D1 "vague" steering

[Blatant]

Hi, all. Subject: 96 D1, I recently got in trade. Seems like an overall OK rig. I've done some minor maintenance since getting it: New brakes and wheel bearings all around, OME medium-duty springs, OME shocks and damper, 235/85 BFG MTs, etc.

The truck has a very vague steering feel. I don't know how to describe it better. It doesn't feel dangerous, it's not bumpsteer or death wobble (both condition I'm very familiar with). It just doesn't hold a line very well and it wanders; it tends to do both more at higher freeway speeds.

For the life of me, I can figure it out. None of the suspension or steering components are loose. The tires are balanced. Thoughts? The drag link is very slightly bent, which means the alignment could well be off. Bushings?

I've never had a Rover before, so perhaps it's just the way they are. I do know that my unaligned, non-balanced rockcrawler rig on 37s with hydro-assist steering is actually more stable on the street.

Any input is appreciated.
dion

 

[macklow]

I have a '95 with a similar setup, except I'm running stock sized tires and have a trutrac in the front.

My rig was wandering very badly, and combined with the trutrac I got very wierd handling in sand and ice at high speeds.

I adjusted the steering box to tighten things up, and now it drives very nicely. I didn't do anything scientific, just adjusted, test-drove, re-adjusted, and test-drove until I had a steering feel I liked.

 

[Blatant]

I'm not sure what you mean by adjusted the steering box. The box itself is tight on the frame. The pitman arm is engaged properly and tight. To my knowledge, there's no external adjustment on a steering box itself. More info?

 

[macklow]

Steering backlash adjustment is what I did.

There's a nut on top of the steering box, the nut is loosened and the backlash is adjusted with an allen key stuck in the bolt the nut is on.

I was extremely lazy, so I didn't follow all the procedures in the workshop manual, and just fiddled with the adjustment until it felt good when driving. This was only a few thousand miles ago, so probably not enough time for the steering box to grenade if I've done somthing wrong.

But it sure tracks nicely now, even on the grooved and/or crowned pavement that used to force me to use 3 lanes as I wove down the highway.

 

[Blatant]

Well, that's a first for me!! Never heard of an adjustable box. Is there somewhere I can get more tech info?
d

 

[DIS_CO]

I have this exact same problem. I checked all components, fluid, etc.... but the steering just wants to wander. The worst part is when you drive a highway lane with "ruts" created by the millions of cars that have come before you, it feels like a huge magnet as the car veers into these ruts. I'm new to Rovers, I just figured this was just the way it is.

 

[macklow]

The backlash adjustment is the last-resort adjustment when all the bushings front and rear have been replaced, alignment corrected, swivel preload checked/set, and so on.

The workshop manual has a long flowchart of things to check, adjust or replace to fix vague/wandering steering.

You can buy a copy of the workshop manual from a Land Rover dealer.

Oh, and by lifting your rig, you've decreased the amount of caster in the front end, which is probably the root cause of the vague steering feeling you're having.

I put in a trutrac, and this gets my truck tracking straight. You could do a search on caster/castor and a bunch of other solutions will pop up.

 

[DiscoJen]

My problem ended up being the panhard rod bushings. I went through the whole enchilada of replacing things left and right and had the same symptoms you have. Spent 4 months of trying to figure it out (I just fixed it this week actually!).

I would try adjusting the steering box first. If that doesn't help then replace your panhard rod bushings and hardware. I paid around $3 each for them. Another $5 for the hardware. I had a big truck spring shop press the new bushings in. It made a world of difference in mine. I was amazed because I didn't have any play in the rod, bushings looked good, hardware looked good, mounting holes looked good. I enjoyed the improvement so much that I went ahead and replaced almost all of my bushings and it just keeps getting better. These are two good cheap things to try first and work out from there.

I love my truck again,
Jen

 

[Scott]

Jen, did you use poly or rubber replacement bushings? I have been thinking about the poly bush kits myself. I used poly bushings on my old Jeep that I had and it was good and bad. Good- tightned everything up, Bad- was super stiff no give at all.

 

[cptyarderho]

A lift usually gives you some of this, he was correct about castor. That is why places like Rovertym sell corrected arms to compensate for the lift. Each truck is a little different, my 3" lift does not give me problems, some get it with only 2". If you have checked alignment, bushings, etc then that is probably the situation. An older steering box can get pretty sloppy, but the result is more play than a vague feel.

 

[DiscoJen]

Oem

Jen, did you use poly or rubber replacement bushings? I have been thinking about the poly bush kits myself. I used poly bushings on my old Jeep that I had and it was good and bad. Good- tightned everything up, Bad- was super stiff no give at all.

I just used OEM type rubber. Got some from Motorcars LTD, then found the others locally cause I was in a hurry. Northeast British Parts has an entire rubber bushing replacement kit for around $140 if you decide to do 'em all while you're at it.

 

[Blatant]

I'm familiar with caster, though I can't see how so little lift -- we're talking less than two inches here -- could do that. Hell, my current rig has about 7 inches of lift, the front knuckles have not been cut and turned for caster correction and it tracks straight and true.

That could be an apples and oranges argument, I understand; two different rigs and all. Thanks for all the input, though. I'll probably try Jen's idea and work my way up the difficulty ladder from there.

Thanks again,
d