Broken half shaft maybe?

[Suvvey]

Ok, I've had the 110 for just over a month now and still can't quite put my finger on it :-k

The steering has always been just that little bit 'unpredictable' but I originally put that down to all the worn componants. Now after replacing a few ball joints and a lot of tweaking the box I have managed to remove all the play and the steering feels nice and taut but not over tightened on the box although it does still feel a little heavy to me. Don't know if the heavyness is due to me only haven driven 300Tdi or Td5 90's or the 110's I have driven never had power steering so don't really have the experiance of 200Tdi power steering to compare to.

But the real issue is a mixture of a few little things. Firstly when accellerating with my hands of the wheel it pulls to the left or nearside. Not enough to really notice  whilst holding the wheel BUT if i quickly decelerate it will pull back to the right or offside. Again not hugely but sometimes whilst coming out of a junction or roundabout the sudden shift of left to right 'torqueeness' does catch me out a little and results in a slight wobble from the front end. One of the other little faults is one that until today I thought was unrelated and just one of those landy things. There is quite a bit of play in front diff, ie. I can turn the front prop nearly a 1/4 turn by hand before the diff goes taut.

Sooooo what I was wondering is is it possible that my front nearside halfshaft is broken (or maybe worse in the diff? :doh:) or would there be a very noticable noise? I've never had one go before so no idea what to expect. Just tho.......

Actually no scrap that as I've just realised that without the tbox locked I would have no drive at all :oops: :oops: :oops: So now has anyone got any other ideas of what the problem may be? Could it be a problem with the pump or box? although I've got reciepts to show they have both been rplaced in the last 3 yrs.

[Suvvey]

Maybe if the pump is not giving enough or constant enough output the accelerating or decelerating could cause a change in hydraulic pressure? Also may explain the possibly heavy steering?

But not my sloppy diff :(

[colin h]

sounds like you have some worn bushs thats why its pulling left/right  :?

[Range Rover Blues]

The puilling left and right is probably due to worn bushes at the BACK, it's very common TBH becaue the trailer link bushes are under a lot of strain due to the design of the rear suspension.

If it's pulling throgh the steering then I'd be checking your tyres TBH, pressure, type etc.

The play in the front axle is the result of not just diff wear but spline wear in 6 places and CV joint wear too, it all adds up.

[Suvvey]

You don't notice anything through the steering at all really. Just the left to right wander whilst accelerating and decelerating. made worst when doing both in quick succession.
By sight the trailing link bushes don't look too bad although there is no harm in changing them I guess. I think the A frame has some worn parts too as there is the odd clunk when taking dips and falls in the road at speed. Seeing as I have the self leveling unit are any of the parts different or are they the standard ones?
I guess this then opens the whole polybush debate. yes/no soft/hard. Would like to go the soft route but would this still leave me with some sway to the rear axle?

[Bob696]

Worn swivel bearings?

[Range Rover Blues]

If the truck veers left or right on acceleration/braking without any effect on the steering then that is classic trailing link bush failure.

Fit OEM rubber ones, or go for poly which will always be at least as hard, but the rubber ones have done well lasting this long, plus a poly at the chassis end will limit articulation and both ends will cause more road noise in the cabin.

The bit that is different with the SLU is the casting into which the A frame ball joint fits because the SLU ball joint is in the top side of this casting.

[Suvvey]

Well I'll get some OEM bushes then and give that a go. On closer inspection today there is some cracking evident on both so worth a change anyway.

Also what signs would you get if the steering damper needed replacing? Could a damper possibly cause the heavy steering? the fitted one looks rather ancient to me and would put a guess at it being the original (if that is likely at 16yrs old). Is there any noticable benefit from getting one of the after market fancy sounding dampers over a standard one?

[Saffy]

What about the tyres? In the past I have had odd pulling and wandering and it was due to defective or under inflated tyres. Also I once had crossply Town and Country tyres fitted and they seem to want follow every groove in the road and gave the steering a mind of its own.

[Suvvey]

The tyres are BFG All Terrains with plenty of life left in them. Tried running them at any where between 28 to 45 psi and made no difference.

[Range Rover Blues]

A partly seized damper could make the steering heavier, try removing it and see how it drives.

H/D dampers can help with heavy tyres etc but will not cure symptomsof other steering problems.

[KK Mobile]

If the truck veers left or right on acceleration/braking without any effect on the steering then that is classic trailing link bush failure.

I had the same problem turned out to be rear bushes!! no problem since changing them!

I fitted the blue confort ones & it's nice one the road & also offroad :dance:

[Suvvey]

Well I've just driven home from work after removing the damper.......... WOW what a difference. I actually have power steering :dance: Infact it feels so good it's tempting not to replace it but I'm sure the next time I take it offroad or down a bad road I will soon change my mind :roll: