Steering box alignment disco 2

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Alright everyone, Need some advice regarding powersteering box, I've replaced my steering box with a recon box I've never done this before so it's quite nervous stuff

I locked steering wheel straight and then went about pulling the box out, now on fitting the new recon box back in, the drop arm and draglink would not line up like I expected them to do as I locked everything in place, the drop arm was about half inch away from draglink slotting in, so instead of winding out the draglink I took the steeringwheel lock off and pulled the drop arm ever so slightly into place and re-locked the steering wheel, now because I've done that would I have taken the powersteering box out of centralising? Or is it centralized anyway because I torqued the drop arm nut down with the centralising space/bolt hole lined up, I have checked and the space/bolt centralising gap is still inline, I haven't bled it yet but I want to make sure I haven't de-centralise the powersteering box first. Cheers all

Stanleysteamer · Jul 2, 2023

Farmboy86 said:
Alright everyone, Need some advice regarding powersteering box, I've replaced my steering box with a recon box I've never done this before so it's quite nervous stuff I locked steering wheel straight and then went about pulling the box out, now on fitting the new recon box back in, the drop arm and draglink would not line up like I expected them to do as I locked everything in place, the drop arm was about half inch away from draglink slotting in, so instead of winding out the draglink I took the steeringwheel lock off and pulled the drop arm ever so slightly into place and re-locked the steering wheel, now because I've done that would I have taken the powersteering box out of centralising? Or is it centralized anyway because I torqued the drop arm nut down with the centralising space/bolt hole lined up, I have checked and the space/bolt centralising gap is still inline, I haven't bled it yet but I want to make sure I haven't de-centralise the powersteering box first. Cheers all

IF the centralizing bolt and its holes are in line I cannot see how the box cannot be centralised.
What you may find is the the wheel isn't centralised but that is much less of a problem to solve!

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Stanleysteamer said:
IF the centralizing bolt and its holes are in line I cannot see how the box cannot be centralised.
What you may find is the the wheel isn't centralised but that is much less of a problem to solve!

Yea the wheels are off mate, aslong as the steering box and steeringwheel are straight it's just down to the tracking trackrods/draglink them am I right? Nervous as hell on this steering box

Stanleysteamer · Jul 2, 2023

You will need to centralise the steering wheel, draglink etc and get the tracking checked.
Flipping annoying I know!
And even more annoying is that you may have to take the whole draglink thingy off to do it. Cos you can only wind one ball joint out or in.

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Stanleysteamer said:
You will need to centralise the steering wheel, draglink etc and get the tracking checked.
Flipping annoying I know!
And even more annoying is that you may have to take the whole draglink thingy off to do it. Cos you can only wind one ball joint out or in.

I hope I don't have to centralise the steeringwheel cause the steeringwheel column shaft was seized towards the bulk head side not allowing ant play and when I got the powersteering box in I had to manuover it on to the shaft

Stanleysteamer · Jul 2, 2023

Farmboy86 said:
I hope I don't have to centralise the steeringwheel cause the steeringwheel column shaft was seized towards the bulk head side not allowing ant play and when I got the powersteering box in I had to manuover it on to the shaft

You don't need to worry about that to centralise the wheel. It is a combination of adjusting the drag link and if necessary taking the steering wheel off the end of the column and putting it back on again a spline or two to one side. When I replaced my drag link, my wheel was about 45 degrees out, I just took the drag link back off and wound the nearside ball joint back in. I thought I had measured it up right, but obvs not. I then got the tracking checked to make sure it was OK.

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Stanleysteamer said:
You don't need to worry about that to centralise the wheel. It is a combination of adjusting the drag link and if necessary taking the steering wheel off the end of the column and putting it back on again a spline or two to one side. When I replaced my drag link, my wheel was about 45 degrees out, I just took the drag link back off and wound the nearside ball joint back in. I thought I had measured it up right, but obvs not. I then got the tracking checked to make sure it was OK.

