Steering wheel clearance

[neilkuy]

Looking for some help on the steering shaft. I don't see this one anywhere else which makes me thing I am missing something basic.
it seems my steering wheel is much to close to the dash. In fact about .75" from the crossmember that supports the dash. see the image below. I slide the upper shaft into the DD shaft until the second Belleville washer location is just in. in the picture if you zoom in you can see half of this second recess. My DD shaft is about 16.75" long.
- what am I missing?
- should I not have both Belleville washers buried in the DD shaft?
- how far should the steering wheel be from the dash crossmember?

Thanks in advance

188882

[neilkuy]

For completeness.... The steering shaft is slid into the DD shaft to a distance determined by where you want the steering wheel to be. This means, for the coupe anyway, that only one of the Belleville washers will be in use - the other recess will not be inside the DD shaft.

[Alphamacaroon]

Looks way too close to me and I think you should be able to push it in all the way to cover both washers (at least if I remember correctly), unless they machined the slots in the wrong place. Is the other end already connected to the steering rack? Maybe you're missing a length down there?

[neilkuy]

Looks way too close to me and I think you should be able to push it in all the way to cover both washers (at least if I remember correctly), unless they machined the slots in the wrong place. Is the other end already connected to the steering rack? Maybe you're missing a length down there?

It went together fairly seamlessly. Two u-joints, a lower shaft, the DD shaft and the upper shaft that takes the Belleville washers. Perhaps they are machined in the wrong place. If you wouldn't mind, take a picture of the shaft in the footbox, I would be curious to see where your DD shaft ends. I am not too concerned; I plan to drill and tap for a set screw in the DD shaft as other have done to remove any slop that the Bellevilles don't.
Thanks

[Alphamacaroon]

It went together fairly seamlessly. Two u-joints, a lower shaft, the DD shaft and the upper shaft that takes the Belleville washers. Perhaps they are machined in the wrong place. If you wouldn't mind, take a picture of the shaft in the footbox, I would be curious to see where your DD shaft ends. I am not too concerned; I plan to drill and tap for a set screw in the DD shaft as other have done to remove any slop that the Bellevilles don't.
Thanks

I can try to see if I can take a picture in the footbox later today, but my car is long finished and there is a lot of "stuff" down there. I assume you've measured the shafts and they correspond with the length they are supposed to be? Like maybe they sent you one that was cut too short? I feel like I remember that the manual lists the lengths, but maybe I'm mistaken.

Also might not hurt to send a picture of the rest of the shaft as it connects to the steering rack. Not likely anything wrong there (as there isn't much freedom you have), but it wouldn't hurt to just get a full picture.

[neilkuy]

Update on steering shaft length.
A neighbor (gtrag94) who recently received their kit brought over his lower steering shaft. Confirmed it is 2” longer than the shaft in my kit. For reference the gen3 coupe has a lower shaft length of 20.375”. I sent these details to FFR and they agreed I have a lower shaft from a roadster. A new shaft will be on its way soon. I was a little frustrated that this is what it took to get FFR to play ball, but all is well that ends well I guess. Previously I wrote to them about the steering wheel clearance and tech support told me I can adjust it to where I want it to be. Maybe next time I can do a better job describing the issue.

[speedfreak440]

I just ran into the same issue on mine, while I haven't measured mine it ended up in the exact same place as yours with my washers installed as yours are, I think I am going to be able to resolve mine with my QD hub anyway though so I may not need to tear anything apart.