Thread: Defender Pulling to the left

Originally Posted by Dockstrada

Yeah still the standard damper .

Tyre pressure ? I dont know they were adjusted today by the mechanic .

Never assume the workshop has done things properly.

A colleague just had a wheel alignment done on his Pajero. I had a look at it a day or two later. Two of the adjuster nuts had note been retightened (potentially life threatening if left for long periods like that), and one of the TREs was worn but they either hadn't thought to mention it or hadn't noticed.

Originally Posted by rick130

It all depends on road camber.

The more camber, the more they pull. A dead flat surface and they steer straight.

Easy fix is a slightly longer front trailing arm bush at the chassis end to extend the wheelbase slightly on the nearside.
Super-Pro make one just for this purpose.

The correct fix is slightly more castor on the LHS wheel, but you need to slot the swivels for that, and then it will pull to the right when the camber is the other way, eg. when overtaking.

mine pulled regardless of camber, just less on a right camber, and thats BOTH defenders......

Another vote for tyre pressure.

TOTAL Waste of money getting a wheel alignment done on a Defender.
All they can do is the Toe in ?out, and they NEVER do it properly.

I even told them last time I got tyres (got a free wheel alignment) that I need 1.5mm TOE OUT , and I knew it was wrong by driving, got home & checked it with my trusty piece of dowell & they gave it Toe IN,

In anycase incorrect toe in wont make it pull left or right !! So as I said - waste of money.

Mine did that since Day 1, straight off the showroom floor.

I fought with LR for two years and all they said was 'it's normal, they all do this'. They replaced the steering box, wheel alignment, etc, nothing helped.

Eventually I hired a lawyer and then they bent over backwards to help. Finally they replaced the entire front axle and the problem was cured.

Originally Posted by Naks

[snip]
Finally they replaced the entire front axle and the problem was cured.

Would love to know what the problem was there.

Whoever did the wheel alignment would know and I would've loved to see the numbers.

All the suggestions above, eg Ben's check the wheelbase, possibly rear steer, etc are all where you go after discounting road camber.

Other things that can cause it are loose front panhard rod bushes or bolts,

TYRE PRESSURES (as has already been mentioned and I can't emphasise that enough. They should be checked weekly at a minimum. A decent tyre pressure gauge carried in any car is a must)

Type of tyre (some tramline more than others) mostly it's to do with case construction, but tread design can play a part.
Play in the steering box (and it doesn't take much play in a Defender to get the wanders) that obviously leads to play in the tie rod ends (TRE's) but that's highly unlikely in a new car.
Loose wheel bearings (an obvious sign of this is brake pad knockoff on rough roads when pressing on) or insufficient swivel pre-load (although usually some shimmy is indicative of this)

Hmm, I wonder if the steering box has been centred properly ?
On late model four bolt boxes there's a hole for a centring pin, then the steering arms are adjusted to get the wheels straight, otherwise the box will be off centre and power assistance may pull the steering (IIRC for the first x* or so from centre there's no assist. Can't recall the exact figure, 8* ??)

I check after a a quick drive on a reverse camber to ensure that its not the road

tyre pressure
tyre wear (if worn I rotate them left to right to see what happens)
visual on the radius arm bushes
Other suspension bushes
center to center
brake function
steering system play + freedom of movement.
swivel pin play
wheel bearings

Originally Posted by rick130

Would love to know what the problem was there. Whoever did the wheel alignment would know and I would've loved to see the numbers.

Everything was measured by 3 different independent LR panelbeaters and nothing amiss was reported.

It could be that the original axle was bent or simply mounted funny?