mitch Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am new to Land Rovers, (and off roading), and have recently brought a 1998 Land Rover Discovery. I have to say that I drive it quite slowly, when compared to other cars, because it feels “unstable”. Having said that I have had no problems with it. Today my wife took it out for the first time and was going down a dead straight road at 50 mph when she said the steering went light and the car started to swerve across the road, she tried to correct it and it then started going all over the place. She ended up ploughing into a field on the opposite side of the road. She has been driving for 20 years and this is her first accident. I checked the car out, drove it back home from the field and everything feels “normal”, tyres are OK, (Colway C trax MT), track rod ends seem ok, rest of steering feels OK, body roll feels quite a lot but I thought that was normal for a Land Rover. Any ideas what might have caused this? Anything that may be worn that I should be checking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Doesn't sound right, not that I can suggest a lot but my discovery used to fly down the lanes at 70ish without feeling dangerous, I did tend to slow down more for the bends than I do in the car but not a lot different. The MT tyres won't help the situation (well not until you've gone into the field!) Any oil/diesel on the road? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ3120 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 have a look at the bushes on the front radius arms, panhard rod, rear trailing arms. have a good look at the upper link bushes on the radius arms and trailing arms. I had the upper link bushes fail on my trailing arms, whish in effect gave me rear wheel steering, not funny at 50mph and the rear of the disco is doing its own thing Russ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealboss Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 You sure need to check it out, I have a Disco2 and can tell you its very stable on and off the road. If it feels unstable then I would say something is wrong, if you don't know what to look for I would suggest you get someone who understands 4x4's to take a look. With all 4x4's you have a higher centre of gravity and that means the car has a more of a rolling effect on corners. You would be amased at the amount of people that expect a Landrover ( or any other big 4x4) to act just like a car on the road. Just remember you are not driving a car, really its a truck, so everything you do requires a little more time- I tend to double the gap between me and the car in frount (thats about 2 car lengths per 10 mph). I carry a lot of weight and 3+ tons of Landrover take a lot of stopping. I hope you find out the problem and glad to hear that your wife is fine, am sure you will love the Landrover once you find what this problem is, sorry I can't be any more help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Check the tracking too as this can cause problems. Especially if you clout the track rod on something so there are a couple of inches of toe-out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz8550tdi Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 have a look at the bushes on the front radius arms, panhard rod, rear trailing arms. have a good look at the upper link bushes on the radius arms and trailing arms.I had the upper link bushes fail on my trailing arms, whish in effect gave me rear wheel steering, not funny at 50mph and the rear of the disco is doing its own thing Russ i agree with russ if like you say what you have checked out is ok, i would go for rear first, they usually split, some slight perishing would be normal i'd say but anyform of crack/split and or gaping where the bush has been squashed over the mialage then just replace em 20 quid a pair and not a hard job to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streaky Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I agree with Russ. It's possible that the worn radius arm bushes introduced some wander into the driving and she over compensated when she felt something was not right on the bend. Was the vehicle service prior to the accident? May be a bolt was left loose in the steering assembly somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkbeef Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 My wife had the same problem with her KIA, it turned out to be the nut holding the steering wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitch Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Thanks for all the input. I'll have a real hard look this weekend to see if any of the suggestted bits are worn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streaky Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 My wife had the same problem with her KIA, it turned out to be the nut holding the steering wheel. I'm sure she'll really appreciate you calling her a 'nut'........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Check out the above, plus the shock absorbers. If one or more are defective the handling will be strange. I would also consider having the vehicle checked to ensure there is no chassis damage (accident prior to your purchase?) & that everything is where it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitch Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Had a good look at the radius arms, panhard rod, rear trailing arms and everything looked very solid with none of the bushes looking tired. Still not convinced about the shock absorbers, (and may be the springs), the whole car seems very very "soft". I think I am going to change them anyway. The other thing I did notice was that the Front drag Link is bent, (I think that's what its called, its the link right at the front of the car). Should this be dead straight? Strangley the way its bent must have occured when the car was going backwards, (ie its bent towards the front of the car not towards the back). Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 You will find pictures of items at http://www.famousfour.co.uk/new_parts/index.php Look in the relevant vehicle section. I've had a quick look & all the draglinks & complete track rods look straight, so unless I'm missing something that could be your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I've had the same problem with a disco - not a very pleasant experience when it happens, with the back end stepping out and sending you in a different direction like its on castors What I noticed was it tended to happen on roads which had rutted lightly and the wide road tyres started tracking in the ruts, finally flinging you off to one side. Hasn't happened again since I changed a worn rear wheel bearing and put new shocks and springs on (old ones were pretty worn and I suspect were affecting handling quite badly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I've had the same problem with a disco - not a very pleasant experience when it happens, with the back end stepping out and sending you in a different direction like its on castors What I noticed was it tended to happen on roads which had rutted lightly and the wide road tyres started tracking in the ruts, finally flinging you off to one side. Hasn't happened again since I changed a worn rear wheel bearing and put new shocks and springs on (old ones were pretty worn and I suspect were affecting handling quite badly) i also noticed this while driving on the A1 a few weeks back - the ruts on the inside lane caused by the lorries seemed to catch the disco out a lot more than it does my transit connect or evo. i guess its because of the wider track, but it wasnt very pleasant to have to keep battling it - so i became a "middle lane hogger" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStu Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 My disco has the bent drag link also, its original on mine but someone on this forum did once point it out as a problem. Is the bend quite symmetrical and just to the left of the diff looking at it from the front? Worn front suspension components including panhard rod bushes can induce an unstable feeling, I've got to say, mine sometimes feels on the edge of control on fast A/B roads. Bump steer can also be an issue, swivel pre-loads can be altered for a more predictable ride. I need to do both these jobs on mine and have a set of polybushes in the garage waiting to go on for just this reason. Stu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasS Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 On 7/2/2008 at 2:57 PM, J@mes said: i also noticed this while driving on the A1 a few weeks back - the ruts on the inside lane caused by the lorries seemed to catch the disco out a lot more than it does my transit connect or evo. i guess its because of the wider track, but it wasnt very pleasant to have to keep battling it - so i became a "middle lane hogger" Any feedback on this one? I'm having the same issue on my Disco 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 22 hours ago, ThomasS said: Any feedback on this one? I'm having the same issue on my Disco 2 Do you have wider offset wheel on the vehicle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawl12 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Have you gone through all the checks advised to the original poster ? Are your tyres all the same make & spec ? Are your tyres road tyres or more extreme off-road tyres ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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