Owners Manual
AUSTIN
A40
SERVICE
MANUAL
J/1
STEERING
GENERAL DATA
Type of Gear
Steering Gear Ratio (Saloon)
Steering Gear Ratio (Sports)
Bearings ...
Adjustment
Cam
and
Lever
14
to I
12
to 1
Ball Race
and
Felt Bush
Screw & Packwood Shims
Diametel' of Steering Wheel 17-ins. (43.18 em.)
Turning Circle (Cars) 37-ft.
(II
.
278
m.)
Turning Circle (Commercials) 38-ft. (11.
582
m.)
Track Toe-in l
6
-!-in. (1. 5875-3.175 mm.)
Steering Connections Austin Ball Type
Fig. 1. A general
view
of
the steering linkage for a right-hand model.
On
left-hand steering models the positions
of
the
steering box and idler shaft are reversed.
Description
The steering gear,
of
"Bishop" design, is a self-
contained unit
of
extreme simplicity. The steering tube
revolves a cam which
in
turn
engages with a taper peg
fitted to a rocker shaft. This assembly is enclosed
in
an
oil-tight casing, which carries two ball bearings
at
either
end
of
the cam. The bearings are designed to carry
radial and thrust loads.
When the steering wheel is turned the tube revolves
the cam, which
in
turn causes the taper peg to move
over a pre-determined arc, thus giving the rocker shaft
its desired motion. Attached to the rocker shaft is a
double lever which links up with the steering linkage.
The steering linkage is
of
the "three cross-tube"
type, having a centre cross-tube connecting the steering
gear double lever to the arm
on
the idler shaft. Two
shorter cross tubes, one on either side, connect the
steering arms to the steering gear and idler levers respec-
tively. These two shorter cross-tubes are more generally
referred to as side tubes.