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110 Steering Problems

Hi

My 1983 110 V8 CSW has developed a rather alarming problem with the steering. The steering appears quite light and the vehicle tracks down grooves in the road, such as those on the inside lane of the M3 to a worrying extent - I ended up stopping on the hard shoulder asI was convinced that I had a flat tyre! I think the problem has been coming on for a while, but seems to have been exacerbated by the fitting of a pair of new tyres on the rear axle (although I might be grasping at straws!)- the front has Sime Frontiers and the rear Avon Rangemasters, all 750R16 radials.

The suspension seems quite hard - could the problem be shot/seized front shock absorbers - the rears are 3 years old, but the front are of indeterminant age?

Any thoughts as to the likely problem much appreciated.

Regards

Neil

Reply to
Neil Cummins
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Toe in and/or caster angle. Most likely caster angle given that changing the rear tyres (and thus ride height) seemed to have mad a difference.

Reply to
EMB

Thanks. The workshop manual for the 110 says that the caster angle is pre-set and cannot be adjusted - I assume therefore that I need to get the toe-in changed to accommodate the new rear tyres?

Neil

Reply to
Neil Cummins

the front has Sime

Try switching the tyres around and see if this makes a difference. Yours Gmacz

Reply to
Gmacz

Have you changed the springs for raised ones ever? That will affect the caster angle. Also knackered bushes in the front radius arms will have an effect on caster.

Reply to
EMB

I think that the problem is unlikely to be castor angle - unless the bushed where the front radius rods attach to the axle are well and truly shot. Shot shock absorbers would show other symptoms, as would seized ones.

I would be looking first at tyre pressures, and then at wear or deterioration on all the bushes, especially the panhard rod bushes. And, of course check the steering for any play on drag link or tie rod ball joints. JD

Reply to
JD

On or around Sun, 1 Aug 2004 16:43:09 +0100, "Neil Cummins" enlightened us thusly:

is the vehicle standard height?

your description of symptoms sounds like a tracking error, but also check the condition of the steering damper (they're only about 12 quid, so if in doubt, replace it)

I tend to set the tracking as close as I can get it to parallel, and that seems to work OK.

if you've lifted the suspension more than an inch or so, this can alter the caster angle enough to give vague steering; I saw someone the other day advertising replacement swivels for lifted vehicles to restore the correct caster angle. Raising the disco's suspension by about an inch had a noticeable effect on the steering, although not enough to merit remedial action.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Austin

Thanks. The vehicle is standard height. How would I test the steering damper (I think it is fairly new so it's unlikely, but worth checking)? Also, there is an auto-levelling device fitted to the rear axle - if this wasn't working properly (I think it is but will check) could it cause this effect?

Regards

Neil

Reply to
Neil Cummins

On or around Wed, 4 Aug 2004 06:58:28 +0100, "Neil Cummins" enlightened us thusly:

if the auto-leveller seizes it can apparently cause silly handling, dunno how it affects the steering though.

erm... steering damper... unbolt it and push it in and out. They're fairly stiff when they're working. If it pushes in and/or out quite easily it's no good.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

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