land rover 110 scary steering

[farmer_ben]

ive got a 1986 110 with 2" lift ,285 75 16 tyres, 3degree castor correcion arms and it doesnt seem to wont to go in a straight line ! ive poly bushed the arms put new ball joints on and changed the steering box and had the tracking done and is still like it :-( any one know what to try next ??

thanks in advance ,ben

[Diablo]

UJs on the steering column, wheel bearings.

there's a good thread in the technical forum, called 'wobbly steering' which gives a host of symptoms and causes. My truck is currently unable to stay straight and that's due to a shagged wheel bearing osf, which I'm sorting tomorrow

[Tanuki]

How does it wander? Does its wandering vary between power-on and overrun? Does it pull up straight under really hard braking?

Was it a full 4-wheel alignment you had done, or just a front-end toe-in/toe-out check? (I ask because I once came across a LR that on investigation turned out to be an inch shorter on one side than the other following backstreet chassis-surgery: it never steered or stopped right!).

Try swapping wheels side-to-side and front-to-rear. Check the preload on the steering-swivels too!

[mike4444244]

panhard rod bushes?

[western]

it shouldn't need castor corrected arms if the lift is only 2 inches, 3 inches and higher yes. what state are the swivel preloads in, if loose they can make steering very poor as can a poor panhard rod bush[es]

[Simon Smith]

Agree with Western, my last 110 had a 2" lift and standard arms and it handled like a sportscar. Well OK I lied a bit, but it certainly went generally in the direction I wanted it too.

[Disco-Ron]

might sound strange, but check the condition of not only the front radius arm bushes, but also the REAR trailing arm one, its surprising what a worn bush can do!!

[farmer_ben]

thanks for the help people I done all the bushes at the same time ,and only had the front tracking checked ,it drives like it has a poorly loaded trailer on it but when braking its fine and seems to be ok if I stay under 40mph lol

[Disco-Ron]

What tyres and pressures are you running??

[L835]

Loose drop arm nut?

[farmer_ben]

im running 285 75 16 insa turbo special tracks with 35psi in the front and 40psi on the back ,drop arm is fine ,ive just borght a return to center steering shock see if that makes any differance :-)

[Simon Smith]

Mine is on 265-75x16 BFG Muds, and it doesn't like 40psi in the back, it seems very skittish. Handles best on 36psi all round, even with a heavy trailer and tyres are wearing fine. So I would try lowering the rear pressure a bit.

[Disco-Ron]

A friend mentioned the other day that her ex military 110 was wandering badly at speed, I checked the tyre pressures, she had 28 front, 48rear!!!! I lowered that to 35, and she said its now so much more stable, and she never puts anything in the back,

My advice, try lower pressure all round!!

[western]

try dropping the front tyre pressure to 30 or 28,

my 110 runs 255/85 MT's the fronts are only at 28psi, rears at 40psi [400kg recovery kit onboard all the time] front pressure doesn't go any higher what ever the load.

[Diff]

What width rims do you have? Minimum width is 7.5 inch, but they will work better on 8inch wide rims. If they are on 7 inch rims, it won't help with the steering issues, but may not be the primary cause.

The tyres you have are very aggressive remoulds and won't handle well compared to a regular all terrain or even mud terrain. The wide tyres make things worse too!

It is possible that a lot of factors are contributing to your steering woes. Just go through things methodically.

If you can, borrow someone elses wheel and tyres, and see if it makes any difference.

Regards,

Diff.

[farmer_ben]

thanks for the help I have swapped the front wheels for the back and lowered the pressures and it is much better ! thanks :-)