Jimmy Two-Jacks Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Hi, Im am please to say my old 90 has passed her MOT but having driven her for a little while now I have to say that the steering is rather twitchy but perhaps thats the way Defenders drive as I wouldnt know as this is my first. Or could it be the steering damper is shot?? But wouldnt the MOT people pick that up? Any advice appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 If you mean by saying twitchy as in it tends to wander at will, And nothing was picked up by the MOT man ie: bushes not worn or play in the ball joint's etc then personally i would go and get my tracking checked, My Lizardgirlfriends disco did the same and caused her to get a bit nervous driving it, it was only after I took it into the garage that a friend of mine owns and got it on the tracking ramp that we found out that the tracking was out a lot HTH John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troddenmasses Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 me too - my 90 was horrifically twitchy until I got out a tape measure and long piece of string to work out the relative distances between the fronts and backs of the front tyres. It turned out that it was toe out by a couple of cms. A bit of a wind with a spanner later and it was all sorted out. I'm sure that a grown up will be along some time soon to tell us all how much toe out/in it should have, but I made them as parallel as I could with the high tech method as described, and it made it much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 For what it cost's though and the muck about factor it was easier to get it done by his lazer guided alignment machine at least I knew then it was going to be as near as damn it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Two-Jacks Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 A trip to the tame tyre fitters then. All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSIIA Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Possibly worth checking the tyre pressures first - a zero cost option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crwoody Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 ... I have to say that the steering is rather twitchy but perhaps thats the way Defenders drive as I wouldnt know as this is my first ... It's not always easy to precisely define a subjective "feel" about something like this, but it's worth considering that a Defender, (or any other older style LR) is very different to most modern cars in terms of handling / steering etc. on account of having much bigger and heavier wheels on heavy beam axles, hence a high unsprung weight, also with a worm type steering box rather than rack & pinion leading to a lack of feel. I'm not saying there isn't a problem with yours, but anyone unfamiliar with driving a Defender could easily be forgiven for thinking there may be something wrong with it. I don't think a faulty steering damper would necessarily be picked up on the MOT if it doesn't appear physically faulty, try disconnecting one end and check if you can feel resistance while pulling and pushing the loose end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Two-Jacks Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 It's not always easy to precisely define a subjective "feel" about something like this, but it's worth considering that a Defender, (or any other older style LR) is very different to most modern cars in terms of handling / steering etc. on account of having much bigger and heavier wheels on heavy beam axles, hence a high unsprung weight, also with a worm type steering box rather than rack & pinion leading to a lack of feel. I'm not saying there isn't a problem with yours, but anyone unfamiliar with driving a Defender could easily be forgiven for thinking there may be something wrong with it. I don't think a faulty steering damper would necessarily be picked up on the MOT if it doesn't appear physically faulty, try disconnecting one end and check if you can feel resistance while pulling and pushing the loose end. Thats right, I was actually talking to a friend of mine who has been in the motor sport industry for years and so has a good idea about steering systems and its geometry he actually drove the 90 back some 180 miles when we picked it up. He said that it "didn't drive like a car because it isn't a car" you see I have only driven more road orientated part time 4x4s "OK so I had a Suzuki" :blush: Anyway I think it could be due to the large rumbley tires and perhaps as someone said a tracking issue but I will also give the damper a look. Thanks for the reply Cheers James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalMagus Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 As mentioned earlier double check your tyre pressures. I'm a newbie in my 90 and it wandered quite a bit going to work and back. I thought at first that was just how they handled. However I found that I had a difference in the front tyres side to side of around 4psi. 26psi in the drivers side and 30 in the passengers. Stuck everything at 29 -30 psi and it handles loads different. Tracks a lot better. Cost me 15 minutes with the electric pump and a pressure gauge. Cheers Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 No toe-out or toe-in on a 90/110. My favourite method ever of setting it - not a laser in sight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GL88 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Echo what others have said about tyre pressures. Makes a big difference to mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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