steve200TDi

Thanks Bowie, interesting reading and it appears that Range Rover Blues may be describing what I've been hearing Quote from Range Rover Blues: 'But the key bit is the torsion bar, if it is reduced it will transmit less steering feel and allow the valve to turn further, providing more power assistance. At least up to the point where all the power assistance is not enough.' But as you say, could be tricky to do at home and by how much, at least I know a little bit more info and your pas pump investigation is interesting too. Yes, quick ratio steering boxes seem to be expensive new and don't come up second hand very often! So I'm crossing that mod off the list for now! It's true that I can check the swivel pre load first on my axle and I know of at least one bush that needs replacing too (one of the rear axle radius arm bushes), but will also check to see what caster I have at the moment. Does the caster relate to the angle of the top swivel bearing cap - say if I put an angle gauge on it would that tell me the correct castor angle? Steve Thanks Dave, I did see this a while ago, probably in the thread you have linked too. That describes the same principle I was explaining for re drilling the swivel housing. I think I read somewhere that Discovery 2 box is slightly quicker, what about the P38 box....it again looks different so mounting holes would need to be modified, but any stronger? Steve

As some of you may know I have a comp safari racer (and race!) I have been researching all things steering related when it comes to making the steering faster and thought an info dump would be good so that other people can add to it too! A standard steering box is about 3.5 to 3.75 turns lock to lock (that may be with no steering stops!) with small comp safari tyres on. I have heard (mainly on ebay descriptions and trawling the internet) that you can redrill the swivel housing arm to move the track rod end pivot point further towards the swivel pivot point. This would reduce your lock to lock by about half a turn, but your steering box would have to work harder as the leverage has reduced. You would also need to make a tapered drill to drill the tapered hole for the TRE! I was going to go down this route for my comp safari racer, but now I'm looking at steering quickeners!. I had original thought that a steering quickener would damage the steering box because of the quicker rotation, you can get them in 1:1.5 or 1:2, but it appears not. So by opening up the power steering pump holes to improve oil flow then a quickener would apparently work as you need faster oil flow. Again this is from word of mouth on forums that I have read. Now this set up apparently works well, but it would be good to get some more feedback on this. Another thing I have read is about lightening the input shaft or quill shaft as it's sometimes known. Apparently ACR (https://www.automotivecomp.com/) offered this product to enable the box to turn easier, but again I have found no information on this at all! Other things that contribute to sharp precise steering are: Caster - If you have a spring lift then you may need castor correction radius arms or castor correction swivel housings - I suspect I may need to look at this as its quite twitchy on the straight! Steering damper - I guess this would help, but by how much I'm not sure. That's all the info I have found so far and would be grateful for people to add to this with their experiences and knowledge so that it's here for everyone and also for me to use to formulate a plan for my steering system for next year! Thanks in advance. Steve

Photos from a Sunny, dry Brick Kiln. A tight and very bumpy course!

Oh yes, I forgot to add that I'm ok! The hans device did its job as I felt the straps go tight a few times so limiting my neck movement! Regarding body work, I'm not sure yet. The front needs more visibility and more streamline, pleasing to the eye! The rear needs smaller wheel arches that don't stick out so much and maybe some sort of boot lid to cover the rear. And maybe in plastic/fiberglass or thin ali. Steve

Well it was an eventful weekend at Brick Kiln farm! Yes, I rolled it on the fourth lap! And no I didn't get any GoPro footage I think I over corrected while trying to brake to go through some arrow markers and the drivers side dug in and I rolled over 1 or 2 times. Luckily I have only sustained body work damage with only one tube that needs replacing. So it's it's into the winter rebuild early! The body work was going to be changed anyway and I will get rid of the rear truck arches as they have served me ok for this year, but hasn't really been a good solution, so there will be a redesign for next year. A few other people rolled as well, so I wasn't alone! The course was very bumpy, rutted and dry. One team broke there rear axle casing it was so rough! Event photos to follow. Steve

