Steering Flector ???

P

PUG_504_505

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Fellow Frogger
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
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Location
Sydney
Just had my 505 serviced and one of the report items stated that "Steering Flector is cracked"
What exactly is it question
Is it something simple to replace or repair question

PC.

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peugeot_ 505 '83 GR
 
Basicly it is the joint between the steering rack and the steering colum drive shaft. It consists of to flanges and metal backed rubber piece or similar medium. I takes out any shocks that travel through the rack to prevent you from recieving them.

There is also a Service bulletin covering them to the effect that the instructions for fitting were incorrect. if this cracks or fails you may have no control of the vehical!

The best way to stop them from cracking is to not load the steering up ie turn the wheel into a gutter or turn the wheel whilst static. Always have the vehical rolling a tad. All of these thing just describe will increase the flector plates life. So the mechanic is doing the right thing replacing the cracked one for you. :)

<small>[ 09 April 2003, 12:53 PM: Message edited by: AlsPug504 ]</small>
 
Thanks AlsPug504,

That gives me something now to visualise!
Strange name this 'flector'.
Unfortunately the mechanic has only reported it and has not replaced it.
Is it something that is documented somewhere so I could try to fix it in DIY fashion? Or is it a major operation!! frown
 
Ray Bell:
Fortunately you can drive for a million miles with a cracked one...
Click to expand...
we moved a 604 just the other day and the flector was in pretty good condition before moving the car and just as we got the car to the end of the driveway it let go and the wheel in the cabin of the car had a funny feeling of floatiness

so i can't see how you can drive too many miles with one that is cracked as i can see there is a lot of axial pressure on this flector and if it is cracked it WILL break and there is no way you can steer the car so look out trees or anything else that may be around
 
pugrambo:
so i can't see how you can drive too many miles with one that is cracked as i can see there is a lot of axial pressure on this flector and if it is cracked it WILL break and there is no way you can steer the car so look out trees or anything else that may be around
Click to expand...
Actually they have an interlocking steel frame inside which means they will always work even when cracked (except for a dodgy batch which were made during the 1980s). When cracked they just act like the wiper motor coupling, although a bit more sloppy. They only cost about $25, so there is no excuse for not replacing them. I've replaced alot of these because my 504 had a set of extractors which used to fry the flector/rubber coupling on a regular basis.

Dave
 
Well thanks everyone,

For now I'll follow Ray's advice and will leave it alone as the steering seems to be okay.

Does not seem to get a mention in the Haynes manual that I can see.
 
PUG_504_505:
Well thanks everyone,

For now I'll follow Ray's advice and will leave it alone as the steering seems to be okay.

Does not seem to get a mention in the Haynes manual that I can see.
Click to expand...
My advice would be to change it for both safety and more direct steering - though you may not notice much of a difference. If the flexible coupling has not been changed previously, you may have to grind off the rivets holding one side with an angle grinder, then use the bolts supplied.

As for Haynes.. true almost - see fig 18.7, p 205 and associated text.

Denis
 
Fortunately you can drive for a million miles with a cracked one.

True. However I guess if I was a mechanic and unfamiliar with the car. I would probably replace it.

Is it something that is documented somewhere so I could try to fix it in DIY fashion? Or is it a major operation!!

DIY bit of a pain to do but nothing major!

Someone talking about using uni joint instead there is enough room and in the pug there is a uni joint already in the coloum so you may be able to adapt that!

<small>[ 10 April 2003, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: AlsPug504 ]</small>
 
That was the one I meant... the one on the other end of that first section of the column.

They're a real gem of a little uni, with nothing to catch on anything, very well thought out and simly made.

They also come in Fiats, no doubt other cars too...
 
Ray Bell:
That was the one I meant... the one on the other end of that first section of the column.

They're a real gem of a little uni, with nothing to catch on anything, very well thought out and simly made.

They also come in Fiats, no doubt other cars too...
Click to expand...
The uni joint conversion doesn't work using a 505 rack and column, because the flanges for the rubber coupling are welded to the steering column and pinion shafts, rather than splined on like the 604.

Dave
 
Ray Bell:
there would be a little too much shock transmitted through the wheel if you didn't have the flexible coupling that the flector provides.
Click to expand...
I experimented once with a steel/rubber sandwich coupling which I made for my 504. It didn't noticeably increase the shock transmission, but I worried about it not having enough give and damaging something, so I went back to a normal coupling.

Dave
 
I read that these were designed to deflect then break in an accident once the offset column joints concertina a certain distance, which is probably why they don't use a uni joint originally. Might be why they crack easily, too.

Stuey

<small>[ 11 April 2003, 10:03 PM: Message edited by: Stuey ]</small>
 
Originally posted by davemcbean
<strong>I experimented once with a steel/rubber sandwich coupling which I made for my 504. It didn't noticeably increase the shock transmission, but I worried about it not having enough give and damaging something, so I went back to a normal coupling.
Click to expand...
Interesting... very interesting...

Using some of that conveyor belt material, you'd surely be able to make something up to the job and more durable than the original. Remember that earlier cars had those steel safety plates each side of the flector? They'd be a good thing to have too...
 
Ray Bell:
Remember that earlier cars had those steel safety plates each side of the flector? ...
Click to expand...
They needed the plates because they didn't have the frame inside the rubber that the later cars have.

I think Stuey's post makes alot of sense, which is one reason why I don't mind changing the genuine rubber coupling quite often. It's and easy job and they're pretty cheap, and they'll be on sale for decades to come, judging by the numbers of cars still on the road in Africa and South America.

Dave
 
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