Thread: Diagnosing super hard steering

Hi all,
I've had my 1953 LR Series 1 80" off the road for close to 5 years while I worked through a nut and bolt rebuild.
I took it off the road due to poor compression, too much soot in the exhaust, but otherwise not too bad. The transmission seemed good and everything worked, other than a harsh crash ride and heavy steering. In other words a Long Rover S1.

OK I now have it mostly back together and drivable However, steering is now much harder than it used to be. I had overhauled it all, replacing anything that looked like it could benefit. New steering Relay, ball joints, and seals. Tyres are put to pressure so not that.
So I am struggling to diagnose what I have done wrong and what the best sequence of investigations and steps might be to locate the problem.

I guess step one should be to put it up on Axle stands and set what changes. Brakes dragging could be an issue, so the stands will help diagnose.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated,
Jeff in Perth.

I'd start with putting the front axle up on stands and see if it is still stiff. Then take the drop arm off the steering box and test again. Keep at it until you've isolated the stiff joint...?

I take it you mean the steering itself is stiff. Bad wheel alignment can make the steering stiff but that is at speed on the road (which I assume you are not at that stage yet).

Chris