Series 3 Diagnosing cause of steering problem

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85Santana3

85Santana3

Active Member
Posts
284
Location
Canada
Hello everybody
Here are the symptoms:
1. When I drive in straight line when I hit a bump or hole it is harder than before to keep the truck in straight line
2. When I have to steer left or right car has a tendency to go a lot more in that direction than I intended and it is had to keep conrol
3. As speed increases the problem becomes more

I have read through every post on this site about steering but I could not find a solution hence the question.
One mechanic said that it is steering box I do not trust him beasue he did not bother to drive and test it, Also he was afraid of taking the steering box out he said it is too complicated!
Nothing has been done to steering or joints over 4 years so things mght be worn out question is which one and how to fix it.
Thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
Have you got a steering damper?
The first thing I'd check is the track rod ends, there's 6 of them so a little play in one can lead to big free play.
You can also check the steering box by moving the steering wheel side to side and watch the rod that's attached to the steering box, you should see it move pretty much as you move the steering wheel if not its easy to adjust by the bolt and lock nut on the side of it.
 
Not usual for series to have a steering damper.
As above check everything.
Check steering box is firmly in place.
Any adjustment to box must be done with wheels straight ahead and it must not be overtightened.
Check the swivel pin preload.
Steering wobble after hitting a bump can be a sign of a failing axle damper/shock.
Many good "how two" videos on the you tube.
 
Has the steering relay got oil in it.
Get someone to rock the steering wheel whilst you look underneath at all the link points and arms on steering relay to see if they are slack also arms going from trackrods to hub as they can also become loose at the four stud fixing points.
 
I did the greasing and oil thing and it imporved the situation somewhat but not entirely. Next I will try your other suggestions, thanks for replies guys.
I wish somebody would come up with a step by step diagnosis procedure for every problem for different models. Do this first if failed do that etc. etc. (This would be very helpful. I do not have the mechnical knowledge but if others would be willing to participate I would develop the database and do the programming.)
I found a thread on this site about adjusting the steering box. Tomorrow I will try that as well. Thanks again.
 
I would jack up,the front end and check for wheel bearing play , One of Mine were loose the other week and had similar symptoms , then with a lever move ball joint fixings while holding with other hand
 
Simple check list.
Is steering box secure ? They do come loose.
Oil in relay.
General play in rod ends. (the one from steering box to relay tends to get overlooked cos it's not easy to change.
Remove a steering arm and put a spring balance on to check swivel pre-load. With the seal in place you should see around a 14 pound pull before the arm moves. If free wheeling hubs fitted are they locked up once a week to throw oil up to the top railco bush?

I ran series for 40 years and your sort of problems are usually down to swivels, if new ones needed and you have not done them before allow a day each side to fit and adjust. I modified the top king pins on mine to make them greaseable. A bit of grease a couple of times a year soon mixes in with the EP90 oil. (I assume you have checked the oil level in the swivel?)
 
85Santana3 said:
I wish somebody would come up with a step by step diagnosis procedure for every problem for different models. Do this first if failed do that etc. etc. (This would be very helpful. I do not have the mechnical knowledge but if others would be willing to participate I would develop the database and do the programming.)
I found a thread on this site about adjusting the steering box. Tomorrow I will try that as well. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

How do we start?
 
OK guys this will be a group effort if it ever get started.
Objective is to develop a series of step by step guide to diagnos poblems in LR trucks.
one way to do it would be
1. Each person who is interested to participate picks a specific problem and writes a step by step guide as how to test to find out what the problem is.
These steps must be planned like programing algorithm. One step has several outcomes under each condition next step would be specified learly and so on and so forth. so following it even an idiot can 100% clearly fiure out what is wrong.
2. this guideline will be available to everybody else (whether participating or not) and they can make suggestions or corrections
3. when the procedure is finalized I will put those steps in a relational database or made a neat html or pdf page for it in a searchable directory which will be availabele to everybody. Alternatively each topic can simply be a thread in this forum.
4. This is all on voluntary basis and nobody owns the work it will be a available to everybody
5. Anybody can start or stop contributing so there is no obligation to keep working on it.

this will help people to find the casue of problem in their LRs. which I think is becoming more difficult to fix as with time good experienced mechanics become harder to find.

Maybe I am dreaming but I am convinced this would be very useful whether we can do it or not.

Looking forward to your comments
 
Last edited:
85Santana3 said:
OK guys this will be a group effort if it ever get started.
Objective is to develop a series of step by step guide to diagnos poblems in LR trucks.
one way to do it would be
1. Each person who is interested to participate picks a specific problem and writes a step by step guide as how to test to find out what the problem is.
These steps must be planned like programing algorithm. One step has several outcomes under each condition next step would be specified learly and so on and so forth. so following it even an idiot can 100% clearly fiure out what is wrong.
2. this guideline will be available to everybody else (whether participating or not) and they can make suggestions or corrections
3. when the procedure is finalized I will put those steps in a relational database or made a neat html or pdf page for it in a searchable directory which will be availabele to everybody. Alternatively each topic can simply be a thread in this forum.
4. This is all on voluntary basis and nobody owns the work it will be a available to everybody
5. Anybody can start or stop contributing so there is no obligation to keep working on it.

this will help people to find the casue of problem in their LRs. which I think is becoming more difficult to fix as with time good experienced mechanics become harder to find.

Maybe I am dreaming but I am convinced this would be very useful whether we can do it or not.

Looking forward to your comments
Click to expand...
Definitely. Would like to contribute. Am just coming to the end of windscreen motor replacement which has required dash out, rewiring, new switches etc....ive had series for years have kept a note of issues and solutions
 
Steve there are two issues with that 2A manual. Firstly I dobt if we can just take literature from an existing copmany and make something with it without regards for their copyright. Secondly typing all that is a lot of work. Any text need to be in text frmat so can be copied and pasted into various cells in database.
Fatrover glad to hear from you. Hope we can get this going.
I made a diagram just as a guideline for one step. Here it is attached.
It shows one step and how it will lead to the next step. Of course if anybody has a better idea it is most welcome.
May be I should make a thread and follow this project there with you guys.
 

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