I failed my SVA today as detailed below

1. Steering rack mounted in front of axle and column offset inadequate

2. Rear fog lamp too close to stop light.

3. Front indicator not visable at 80 degrees.

4. Steering track rod ends and top mounting not radiused.

5. Braided brake hoses require documentary evidence of automotive compatability.

6. Emissions too high.

The emissions were too high because Fed Ex lost my cat and lamda kit that I was renting so I knew I'd fail there. Lights and edges easy fix. So that leaves brake pipes which I thought was all cleared up some time ago but still it shouldn't be too hard to sort. The thing that I can't believe is the steering. All ST's have the same set up and even when I pointed out that the Robin Hood that had just passed was the same he still wasn't happy! He kept saying that as the steering was in front of the axle it would push the column into the cabin in the event of a crash, when I said that all sevens had the steering there he wasn't having it, but the best bit was when I said that Ford fitted it to Cortina's like that he told me that Ford put it the other way so the steering was behind the axle, RUBBISH! I've put a picture in the archive under 'steering' to show the set up. I think I can overcome the problem, I'm going to have to put in another UJ and support to increase the angle.

Could have been worse though, I had the steering toed out so far that the car was bearly driveable and he tried to find a regulation to fail me for that! It worked for the self centering test though. Also my decibel level was 101db, right on the limit, but during the test all the wire wool I'd put in the pipe flew out across the yard

Driving the car is great though, so I will be trying to fix these points ASAP to get on the road again

Steve

Bad luck there...

The point about steering is stupid (since by his rules no 7 would be allowed a pass!) and makes no difference to where the energy goes in a crash... If the crash is bad enough it will go back to the rack anyway. Leave it as it is and get him to show you in the manual where it says that the rack must be mounted behind the wheel centres! It looks like you have a sliding clamp on the steering column, is that not counted as energy absorbing?

Hope you get it all sorted out soon

David

The column has a crushable tube but his point was that the lower steering column would be pushed into the cabin because of it's angle and the fact that the rack was so close to the front of the car. I can't move the rack, apealling his decision could take months so I'm left with trying to sort a solution.

Also I just remembered that half way though the test he told me about a guy who built his car from Ron's 'build a car for £250' he said he told him to go and spend some more money if he expected to get through!

Steve

I would take some pictures of registered cars to show him. I don't know the offset angle for the column but someone must and if you can prove yours is equal or greater then he cannot argue. I would seriously consider asking for a second opinion from another tester who knows what he is on about as the one you got is obviously biased. Explain to him that Sierra and Cortinas would have steering that works in reverse, wheel turns left car turns right, if what he says is correct.
He is obviously in need of retraining and assessing on his knowledge of vehicle construction.

[Edited on 17/5/04 by Peteff]

That SVA tester is talking complete and utter boll0**S!!! Vast numbers of road cars have the rack in front of the axle line, RWD Escort, Capri, Cortina, Granada, Opel Manta, Chevette, Viva, etc etc etc, to name but a few!!! Also all westfields, caterhams and any other seven. Also, the ST steering setup is almost identical to Westfield's too!!!?????????

I have heard about Gillingham before now you mention it, (and Southhampton) there needs to be a better vetting procedure and audits carried out by "mystery customer" type auditors in my opinion, taking in cars with faults to see if they are found, but also perfectly good cars to see if they are failed on stupid things!

THIS MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD JOB HE WASN'T TESTING ME:ma d:

I'm surprised about the rack positioning problem ,they have tested a lot of Caterhams at Gillingham so they should no all about 7 type cars .

When I had mine tested at Mitcham they rang Gillingham for guidance on a couple of issues.

I told him many cars had steering racks at the front but he said they had crumple zones! When I asked if he would speak to ST he said he wouldn't but I could get them to write to prove their setup was OK, so I said if I got them to write that they passed many cars at Nottingham SVA that would be OK, he said no he wanted evidence from a crash test! I think I'd upset him by then as when I asked if he could give any advice on a solution he said 'that's not my problem'.

I feel I'm painting a very bad picture of this tester, he had a bee in his bonnet about the steering but was fair about everything else, even letting me use their equipment to set up my headlamps and doing the brake tests with a tapley meter so not to damage the LSD. If it wasn't for the steering fail I would be very happy with my test.

Steve

Hi Steve

Shame about the fail, I've heard bad things too about Gillingham

Did you by your ST as a kit? if so ring them they may be able to so evidence of cars that have passed and help change the examiners mind, also if ST are a member of STATUS ring them too, there supposed to sort this kind of thing out

Adrian

I tried to speak to Ian Grey as soon as I got in but the answerphone was on, I'll ring back in the morning.

I've just posted 2 more pics showing the steering angle.

Steve

Bad luck Steve,
Fed Ex losing the cat has screwed me too, I was gonna rent it for my test next week. My chassis is ST with the steering rack in front of the axle. Will be interesting to see what Nottingam say.

John

Hi All -

Previous postings on this forum mentioned that the rack had to be no less than 10 cm (I think) behind the foremost transverse chassis member. Is this anywhere in the SVA manual?

location of the rack isnt in my book,it mentions min of 10 degrees from straight and a colapsable joint in column.
i would take pics and when it is passed write a letter of complaint to dvla,in my mot testing days they were very hot on complaints by members of the public

what was that about needing documentary evidence of automotive compatability for the braided hoses? ive bought mine from rally design and they sure didnt come with documentary ev. is that the guy just being an ar###ole again?

just that exactly, nowhere in the manual does it say you need documentary evidence. As long as you use the Rally Design fittings with the inner support tube you are fine. I would personally get a spare complete fitting and take it with you to show the tester the inner tube on it. (they are only a couple of quid)

I spoke to Rally Design who supply ST with the hoses and asked for a letter saying that the hoses were designed for use on a car, he said he couldn't say that but he would say that they have been used for automotive applications. I hope that is enough.

I've dropped the steering wheel end of the column by about an inch which gives a slightly bigger angle at the joint. This is all I can do without a complete redesign of the steering.

Anyway, I've just booked a retest for this Friday so I hope I get a different examiner.

Steve

Request a different examiner. Sounds like this one is being a fussy tw*t... If thats a factory chassis surely they will all have the same angles and layout etc....