Thread: Road-Handling and Ride Quality

Originally Posted by mick88

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By the way, if you are running free wheeling hubs your top railco's (king pin) bushes might be dry causing them to not perform as well as they should and effect the steering.
That is assuming you have oil (or knuckle jam) in the knuckle housings.
They rely on the drive yokes to flick lubrication up to them, so a good idea is to turn the hubs in every so often or alternatively you can turn one side in for few days which will only spin the axle and not the whole diff and drive shaft assembly. Then give the other side a run for a few days.



Cheers, Mick.

Actually, the easiest way to lubricate your top bushes is to do it without leaving the drivers seat. Once a week perhaps, engage four wheel drive (high) by depressing the yellow knob while stopped, and leave it there until you stop next, then disengage the usual way by engaging and disengaging low range. (since the hubs are unlocked, you are not actually driving the front wheels)

This also has the advantage of exercising the transfer case linkage, which sometimes rusts and sticks if not used occasionally.

John

Thanks again for the advice.

I have made a start on road-handling issues. Still a long way to go.

I added some weight to the tub to see how much difference that makes (four 6.00x16 wheels - about 100kgs). I have to say, the extra weight does have a noticeable dampening effect on the springs. The ride feels better, even though this is obviously not a permanent solution, but an interesting experiment.



I reduced the pressure in my 7.50x16 tyres to 32. I also found that the steering box was practically empty, so topped it up with some SAE90 oil. I also topped up the steering relay using a small syringe, only to discover the next morning that most of it had leaked out onto the garage floor! I can only assume this means the relay has been operating 'oil-free' for quite some time.



I finally managed to get the locknut free on the steering box so that I could hand-tighten the adjuster. This does seem to have firmed up the steering noticeably. Had to buy a 15/16" spanner and cut it down to get it to fit in under the wing and onto the lock nut.

Anyway, steering has improved. Toe-in settings are next, then I need someone who knows what they are doing to look at the rest of the steering system (including the relay).

Good start and great to see the experimentation.

The seal in the bottom of the steering really is replaceable - I think pretty easily by the sound of it, but don't try and pull the whole relay apart - it has a HUGE spring in it under massive tension that will do you harm or worse if you pull it apart.

The relay seal is replaceable without removing the relay, but if it has been dry for some time, it may need more than oil. It can even be overhauled without removing it, but as bacicat warns, do not attempt to disassemble it beyond removing the end plate to replace the seal unless you know exactly what you are doing.

It contains two sets of split tapered bushes, held against their conical journals by a strong spring between them. As soon as the inner assembly is moved far enough for the bushes at the emerging end to clear the housing, the bushes and the spring will be propelled out at high speed, and will not stop if your head or hands are in their path.

John

The biggest problem is often getting the relay out of the crossmember, one at the weekend took several hours of work to remove.
The spring isn't a big issue getting the relay apart, rags over the end and drift the shaft, bushes spring etc. into the rags. Reassembly is a bigger issue because you need to compress the spring to get it back together.

If you remove the lower steering arm you can take out 4 bolts, remove the locating flange, then remove 4 bolts with undersize heads and remove the lower endplate. You need a paper gasket and an oil-seal (as long as the shaft where the seal rubs isn't damaged or pitted). If the shaft is pitted you have to remove the shaft to repair it.

I did this on my Series I 1956 Series 1 with PTO welder (home made)

Here is a thread with the making of a compression tool & reassembly of the relay Isuzu C240 powered Series 3

Beware of aftermarket relays (**itpart etc.), they are low cost for a reason. If you can repair an original it is likely to be a stronger more reliable unit in the end.


Colin

A temporary fix can be to put a small amount of brake fluid into the oil, this causes rubber seals to swell.
It probably worth a try seeing as your other option is to replace the seal anyway.

Oh and your other option for a comfy ride is to remove a (some) springs from the rear, esp if you're not going to be carrying anything most the time

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

A temporary fix can be to put a small amount of brake fluid into the oil, this causes rubber seals to swell.
It probably worth a try seeing as your other option is to replace the seal anyway.

Not sure about that one, brake rubbers don't tend to swell unless there are contaminants in the brake fluid.
There are products with plasticisers that rejuvenate seals but it's so easy to drop the bottom plate and replace the seal.
Seal size is 1.5" x 1.125" x 0.25", any bearing shop should have them, gaskets are 40cents at my local LR supplier. Try not to buy the seals from a LR supplier as some tend to carry poor quality seals that fail very quickly.

Pair of seals $7.70 from a bearing stockist today.

Colin