Wandering

[Slugsie]

Mine has got worse over the past year 'cos of the 31" mud tyres.
I haven't been off-road, so it's deteriorated slowly. Off-roading may have finished yours off.

Sounds plausible. OK, how do I test the steering damper? Take it off and see what sort of resistance it gives? Only problem I see there is that I have no idea what sort of resistance it should have.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Sounds plausible. OK, how do I test the steering damper? Take it off and see what sort of resistance it gives? Only problem I see there is that I have no idea what sort of resistance it should have.

Me neither, but I guess it should have the same sort of push and pull resistance as a shock absorber.

[MattF]

Me neither, but I guess it should have the same sort of push and pull resistance as a shock absorber.

A soft or hard shock?

[BUSHWHACKER]

A soft or hard shock?

Soft I reckon, as a hard one will put extra load on the power steering pump.

[Slugsie]

Soft I reckon, as a hard one will put extra load on the power steering pump.

I think you're right. I've just looked on the Explorer Pro Comp website, and their range of steering dampers are listed as ES-2000s, suggesting that they're softer than ES-3000s.

Of course, I can also check it against the one on my 2.4 which is sitting there all idle, trying not to draw too much attention to its self in case I strip it for too many parts.

[Apache]

anybody tryed these idler arms, seems alright price, £ 54.50 all in

millners £57+vat+postage
roughtrax £72+vat+postage.

cheers scotty

I've got one on mine. It's fine, and MUCH cheaper.

[BUSHWHACKER]

I've got one on mine. It's fine, and MUCH cheaper.

How come roughtrax are 20 quid dearer? Is someone else in charge now?

[scotty]

How come roughtrax are 20 quid dearer? Is someone else in charge now?

thats's the price on there website vince.

as far as i know its still barry at roughtrax, well it was when ordered stuff about a month ago. hope its still barry as he in a right helpfull cappy.

cheers scotty

[stormforce]

Barry is still there as i spoke to him week b4 last when i ordered my steering damper and brake hoses and was really helpfull

[Gizmo]

Hi there Paul...

You need to check the Idler [bushes loose inside] or could be bent slightly, same as the Pitman arm on the Drivers Side [Offside].

Check any of the joints moving on you inner and outer-tie rods and linkages.


I had to change most of these components with off-roading [I had the steering wheel at a different angle than usual and was only put right when i changed the idler, pitman arm etc]

[Slugsie]

Hi there Paul...

You need to check the Idler [bushes loose inside] or could be bent slightly, same as the Pitman arm on the Drivers Side [Offside].

Check any of the joints moving on you inner and outer-tie rods and linkages.


I had to change most of these components with off-roading [I had the steering wheel at a different angle than usual and was only put right when i changed the idler, pitman arm etc]

Cheers Gaz,

Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of inspecting under the front of the car this weekend. Not been able to do much during the week with the dark nights, and not having a garage.

[Slugsie]

Just occured to me, I'm beginning to wonder if my jacking of the front end up by nearly 2 inches might have contributed to this. Might have just overdone something, and it didn't become apparent until it got some off-road abuse?

Thoughts?

[BUSHWHACKER]

Just occured to me, I'm beginning to wonder if my jacking of the front end up by nearly 2 inches might have contributed to this. Might have just overdone something, and it didn't become apparent until it got some off-road abuse?

Thoughts?

Raising the front with the torsion bars just creates positive camber, nothing to do with steering wandering.

http://www.etyres.co.uk/glossary-tyre-terms?term=camber

[Slugsie]

Raising the front with the torsion bars just creates positive camber, nothing to do with steering wandering.

http://www.etyres.co.uk/glossary-tyre-terms?term=camber

Well, it was just a thought.

Hopeing that the weather isn't too bad this weekend and I can get outside, jack the car up, and let loose with the spanners.

[Slugsie]

OK, had a chance to get under the car today, and I can see why it's handling funny, but not really sure what to do about it.

With the front of the car jacked up, and manually forcing one wheel to turn, I can see that there is a bit of play, and it takes a small amount of movement before the other wheel moves. This is obviously what's causing it to feel a bit funny. (Warning, lack of technical terms ahead ) Looking at all the bits as I move them, it seems to be being caused by the fact that as the wheel turns, the adjustable arm (circled in red) that connects to the long rod (with the steering damper on, circled in yellow, which seems fine BTW) that joins each side moves, and the long rod (yellow) twists slightly before transferring the movement to the other wheel. I'm guessing that it shouldn't do this, and that is the root of the problem. However, what do I do to fix it short of replacing everything?