twisting steering arm?

[flagg]

Hi Guys,

There is about an inch and a half of slack in the steering on my 110. In trying to track it down I tightened up the adjustment on the box (3 bolt type) which made the steering heavier, but the play didn't go away.

In trying to determine where the play was I got under it and started to attempt to move things around. All the tie rod ends seemed tight, however the shaft that goes from the steering box to the left hand wheel (with the damper on it) can twist a fair bit. Is this normal?

I'm really not willing to put up with dodgy steering so if I have to replace the box I will. Even though I can't detect any play should I replace the tie rod ends first? (Cheap, keep the old ones as spare if they are any good).

Also, I did this without jacking it up, ie wheels on the ground. Does this affect the diagnosis? When I turn the steeling, I can see the rods moving (a little) within the 'play'...

(as an aside, the rod behind the front diff is a maxi-drive unit, but the front one isn't.. If I'm going to replace everything I'm tempted to get a front MD tie rod. Does anyone have any comments on this?)

Thanks guys.

[Scouse]

the shaft that goes from the steering box to the left hand wheel (with the damper on it) can twist a fair bit. Is this normal?

That shaft has a ball joint at either end so the twist is just you rotating the ball joints. Normal.

Have someone rock the steering wheel. Then you can place a hand over each joint & feel for movement. It seems to be easier to detect movement by feel this way I've found. Any movement will be magnified at the steering wheel.

[JDNSW]

The other place to look for play in the steering is movement on either end of the panhard rod, that is the link between the chassis next to the steering box and the axle housing. Any movement on the bushes at either end of this will show up directly as steering play.

John