put the free play down to the massive roo that got mashed under the left hand side last year. damage extended to the chassis rail itself, which had to be pulled slightly.

My god, for 10 minutes work, its the best handling improvement, I didn't think that anything with 165mm tread could handle that crazy!!!!

My understeering problem has pretty much dissapeared, the wheels are now nice and firm when coming into a corner, instead of vibrating like all shit and losing traction.

Anyone with a TA/RA series should check this out first if free play is experienced.

[IN 05 NT]

ive been meaning to do this for about 6 months also...pretty easy!...im just lazy...

blake

[river]

Hi,

Nice work, but you should also check your steering idler arms, pitman arm and bushes for wear. If they've never been replaced then these will be getting quite worn and you don't want to mask the problem by adjusting the steering box.

seeyuzz
river

[MWP]

Be careful when tightening this adjusting screw up... over tightening it will mean VERY rapid steering box wear.

Also make sure that the steering box is full (almost to the filler nut) of good oil.
A decent diff oil like a 80W will do fine.

If you want to go that bit further, its a good idea to pull the box out, flush it out with petrol a few times to get all the old oil out and put new 80W oil back in.
Itll get rid of grit and steel pariticles that have built up over 30yrs.

[75Ta22LT]

Cheers guys, hadn't considered changing the oil!

I have bought new tie rod ends, and ball joints. Still searching out a new idler arms/pitman arm.

[suss_slide]

So for noobs....were do we find the steering box on a ta22??????

[MWP]

So for noobs....were do we find the steering box on a ta22??????

Woah, very n00b

The big black steel box under the brake master cylinder.

[ian]

So for noobs....were do we find the steering box on a ta22??????

the easiest way to find the steering box is to follow the column from the steering wheel and you will find it at the end

[celicapain]

help- i did all this stuff, when i cleaned and painted my ra23's box(she's high maintanence)
now ive got an oil leak that i cant stop.
it looks like its coming from the top of the steering arm, where it goes into the bottom of the box. if anyone know what this is or what i can do about it anyinfo would be much appreciated

[oldcorollas]

pull it apart and change the seal at the bottom of the shaft.
the bushes inide the steering box might be worn into an oval also, but a new seal will help...
it's probably a column out affair tho

[sleeektoy]

the easiest way to tell you have overtightened the screw is if you jack it up turn lock to lock on the car(with the wheels removed) and see if it gets tighter to turn at any point. Usually in a worn box - just each side of straight ahead there will be a bit of "tightness" due to it predominantly being used within the 1st 1/2 of a turn. Good thick oil helps a lot too

[BigWorm]

I tightened mine up & toped up the oil a few years ago now, but I managed to find proper steering box oil (I think it was penrite?), and I'll tell you what, it was alot thicker than 80W gear oil! It would have been something like 200W, it was thicker & stickier than treacle. It made it a prick to put in, but a fat-ass syringe helped do the job. Mine was quite low on oil as well, so I also highly recommend checking the oil & tightening up the box.

[The Real Roadrunner]

so what about the one in the car big perm.hehehehehehehe

[joey]

I must say the steering box has to be in one of the shittest positions to get to in my engine bay, impossible to get to with the carbies and manifold on aswell as a few other bits and pieces, not to mention it's covered in about 3mm of oil and sludge Ohwell time to end my bitching and get my hands dirty!

[celicapain]

cheers old rolla,
ill pull it apart tomorrow night and have a looksee.
p.s if you reckon the box is hard to access with an 18r you should try it with a 1g