Got it sorted. Noted, while reading the book on the subject of removing the steering wheel, that there is actually a proper method of centering it. However, my hit-and-miss technique seems to have had the desired result. The book also says that you can't correct steering wheel alignment errors of less than 5 degrees by moving the wheel on its splines. Handily, after sorting the road-wheel alignment, the steering wheel was about 45 degrees out.
FWIW: on 235/70R16, I've removed 4mm from the lock stops and centered the steering and I think it doesn't quite touch either lock stop now, so maybe
4mm is slightly optimistic. I could always put a 0.5mm shim under each one, I guess. The resultant improvement is turning circle is impressive.
The other interesting point is that the "soft" stops in the box which can be overcome by winding the wheel harder are only there when the box has hydraulic pressure. Engine-off, all the travel is available. Also worthy of note is that under power if you wind it round into the "extra" bit of lock, it doesn't really self-centre, so be ready to wind it back again. It also appears not to allow the wheels to go there when the vehicle is stationary.
There are two adjustors for wheel alignment on a Disco II. The first is to set up the wheel alignment and second is to straighten the steering.
Surprisingly, Marshal Land Rover of Cambridge were unaware of this and it was only when I got fed up of the steering wheel not being level after they had aligned the steering and went to my local tyre depot that I found out abman out the second adjustor.
Opposite of my experience. I went to my local tyre depot and asked for the steering to be centralised. After a major slanging match I insisted the put the tracking back to where it was when I bought it in and return the vehicle to me. They claimed it wasn't normal and they had to adjust the centralisation by setting the tracking. Won't be going there again! Found another place where the guy had seen a car before and he reset the tracking correctly, their reset hadn't been correct, and adjusted the centralising in a couple of minutes. no doubt their tracking misadjustment would've had me back there for tyres in no time flat, their intention?
On or around Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:22:01 +0000, nemo2 enlightened us thusly:
Yer not wrong.
In fact, there are many ways to adjust it... but the correct procedure from the top seems to be:
1) set wheel alignment using the tracking adjustment in the track rod.
2) move steering wheel until steering box is central and fit centering bolt.
3) check that steering wheel is more or less horizontal, if it's a long way out, remove and refit so it's as close as you can get it.
4) check if roadwheels are straight-ahead (I assume that you should use a
4-wheel alignment rig for this)
5) adjust if necessary 'til roadwheels are straight ahead, using the adjuster on the end of the drag link.
6) if required, remove centering bolt and fine-tune steering wheel position.
The steering wheel splines will give you, it seems, about 5 degree steps. Specifically, the manual states "steering wheel position errors of less than
5 degrees must be rectified with the drag link adjuster" OWTTE.
However, my technique was a bit different, since I was after maximum available lock. I'm guessing that the default lock stops cater for all available widths/sizes of tyre and wheel, hence why they're so conservative. In my case it's on 235/70R16 and I've no intention of fitting anything wider. Following the procedure below is up to you and I take no responsibility for any unwanted consequence. Wider tyres fitted to mine the way it's set up now could hit the radius arms, in which case, the lock stops would need shimming to restore clearance.
1) jack up vehicle and support on axle stands so the front axle is level. Remove lock stops from hubs.
2) machine 3.5 - 4mm from the inner face of the lockstops (so they will screw in 4mm further). No point in taking more than 4mm, as the box hasn't got enough travel to allow more range than that.
3) replace lock stops and move steering from lock to lock (with engine off). Adjust drag link adjuster to get the steering to turn equal amounts in both directions. As it arrived here, on left lock it would hit the revised stop, but on right lock it was about 3mm clear.
4) check the rear of each front tyre on full lock is still clear of the radius arms and any other obstruction. The older discos and rangies had a specified clearance of 20mm, IIRC, although I've had them less than that.
5) if necessary, add shims under the lock stops to restore tyre clearance.
6) put wheels straight ahead and if necessary remove steering wheel and put it back level, being sure to set the rotary coupler and the indicator cancelling cam to the correct positions before refitting the wheel.
engine needs to be off as there's cunningness in the steering box when it's live.
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