Steering/ suspension set up advice please....

[landrovermanuk]

I've got a 90 with 2" lift running on 33x12x15 BFG MTs. I'm just about to fit a replacement PAS box, it's likely that the tires/ lift accelerated the wear. I was thinking of fitting castor correcting arms, castor correcting bushes or swivles... Each has their pros and cons.

The arms can bend unless you go for something like gigglepins. It seems a shame to fit gigglepin arms and not fit Disco 2 axles. Too costly at the moment. Or is it worth fitting just a front set to a standard axle until finances allow the back to be done and the axle internals swapped with Ashcroft stuff?

The swivels would be a shame to replace without beefing up the cvj joints, but then that leads to half shafts and then you might as well fit a locking diff. Nice idea but again too costly at the moment.

Castor correcting bushes...Cheapest option not very sexy though. I would need to add a wide angle prop to any of the above.

Or would fitting an adjustable panhard rod be the answer....OR have I not thought of something???

Final question how can I tell if the Disco 2 prop will fit my 90 ( 94 Disco V8,auto and rear axle fitted) IIRC it's a double cardigan set up?

Later on I'm going to rebuild my old box get it drilled and tapped and fit hydro assisted steering. I don't mind spending money on things that can be added to but don't want to fit stuff that's no good when I go the next step.

Thanks John.

[JST]

John

will try and sort through the various points

PAS box - i am not sure the premature failure is due to the lift (tyres maybe and depending how you drive it off road) but this seems to be your decision to castor correct the front.

Whilst correcting the castor any of the ways you describe would help self centering i am not sure it will be that beneficial in increasing the life of a steering box - is this your aim?

If you fit any of the castor correction methods you will need to fit a DC prop as you elude to, a D2 one i believe is non greasable so they have a short life.

My preference would be arms, then clocking then bushes.

With ref to the Ashcroft stuff - its worth it if your breaking CVs or shafts with the setup your running.

Adj Panhard would correct the offset on the front axle

[will_warne]

James has covered most of the points I think.

What's happened to your current steering box? Has it just worn out or is it damaged? If its worn out the tyre size may have accelerated it slightly however even on standard cars they do wear out. The boxes I've killed have been either due to water getting into the PAS reservoir (breather came off and water got in during some deep wading) and twisted sector shafts due to off road abuse when the red mist comes down.

Castor correction will do nothing to help the wear on the steering box - it will improve handling, though. The route you take is up to you but these are my views:

- Bushes are a pain (have to be lined up correctly and can rotate making things worse) and limit articulation.

- Arms do the job but ruin the diff nose angle. That means you need a double carden prop. The arms themselves be it QT or scrapiron have a habit of bending - the standard arms are a much much better design and will normally only start to bend when you'd otherwise bend the chassis. Gwyn Lewis will bend standard hockey sticks which IMHO is the best way to proceed if you really want to go down this route. It's also the cheapest arm option which is a bonus B)

-Swivels are the most elegant solution in my view - there's no mucking about with DC props and it allows you to set up the castor exactly as YOU want it.

Onto other upgrades - I wouldn't even think about CVs / shafts unless you've fitted an uprated diff. This should be the first move. Also putting CV's into your new swivels at a later date is easy enough.

D2 axles are a possible option but its a lot of work to put them under a Defender - they are not a bolt on upgrade and use hockey stick type arms front and back. That means either new chassis mounts or replacing the mounts on the axle. Its not rocket science but its equally not trivial. Also, Gigglepin arms are trailing arms which are designed for the rear axle. The last thing to think about with D2 axles is why you want to fit them? They have advantages (like being able to fit bigger CVs than standard Rover axles, wider track meaning less offset is required on rims when running big tyres, using a D2 location and geometry setup will improve handling) but standard rover axles are pretty good.

Adjustable panhard rod will only really help with bump steer. If you haven't got any issues here then don't bother.

FYI, I ran an OME 2" lift with no changes to castor or the panhard rod and had few problems - it was a great setup 90% of the time. On my new truck I'll be clocking the swivels and changing the panhard rod (necessary due to my suspension setup) but I will be using standard hockey sticks.

[landrovermanuk]

The box has worn out, no damage just very sloppy and no more adjustment left to tighten it up.

I think that I'll leave it as is for now. I'll add an adjustable panhard rod soon and clock the swivels when I can afford to up grade the whole internals in one go.

The idea is to build a strong capable 90 that can be up graded in stages. It appears that I might as well leave the suspension alone until I put something like a Gwyn Lewis kit on it. Like I said I'll probably rebuild my old box and then add hydro assist steering in the future. I think a raised air intake and breathers are now top of the list again maybe with steel braided steering hoses.....Thanks your both top chaps...John

[SteveG]

The arms can bend unless you go for something like gigglepins.

Good to see that the unbiased postings of Gigglepin sponsored drivers is having the desired affect

Steve

[landrovermanuk]

No it's just gigglepins are the only ones I've not read about bending. I've got standard arms on the 90 and will leave them as is and clock the swivels. It looks like Land Rover got it right with their arms so no point changing them.....

How ever if Gigglepin or anyone else wants to sponsor me I'll quite happily tell every one how good their stuff is...