They are very handy pieces of kit, I have one myself. You are quite right about the whole alignment tension aspect as cutting horizontal is fine for me, but vertically the blade always pops off if you haven't got just the right amount of tension. I'm sure there was an article or post on another forum with a load of tips and improvements to make to one of these, but I cannot find it now! If you do let me know! Steve

The next round is upon us! This Sunday, the 30th September. Round 6 is over at Brick Kiln Farm near Alton in Hampshire. It should be interesting as its a small off road site! See you there! Steve

It's still here, but now at half the price! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Landrover-Defender-Project/112874676482?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 it's nothing to do with me, just like it, but I can't buy anymore!! Steve

An awesome build! I look forward it coming together as you certainly have cut it up a lot! Nice fab too! I do like a well made bracket! Steve

Good to hear!

A closer look at what can happen when you get to near a tree! Quite impressive really as it's quite thick wall tubing, circa 3mm. We did manage to do 'a field' repair with a wheel brace to two people pulling on it! A more substantial repair has been done to the wheel arch ready for Slindon this weekend! And when we got home the racer was clean! Steve

And a few action shots!

Finally some photos from the last race! Everyone eager to get away!

It's official, I've checked, and we are racing at Brick Kiln. It should be interesting judging on how small the site is, quite looking forward to it actually! Steve

Our fastest lap, which happened our last of the day, being lap 9

Another successful race! A minor wheel arch issue, but completed 9 laps of the 5 miles course and in the end the rain wasn't as bad as forecast. Scores are in: Now in fastest time order! Yes, I'm down the bottom! Still 12th! Steve

Another successful days racing! We knew the weather wasn't going to be dry, but in the end it was just a bit of drizzle and windy too. The course was 40/60 split of grassy fields and tight woodland. The grass was going to be slippery and the woodland was long and tight. The course length was 5 miles and we were tasked with completing 9 laps. I set off cautiously on my first lap and had a few slippery grass moments where I was a passenger! I genuinely thought my brakes had failed at one point, but no I must have applied them a little to quickly and locked up all 4 wheels. I then braked earlier and slower there after. I continued to complete my laps. The new steering box performed well with the addition of the cooler, nice and tight and the cooler was just warm to the touch. I did manage to clip a tree which bent the rear wheel arch support (quite a bit) and ripped the wheel arch. With a bit of brute force we were able to straighten the tube and with the aid of cable ties we were back out. That was the only drama I had and I went on to complete the 9 laps. A third of the course retired again and so I came away with full points again which was good. The next race is at the end of September at Brick Kiln Farm near Alton which should be fun! I will check over the rear wheel arches, try and fit a steering damper or two and maybe start looking into new body work for next year as that can be done offline! A video and photos are still to come! Steve

Well it looks like a new thermostat has fixed it. We put the old one in boiling water and it didn't open! But now its being drained down again to reseal the water pump as its leaking! We did put a smear of instant gasket on either side of the new gasket but it obviously wasn't enough! Steve

I've fitted a different steering box and today I fitted a cooler for the PAS system. A 13 row cooler I think will do the job. I have left the pipes long as I'm not sure on placement and I might move it, so they may get shortened in the future. That's all done, I've packed my tools and fuel so I'm ready for Sunday's race over at Bilsington Priory. We've had a bit of rain here today and apparently over at Ashford, so it may not be completely bone dry, we'll see. Lets see what Sunday brings! Steve

They've now cancelled the closure due to high traffic in this hot heat! Whoop!

So am I right in thinking the other bit goes on the rear axle? Steve

Oh no! The M20 will be closed all of next weekend between junctions 4-6, which is the same weekend as Bilsington Priory! Plan your routes people! Steve

What’s the latest with the bolt torque as the manual says 40nm + 90 degrees and now I find 110nm............ steve

Thanks Jon, good to know!

The whole rebuild process is in the 1997 300tdi workshop manual available to download here: http://www.landroverweb.com/landrover/pdf-land-rover-manuals/ or other places, I can't remember where I downloaded my copy from. Steve