Steering column angle
- Thread starter Zandoz
- Start date
Hard to get centered with traditional steering as the mount is on the frame and not much adjustment inward or upward otherwise too close to headers or block/frame. With cross steering you can use u-joints to off set the shaft and column and keep the column in alignment 90* to seat.. Not really noticeable in car as most columns are not exactly perpendicular in production cars and will not cause any troubles. It"s only looks, not functionally inherit to drive-ability and will be minimally noticeable.
Hackerbilt
Active Member
My cowl is stretched, and with a BBC and a Corvair box fighting for space, my column is solid mounted to the dash and firewall with a support.
The box and column are connected with U joints, one inside the cowl and the other outside the firewall for foot clearance at the brake pedal.
As a result the homebilt column is directly aimed at the front axle and comes out thru what was originally a gauge hole in the dash!
I love the position myself, super comfortable, your hands just naturally fall to it while driving.
BTW...with the Corvair box a 12" wheel gives excellent leverage even when parking...on this machine anyway.
The box and column are connected with U joints, one inside the cowl and the other outside the firewall for foot clearance at the brake pedal.
As a result the homebilt column is directly aimed at the front axle and comes out thru what was originally a gauge hole in the dash!
I love the position myself, super comfortable, your hands just naturally fall to it while driving.
BTW...with the Corvair box a 12" wheel gives excellent leverage even when parking...on this machine anyway.
My situation is R&P steering (similar to a cross-steer set up for this purpose), a fixed length 28" ididit non-tilt steering column, a 13.5" removable steering wheel.
Because of the steering column length, even with my stretched body, the first u-joint will be on the motor side of, and as close as possible to, the firewall.
With my huge wide load butt on a bench seat, the steering wheel needs to be closer to the car center line to be centered on me. I know I'll have to settle on a compromise position to make the car work for normal sized people...and to not look bad.
I'm hoping to get by with a 2 piece steering shaft with a double U-joint between them. The front section will have to pass under the motor mount platform. The rear section of the shaft will have to turn down as sharply as a single u-joint will allow, to duck under the headers.
Because of the steering column length, even with my stretched body, the first u-joint will be on the motor side of, and as close as possible to, the firewall.
With my huge wide load butt on a bench seat, the steering wheel needs to be closer to the car center line to be centered on me. I know I'll have to settle on a compromise position to make the car work for normal sized people...and to not look bad.
I'm hoping to get by with a 2 piece steering shaft with a double U-joint between them. The front section will have to pass under the motor mount platform. The rear section of the shaft will have to turn down as sharply as a single u-joint will allow, to duck under the headers.
EX JUNK
Moderator
Exactly what do you mean by that. It would seem to me to be quite awkward as the seat back should angle back approx. 20-22degrees and the seat bottom should angle upward about the same amount to be ergonomically correct. You seem to be rather proficient in making drawings so please show us exactly what you have in mind. Maybe then we can answer the question that you have posed.
Jim
If the steering column was positioned parallel to the centerline, and bucket seats were used instead of a bench, the steering wheel would be centered on an 18.75" wide bucket seat. At the 5 degree angle illustrated, it would be the equivalent of centered on a 23.75" wide bucket.
To put it bluntly, I am very fat. A product of as one doctor put it, having the metabolism of a stone, combined with the inability to be active because of degenerative joint disease and a pinched spinal cord. Eventually when I sit on the bench seat, my centerline will be even closer to the cars centerline than the position of the steering wheel with the illustrated 5 degree angled column.
Hackerbilt
Active Member
Chevettes were like that...well, opposite to that actually...but after driving one for a short time you don't even notice it being angled a little bit.
If it makes ya comfortable I'd go with it and not worry about it at all.
If it makes ya comfortable I'd go with it and not worry about it at all.
Just as I said in my post. Not to worry, will work fine like that.
cooter
Well-Known Member
How did you mount column to dash? Im in process of hanging my column now. Rpm stretch body and corvair box. Got pics? ThanksMy cowl is stretched, and with a BBC and a Corvair box fighting for space, my column is solid mounted to the dash and firewall with a support.
The box and column are connected with U joints, one inside the cowl and the other outside the firewall for foot clearance at the brake pedal.
As a result the homebilt column is directly aimed at the front axle and comes out thru what was originally a gauge hole in the dash!
I love the position myself, super comfortable, your hands just naturally fall to it while driving.
BTW...with the Corvair box a 12" wheel gives excellent leverage even when parking...on this machine anyway.
EX JUNK
Moderator
The way that I did mine was to mount a piece of 3/16" plate that acts as one of the body mounting points to the frame on both sides of the floor.. This plate goes over to the inside of the body and connects to a piece of 3/4" square tubing that connects to another piece of 3/4" square tubing that I glassed to the bottom of the dash. This piece of horizontal tubing behind the dash connects to a piece of 3/4" square tubing exactly like the left side. On the piece that you mounted behind the dash you can make whatever drop you may need to mount your column. This makes for a VERY strong mount. I might add that those two vertical pieces can easily made to "disappear" when you upholster the insides of the body.
Jim
cooter
Well-Known Member
Hackerbilt
Active Member
Don't have pics available...but my cowl is stretched and a new firewall was built using 3/4" plywood and fiberglass.
The Column fits into a brace assembly that attaches to both the firewall and to the back of the dash.
Personally I would use a cross body steel support like the guys suggest if I were doing it over.
The column mount was there when I bought the car and IS strong...but you simply can't have the column mounting and the cowl area too strong!
You lean and pull on the column getting in and out and the cowl also supports the windshield.
Strong is good.
With my mobility issues I'm definitely going to need all the support I can get on the steering column...and I'm going to need strong hand holds for getting in and out. What I'm planning on (If I ever get that far) will not look great, but I feel this is a case where form must follow function. I want to make an inverted "U" shaped hoop out of 1.5" round tube. The hoop will do triple duty as the steering column mounting point, door opening reinforcement, and solid hand holds. Instead of behind the dash, the hoop would be in front of the bottom of the dash, and be padded. To mount the hoop, I've gotten a pair of frame outrigger platforms from an off road supplier. 3 or 4 bolt tube flanges on the bottom of the hoop will bolt through the the floor to the platforms. There would be a pair of supporting struts passing under the dash to the firewall, and tabs from the hoop verticals to the door openings to reinforce the door hinges.
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