Increasing Steering Lock
Author: Steve (Steve-V6-D61)
Added By: K1ANO
Date: 7/3/2011
Associated Forum Post URL's
Forum Thread - Phase II Steering Lock Increase
There’s been a few posts about increasing the steering lock on Phase II cars, and after driving mine to the MOT station, I was amazed by how little lock is available. So I dug out Harry's post on what needs to be done.
Don't know if anybody is aware of this, but the Clio V6 has, as Clarkson mentioned, a bigger turning circle than an oil tanker.
Well, I've got good news for the RS2 (Phase 2) drivers.
The RS2 has a wider track on the front, but still the same steering rack as the RS1. This steering rack has also been taken from another standard production car, though I don’t remember which one.
On the RS1, they needed to limit the steering angle, and they did this with two plastic shims.
On the RS2, you can safely remove 4.5 mm of these plastic shims.
This dramatically increases your steering angle, which is even more important for the drift angle, beyond which you're just a passenger in your car.
You might have trouble removing the fastener below the ABS unit, but you can use a pipe that fits over it, drill a hole into it, weld a nut on it, and clamp it with a short bolt. This allows you to loosen it from the outside through the wheel arch.
Enjoy the mechanics, it's more than worth the trouble.
So today, it was out with the spanners. It’s VERY easy to do. In fact, you can do it from inside the front of the car, but it's easier if you take off the wheels as well. You don’t need to remove the track rod ends from the hubs.
After jacking up the car and removing the wheels, cut the tie wraps off the steering gaiters and pull back up the steering rods to expose the inner ball joint. At this point, you will see the spacers. On my car, the offside one was purple and the other black. You need to find a large 32 mm spanner, but it must be narrow due to the shape of the inner ball joint. I made mine from an old spanner I had, grinding off both sides until it was thin enough to fit over the inner ball joint.
The spanner size is 32mm, so you will need to source one beforehand or PM me, and I can lend you mine (you pay the postage both ways, though)!
You can get at both ends okay, although it’s a bit fiddly next to the ABS pump.
Didn't need to make the tool Harry spoke about. The spanner was fine.
Removing the inner ball joint can be a bit stiff due to the nut lock on the threads. Once off, the spacer comes off as well. It's 10mm thick. I reduced mine by the 4.5mm recommended by Harry, using an angle grinder and finishing them off with some wet and dry.
Then just reinstall them, putting some thread lock on the inner ball joint before screwing them in. The worst part is getting the boot rubbers back over the rack. The driver’s side was a pain—it took 20 minutes to do it due to the power steering pipes getting in the way.
I would say it took about 1.5 hours to do the whole job. It would have been less had it not been for the boot.
Was it worth it? Well, I’ll measure the turning circle and let you know. But anything more is an improvement on the standard lock, which is pitiful.
Author: Steve (Steve-V6-D61)
Added By: K1ANO
Date: 7/3/2011
Associated Forum Post URL's
Forum Thread - Phase II Steering Lock Increase
There’s been a few posts about increasing the steering lock on Phase II cars, and after driving mine to the MOT station, I was amazed by how little lock is available. So I dug out Harry's post on what needs to be done.
Don't know if anybody is aware of this, but the Clio V6 has, as Clarkson mentioned, a bigger turning circle than an oil tanker.
Well, I've got good news for the RS2 (Phase 2) drivers.
The RS2 has a wider track on the front, but still the same steering rack as the RS1. This steering rack has also been taken from another standard production car, though I don’t remember which one.
On the RS1, they needed to limit the steering angle, and they did this with two plastic shims.
On the RS2, you can safely remove 4.5 mm of these plastic shims.
This dramatically increases your steering angle, which is even more important for the drift angle, beyond which you're just a passenger in your car.
You might have trouble removing the fastener below the ABS unit, but you can use a pipe that fits over it, drill a hole into it, weld a nut on it, and clamp it with a short bolt. This allows you to loosen it from the outside through the wheel arch.
Enjoy the mechanics, it's more than worth the trouble.
So today, it was out with the spanners. It’s VERY easy to do. In fact, you can do it from inside the front of the car, but it's easier if you take off the wheels as well. You don’t need to remove the track rod ends from the hubs.
After jacking up the car and removing the wheels, cut the tie wraps off the steering gaiters and pull back up the steering rods to expose the inner ball joint. At this point, you will see the spacers. On my car, the offside one was purple and the other black. You need to find a large 32 mm spanner, but it must be narrow due to the shape of the inner ball joint. I made mine from an old spanner I had, grinding off both sides until it was thin enough to fit over the inner ball joint.
The spanner size is 32mm, so you will need to source one beforehand or PM me, and I can lend you mine (you pay the postage both ways, though)!
You can get at both ends okay, although it’s a bit fiddly next to the ABS pump.
Didn't need to make the tool Harry spoke about. The spanner was fine.
Removing the inner ball joint can be a bit stiff due to the nut lock on the threads. Once off, the spacer comes off as well. It's 10mm thick. I reduced mine by the 4.5mm recommended by Harry, using an angle grinder and finishing them off with some wet and dry.
Then just reinstall them, putting some thread lock on the inner ball joint before screwing them in. The worst part is getting the boot rubbers back over the rack. The driver’s side was a pain—it took 20 minutes to do it due to the power steering pipes getting in the way.
I would say it took about 1.5 hours to do the whole job. It would have been less had it not been for the boot.
Was it worth it? Well, I’ll measure the turning circle and let you know. But anything more is an improvement on the standard lock, which is pitiful.
Last edited:
