rover 10 p2 steering

[ANDY]

The drop arm snapped on my Rover 10 (1939) luckily I wasn't driving so no harm done. A replacement arrived from Mike Evans that was an inch shorter than the one that had snapped. The replacement fitted and the ball joint to the drag link was above and just behind the axle. The old drop arm put the ball joint directly above the axle with only about half inch clearance. Even a moderate pothole would give the arm a serious wack and is almost certainly why it snapped. The replacement arm stamped up with Rover serial number but the old one wasn't, I suspect it was not a genuine part. Does anyone have any experience of this and how far behind the axle should the drag link ball joint be for adequate clearance?

Andy Wills

[SHyslop]

There were several different drop arms fitted to Rover 10s over the years. 59246 in 1934, 01134 in 1935, 40461 in 1936 - 38, 42696 in 39-46 then 212737 in 1947. The coupe had a separate part no, 42697. These are not necessarily common to the other Rover models so the chances of finding exactly the drop arm you had to start with could be slim.

I think I know that drop arms for the like of pre series and series 2 Morris 10s are virtually unobtainable so it was good that Mike Evans had one that would fit.

Regarding your question, I intend having a look tomorrow to see what the distances behind the axle for the drag link are on a couple of four cylinder Rovers although I don't have a 39 10 but maybe someone with one can give us an exact figure. What I can say without looking is that on some cars, the steering rods appear extremely close together. Very cleverly designed, reminds me of steam locomotive valve gear !