Thread: Swivel preload

in the last two days I think the things I want to do to my car have gone about about 3 grand.....

Some after thoughts

I spoke of adjusting the steering box .... A easy job to do ...But ... You need a "Midas touch" to get it right
It is "way too easy" to "over do it" and bind up the worm shaft inside it .. (resulting in buying a recon box $$)

I adjust via engine running and "twitching" the steering wheel and watching VERY closely at the wheel RIM (not the tyre) twitching in reaction to the adjustment ... then driving around the block to make sure the steering "self centres" promptly (after turning) & is not binding

I would Highly recommend that this job be left to DiscoWhite to check & do

Mike

It's amazing how much vibration can be caused by some dirt on one edge of a rim, usually caused after cleaning and all the mud settles at one point.

I had a bad steering vibration caused by worn panhard bushes.
From my experience it is good policy to replace everything in one hit.
One worn part can cause the others to wear prematurely . Costs a bit more but worth it in the end.

Originally Posted by dullbird

in the last two days I think the things I want to do to my car have gone about about 3 grand.....

You could just drive at 90 or 110,cost you nothing then. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

You could just drive at 90 or 110,cost you nothing then. Pat

true

When i had my track rod replaced with a graeme cooper heavy duty one and fitted the steering damper relocation bracket i got from Discowhite the vehicle had this massive steering wobble over 40km/h which started when you hit a bump. After a post on here i rebuilt both swivels (one bearing happened to be stuffed) and took the car for a drive and it still did the same thing. So now, i had new steering damper, new swivel hub bearings, newly greased packed and tightened wheel bearings and the problem didnt even get slightly better. In the end the problem turned out to be a loose panhard rod bolt, i tightened the bolt and the problem disapeared instantly.

If there is freeplay i agree with Discowhite, the only cause can be flogged out tie rod ends or a worn or poorly adjusted steering box.

You can add worn steering shaft universals or splines to the freeplay list too.
The alloy spline in the lower universal of my steering shaft was badly worn when I bought it - I reckon about 10deg freeplay.

Steve

Originally Posted by brianwood

From my personal experience, flogged out swivel bearings caused the vehicle to wander and clunk a little over pot holes etc, nothing else...

Flogged out swivels can most definately cause vibrations and shuddering in the front end, although not usually with the Railko sustem, but with the tapered rollers top and bottom or the tapered cone and spring of the series 1 and early series 2 models and Range Rover classic (tapered rollers T & B ).

If the spring is broken or loses its tension and you hit a bump you can get a vibration that feels like you are on a corrugated road.

A long time since I've had it happen and I converted those Series Landies to the Railko system.

Diana