Thread: Steering problems

Originally Posted by TREX

Hey team, just a quick question i have a 2000 td5 130 and was just wondering what sort of steering box would i have in it? 6 bolt or 4 bolt?. it has 4 bolts onto the chassis then two bolts onto the drop arm so not sure if this makes it a 4 or 6 bolt unit?
Seems this is the next thing to change on the road to tracking down why i get a steering wobble through the steering wheel when turning right at speeds above 20km/h. I have got all things looked at including the usual suspects like
wheel bearings ( changed left and added new spacer)
panhard rod bushes (changed bushs and bolts)
swivel bearing preload ( checked and tightened)
steering dampner ( took it off went for drive and is the same just worse)
radius arm bushes ( getting em changed tomorrow before i by a new box)

didn't think it could be the box because it doesn't do it at low speeds and only ( which is the weird bit) when turning right.

Anyone see anything i may have missed??

thanks fella's

Steering box will be a 4 bolt. The number is the amount of bolts on the top plate of the box. They all mount with 4 bolts to the rail.

Seems like you have done the common stuff.

Have you checked all the ball joints? incuding the one on the drop arm?

Also damaged wheel or tyre maybe? at least get them balanced

I would do the radius arm bushes and go from there.

To the other suggestions, add a faulty CV joint. A slight possibility could be one of the U-joints on the steering column develops free play at one position, which happens to be where it is on a typical right turn.

Another possibility is a damaged or warped brake disc.

John

... Also to add to the list ....
You mentioned tightening up a swivel joint ... Did you check that the swivel bearings / bush are OK & not crushed??

Pitman arm nut to steering box is loose
There are 2 Tie rod joints on the RHS .... verses 1 on the LHS

Mike

Originally Posted by Psimpson7

Steering box will be a 4 bolt. The number is the amount of bolts on the top plate of the box. They all mount with 4 bolts to the rail.

Seems like you have done the common stuff.

Have you checked all the ball joints? incuding the one on the drop arm?

Also damaged wheel or tyre maybe? at least get them balanced

I would do the radius arm bushes and go from there.

Sorry yes i have checked all the ball joints and the drop arm they are all about only a year old, the tyres i swapped left to right but to no avail.
Thanks for the info on the box price of a 4 bolt is much better than a six.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

To the other suggestions, add a faulty CV joint. A slight possibility could be one of the U-joints on the steering column develops free play at one position, which happens to be where it is on a typical right turn.

Another possibility is a damaged or warped brake disc.

John

Got all the u joints checked last week, don't think anyone has looked at the brake disks though. would it be easy to see??? and would it only happen when i'm turning right??

Originally Posted by TREX

Got all the u joints checked last week, don't think anyone has looked at the brake disks though. would it be easy to see??? and would it only happen when i'm turning right??

I am talking about the U-joints on the steering column, not the prop shafts - were they checked?

A warped or damaged disc should be visible if you jack the wheel up and spin it looking from the inside as you do so. Another thought, is that it could be a loose brake caliper, although I would expect that to show up when braking. I assume it is not a loose wheel, as you have swapped wheels (have you tried swapping front to back? The problem from a wheel or tyre may show up regardless of which side it is on, although I would not expect it to be only when turning one way).

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I am talking about the U-joints on the steering column, not the prop shafts - were they checked?

A warped or damaged disc should be visible if you jack the wheel up and spin it looking from the inside as you do so. Another thought, is that it could be a loose brake caliper, although I would expect that to show up when braking. I assume it is not a loose wheel, as you have swapped wheels (have you tried swapping front to back? The problem from a wheel or tyre may show up regardless of which side it is on, although I would not expect it to be only when turning one way).

John

Just took the tyres off to have a look at the calipers, they are rock solid and the disks run true so no luck there, swapped the tyres back again whilst i had them off and took it for a spin, still the same can only get it to do it whilst turning right at speed, slow right turns and left turns are perfect no shimmy, pretty sure the steering colum uni's were looned at recently. i had a look whilst i had it on jacks and they seem pretty solid no movement in them laterally.

Still looking.