Welding the uj on a williams / valver

[king.stromba]

Some people say you can weld the uj on the steering column to remove the vague steering effect on high milage willys and valvers. What does everyone think? Is it worth a try before shedding out on a new column? What test can i do to see if its the column that is loose? With the car stationary can turn the wheel a few degrees without the wheel moving.

 

[ChavyBoy]

Isnt it also a combination of the Steering rack as well as the steering column ?

 

[glenn]

have just got a used collum,as mine is fked.has been like it since i got the car,so hopefully be great handling after had it fitted.been advised not to weld it. genuine collum 145ish or from 5alive or breaker bout 100 ish.got one for bout 50.

 

[bondy]

weld it up mate dun mine not so long ago its perfect i had nearly 6 mm travel on wheel before the wheels moved all sorted now tho. its a b**ch to get out well its not too bad check the lenght on it to make sure its not been compressed in a shunt. only downside is tiny bit of wobbley at 85 mph only but who cares. hope this helps ps get the measurments rite before you weld it and make sure its all aligned properly then squeeze it in the vice and weld it up . job done

 

[king.stromba]

Ok, i took the car to an engineer and he had a look at the column. There are two ujs in the cockpit on the Williams. One up towards the steering wheel and one at the floor. The higher one near the wheel is fine. The lower one is the one with play. On the lower uj there is a bracket that comes up and fits over the cylinder of the column. To take up slackness there is a rubber that fits into this gap, and this has worn and split. Now it seems a waste of 270 quid to replace a perfectly good column if all that has happened is that some rubber has worn away. I can see why welding would work. Does anyone think that you could simply replace the rubber with some other substance to take up the slack? I am going to have a good look later and see if i can do something with it. Anyone else tried any DIY?

 

[turbo man]

Weld it up fella, My mate had it done for £20 on his RSI. Job done

 

[king.stromba]

Who would weld it for me? If i took it to a garage surely they wouldnt do it for legal reasons (in case it breaks / i crash / die etc). If i instruct them to do it would you think a garage would do it though?