Wandering issues, toe-in, etc.

[Blatant]

All: Have an ongoing wandering issue with my truck that I'm trying to track down. The symptoms: vague steering, wandering, less-than-positive steering "feel" and input. All these symptoms are most evident at speed; i.e., the faster you go, the more pronounced them are.

Rig: 96 D1, 2-inch OME lift, new shocks and stabilizer, 235x85 BFG MTs. Pressure 32 lb front, 38 lb. rear. Hub bearings are good. No obvious TRE issues (judged by attempting to move wheel assembly on jackstand).

I did the ghetto rockcrawler style of alignment check -- chalk marks on tire tread. Measure front, rotate to rear, measure rear. The front is at 60.5 and the rear measurement is 60.625 or 1/8 inch of toe-in. I don't do metrics; is this correct?

No clanking or weird steering box sounds, nothing visually amiss. Bushings?

Thoughts? Proper toe specs? Thanks.
d

 

[dave-t]

Its been a long time since I messed with the toe on our D1, but I thought a slight toe-out was what you wanted, not toe-in....so if you have toe-in you need some adjustin'

 

[Chris-St Louis]

Have you adressed Caster?

 

[dave-t]

A quick google got me this: Rover Alignment How-To

It confirms what I thought, you want 0-2mm of toe-out.

 

[Blatant]

Chris: Fairly sure it's not a castor issue since the truck was like this even stock. The small lift hasn't made it worse or better.

So it should be toed OUT?? Hmmm. What's 2 mm in inches roughly?
d

 

[dave-t]

Chris: Fairly sure it's not a castor issue since the truck was like this even stock. The small lift hasn't made it worse or better.

So it should be toed OUT?? Hmmm. What's 2 mm in inches roughly?
d

2 millimeters = 0.0787401575 inches

 

[Blatant]

2 millimeters = 0.0787401575 inches

Also known as zero

 

[Blatant]

Does anyone think that an eighth inch of toe is really causing this problem or should I be looking elsewhere?
d

 

[DiscoJen]

I don't know if that amount of toe will really make any difference or not. I'm having a similar problem that I've been battling as well. I've had my alignment done twice and I still have the problem. I'm going to have the castor checked to see how far off it is, but I've got to fix a nasty idle problem first.

One thing that did help a little bit was to replace all of my bushings, especially the radius arms and the panhard rod. On my panhard rod, I also used a larger diameter bolt to help snug it up really well in case the mounting hole had rounded. I used a 9/16 grade 8 bolt.

The only things I haven't replaced on my steering/axle is the steering shaft (will be doing as soon as my parts come in), the steering box, and a drop arm rebuild kit.

Sorry, this isn't much help to you, but at least you know that you're not alone. I will keep ya posted if I find out what fixes mine and maybe that info will be helpful to narrow down your problem.

Good luck,
Jen

 

[dave-t]

Does anyone think that an eighth inch of toe is really causing this problem or should I be looking elsewhere?
d

Yes...you need to fix it...the toe setting is important and 1/8" of toe-in is crazy wrong. Set it to 0-2mm of toe-out. Yea, I know you think its 'nothing', but belive me it will make a difference. Its a sensative adjustment.

 

[Reddisco1]

Sounds like caster to me. I had the same issue when I installed
a 2? left. I corrected the caster issue by installing off set radius arms
from RTE.

RD1

 

[marc olivares]

an 1/8th either way will not make a significant difference.... i'd say look elsewhere.
get the toe as close to spec as you can and them start looking at other things,
i've intensionally screwed w/ toe measurements and was amazed how out you can be before you get wandering and uneven tire wear.
look at:
pan hard bushings
rear link bushings
a cracked star or cage in a cv will also make a disco wander (even without clicking)
uneven tire pressure
or what i tend to think it is, is a bad side wall in one of your front tires
a bad sidewall will make the vehicle pull and wander (for this rotate you tires from front to back).

good luck

and FYI, w/ a 2" lift you will have castor related wander issues....
some seem to get them more than others.
LR never had the most precise specs from vehicle to vehicle...

 

[Blatant]

Guys: As I said earlier in the thread, these issues were present when the truck was stock, no lift, on stock tires. I can't see it being related to lift or tires in this scenario. I'll adjust the toe, though I can't imagine an eighth of an inch making a difference. The draglink does have a bit of a bend in it, so that could be part of it.

Hell, seriously, my rockcrawler with 39-inch bias tires and hydraulic assist steering tracks better at speed than this Rover.

The panhard bushings seem extremely tight, but i can easily move/flex the linkage arm bushing with a screwdriver.
d

 

[Reddisco1]

Did it get worse with the lift? How?s the play in your steering box? Tires?
Try swapping the rears with the fronts.

Good luck
RD1