Rrclassic 3.9 1990 front axle off centre after rebuild

Please be gentle with me as I have a feeling I'm missing something very obvious.

I am coming to the final stages of rebuilding my range rover 1990 3.9. Everything on this car is either brand new oe or refurb'd. I hav'nt used any aftermarket parts at all. It has been built to standard spec. Anyway the problem is that my front axle is not centred to the chassis. I had to push it over from the drivers side to fit the panhard rod about two years ago when I started building it back up. I thought at the time that it was because it was the chassis was up high with no body on it. ( I mean the car body/shell, not that nobody was sat on it ) it's all built back up now with just a few minor things to sort but the front axle is still over to the passenger side by about an inch. It has'nt turned a wheel properly yet so maybe it will settle down? I just can't get my head around it as everything is genuine land rover and actually all new on this part of the car. I think I could fit an adjustable panhard rod but I fear that I may be disguising a potential problem.

Lastly, it was all aligned and centred when I stripped it down.

I hope that all makes sense and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Ant.

Provided the anchor bracket for the panhard bar is in the original position on the chassis, has there been any major welding in that area and could the bracket been removed/rewelded???

If the answer is no then I would loosen the bolts holding the panhard bar and see if the body settles.
Sometimes people make the mistake of tightening up all the suspension's bolts before the vehicle is allowed to settle.
If the bolts are tightened when the vehicle is on the axle stands or a jack, as the vehicle is lowered the rubber twists in the bush between the inner and outer steel tube, this is possibly keeping the suspension under tension in a raised position.

Undo/loosen the center bush holding bolts in the panhard bar then bounce the vehicle to allow the suspension to settle then retighten the bolts.

There is a little play in the joints bit no specific adjustment so so either something big moved or it should not an issue.
Must say when I'm put mine back in years ago I had same thought but by the time it was back on the floor with wheels it was spot on

Thanks for that, I did tighten everything up as I went along. Torq'd everything up with my new fancy digital torque wrench. I'll take the panhard rod off and see what happens. Do you think I should loosen the radius arms also? The axle is square to the chassis as it stands, well theres about 1mm difference which I thought would be ok. I'll let you know how I get on. I'll be on it as soon as I can inbetween the kids social lives.

Also, it's had no welding at all. I did wonder if I'd bought the wrong panhard rod but I've read that there all the same whether it's a disco or defender or rrc? I think from memory it's 72cm

Anyway many thanks again.

With a vehicle like the Range Rover that has a vast amount of suspension travel compared to normal vehicles.

I prefer to just nip up the suspension bolts until all the vehicles weight is back on the wheels, then take it out for a run around the block to let everything settle and then finally tighten the suspension bolts without lifting the vehicle again, hopefully all rubber bushes should be a neutral state of tension.

I hope you have also invested in a tin of copper-slip for those suspension bush center bolts, makes life a lot easier next time.

PS:. I take it, if you have replaced the coil springs they are OEM spec standard height ones????

Yes, everything is standard on the car, I've tried to get as close to original as possible.

Anyway, you were absolutely right : ) Did as you said, gave it a bounce or two, I actually slipped off the front bumper both feet and dented the bonnet with my face. Which was a shame because there was nobody there to see it, oh and bonnet needs re spraying. But aside from that all went well, I offered up the panhard rod and it lined up with the hole perfectly. I'm stunned actually, I would never have thought that bushes could hold the chassis that far out of line. Anyway, I now have electrical wire all around it to set the tracking. Mot next week, well excited!!

Many many thanks for taking the time,

Ant.

Some nob MOT mad failed mine for play fore n aft on the phanhard rod axle end, strange same feller passed it previous 2 years.
After discussion about spacers and previous passes his boss told him he was a nom and to nip it up with a breaker bar on the bolt.

Amazing