Series III steering wandering

After getting the gearbox changed, I can now drive the thing!

Sort of anyway. There is about 6 inches of play in the steering wheel when driving before anything happens. When stationary, there seems to be about 2 inches of free play at the rim of the steering wheel. This makes the car wander when driving, I guess this is not normal? I've adjusted the steering box, there was more free play than this. I turned the adjuster until it just started to feel tight (it was very easy to turn once the locknut was lose), then checked the steering wheel turns fully from lock to lock. Should I go tighter than this? Can't see any play in any of the ball joints, but perhaps I should take a big lever to them to check them better? Any clues where else to look for problems? Do the shims on top of the swivels have any relationship to steering problems?

Thanks for all the advice so far!

Alan C

'98 4.6 HSE range Rover '75 109 LWB Series III Petrol

Reply to
cutlea01
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One of my steering linkages was actually so loose, if we didn't spot it it would have (we think) dropped off ..

I dunno the correct terminology for weach part, so here goes .. Basically it's the bolt on the arm that sits almost vertical, and clamps over a serrated tube, as you look down onto the steering linkages over the bonnet from the offside front tyre. It had worn the serrations so flat that a 'get us home' fix was to junios hacksaw a few small grooves in the tube and use a blob or three of araldite. We replaced all the bits around it some weeks later .. but ti was still working absolutely fine, with no slop in the steering where previously it had exactly the same symptoms as you describe.

Reply to
Paul - xxx

Check the steeeing relay, which is beside the radiator. I had to tighten the big nut on mine.

Have somebody waggle the wheel while you examine the various joints, you may find something obviously loose.

Reply to
David G. Bell

I had this problem for a while and this group offered many helpfull comments.

However my problem was maybee the same as yours. Playschool driving, ie you just cant aim it. scary as hell when other cars are coming towards you..

I had 3 problems it seems in the end which all contributed to the symptoms.

  1. One of the the Big ball things on the front right wheel had no grease in it.
  2. On the left of the radiatior under the horn theres a cylindrical gadget that changes the direction of your steering , Its got loads of springs in it. Hmm i wish my haynes manual was here so i could look up what they are called. Anyway that was shafted.
3, But the main thing for me was the front leaf spring bushes were badly worn and they were literally moving from left to right in their bushes. and hence, so was i on the road.

After doing these 3 things the series 3 is now like a normal car again.. Hope these ideas help.

Reply to
Jason Hall

On or around Sat, 26 Jun 2004 16:56:53 +0100, "Jason Hall" enlightened us thusly:

and don't forget tracking.

just improved the handling on my recently acquired disco quite noticeably by giving the trackrod half a turn in the "out" direction, having concluded that it was very slightly toed in.

book say 0-2mm toe out, but experience on the 110 taught that the nearer you got it to parallel the sweeter it went.

Series book says 1.2-2.4mm toe in, but I bet it runs better with less rather than more.

IME:

too much toe in makes for "tight" feeling steering and tendency to turn in unpredictably when cornering, as the load goes onto the outer wheel it effectively increases the steering force slightly.

too much toe out makes for vague steering about the straight ahead position, and an inability to hold it in a straight line, and more lock needed to turn corners.

A bit back I proved that it's actually possible to drive the 110, albeit slowly, with about 2" toe out, after bending the track rod on a rover 400. doesn't do the tyres any good, mind.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

This will be play somewhere in the steering system - check all the points the others have suggested - and here are a few others. To summarise:-

  1. Play in any of the six ball joints between the steering box and the wheels.
  2. loose threads on any of these,
  3. play in the steering box
  4. Loose steering box
  5. top or bottom lever on the steering box loose on the splines
  6. Excessive play on the steering swivels
  7. Steering lever loose on the swivel housing
  8. worn bushes in springs or chassis - front OR rear (or both)
  9. Loose U-bolts, front, rear, or both
  10. Badly worn steering relay

Most likely are 1, 5,8 or 9 Remember that your problem could be a combination of a small amount of play in several of these places. JD

Reply to
JD

Many thanks for the advice, I'll give the old girl a thorough steering/suspension/bush etc check over. But first I need to change the oil seals on the output of the transfer box, wish I'd done them befor I fitted the 'box now :( 2 large oil slicks of fresh EP90 under the car. Wonder if the main input shaft seal's gonna leak too? That looks a real pain to change without taking the box out again.

Cheers,

Alan C.

Reply to
cutlea01

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