Okay brilliant I'll bleed it later and see how I get on, I'll keep you informed cheers mate thank you

NPG · Jul 2, 2023

Assuming that the tracking is correct (should be if it was aligned before you started work and you didn't touch the track rod), this is what I normally do -

1. Drive the front wheels in straight ahead position on some cardboard to reduce contact friction with the ground
2. Do not remove wheels, drag link or jack up the vehicle
3. Centre lock the steering wheel and check if you can insert the centralising bolt to the steering box. If no, you will need to adjust the steering wheel on its splines.
4. Get under the car and adjust drag link until the front wheels are centred.
5. Tighten clamp bolts on drag link and go for a drive
6. You may need to repeat procedure if the vehicle pulls to one side when driving on level ground

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

NPG said:
Assuming that the tracking is correct (should be if it was aligned before you started work and you didn't touch the track rod), this is what I normally do -

1. Drive the front wheels in straight ahead position on some cardboard to reduce contact friction with the ground
2. Do not remove wheels, drag link or jack up the vehicle
3. Centre lock the steering wheel and check if you can insert the centralising bolt to the steering box. If no, you will need to adjust the steering wheel on its splines.
4. Get under the car and adjust drag link until the front wheels are centred.
5. Tighten clamp bolts on drag link and go for a drive
6. You may need to repeat procedure if the vehicle pulls to one side when driving on level ground

You know the centralising bolt that goes through the slot and into the hole the recon box didn't come with 1 and the steering box I took off didn't have 1 in that, but the slot and gap is all in-line, I'm still yet to bleed the steering box

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Right I've bled the system no airbubles at all steering feels smooth full right when you full lock left till it can't turn no more the steering has resistance to not want to turn sometimes worse than other times and my wheels are like this with the steering wheel straight

Anaconda · Jul 2, 2023

The rod behind the axle adjusts the wheels in relation to each other in regards to tracking, toe in or out.
There was no need to touch this rod therefore the tracking will/should be the same as before you started the job.

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Right I have taken it for a test around a field, the steering now feels smooth from lock to lock while driving, but the disco drives straight with the steering wheel positioned at 10 past, bare in mind the tracking is way off, if I take this for tracking and wheel alignment would that straighten out my steering wheel position aswel? Cheers all

Farmboy86 · Jul 2, 2023

Anaconda said:
The rod behind the axle adjusts the wheels in relation to each other in regards to tracking, toe in or out.
There was no need to touch this rod therefore the tracking will/should be the same as before you started the job.

No I didn't touch the trackrod only dropped the draglink out of the drop arm, but when the new steering box was fitted the draglink wouldn't reach the drop arm even tho the drop arm and steering box was centralized it was about half inch away, so I took steering lock off and gently pulled the drop arm to the draglink

Stanleysteamer · Jul 2, 2023

Farmboy86 said:
Right I have taken it for a test around a field, the steering now feels smooth from lock to lock while driving, but the disco drives straight with the steering wheel positioned at 10 past, bare in mind the tracking is way off, if I take this for tracking and wheel alignment would that straighten out my steering wheel position aswel? Cheers all

A decent place will do this for you but a non-decent place will simply make the tracking right, leaving you to fix the steering wheel.
Just make sure you have lubed all parts of the steering so that when they work on it they can do a proper job rather than pretend to and then tell you it's OK.

NPG · Jul 3, 2023

Farmboy86 said:
if I take this for tracking and wheel alignment would that straighten out my steering wheel position aswel? Cheers all

Usually they don't unless they feel being generous, which is rare ! But centralising the steering wheel is not a big deal - I've outlined the process above and it's just a matter of test driving the vehicle and refining the adjustment on the drag link. It's very hard to get things spot on by visual inspection alone as when the vehicle is in motion, the suspension components and bushes tend to flex, and introduce lateral imbalances on the forces acting on the vehicle. Do the wheel alignment first and also ensure that the tyres are in good shape and at the correct pressure.

Dervishi · Jul 3, 2023

Once I took my D2 to a shop for an alignment, they couldn't do it, they said there is not enough adjustments.... or something.. If I remember right, the bar behind the axle was tightened up as short as it goes etc. Apparently adjusting two spots was too much for them.

Had to learn to do it myself, and have done it since on my D2's. Meaning, once per D2.
But always seem to forget to check the steering wheel position when finishing up

Anaconda · Jul 3, 2023

Farmboy86 said:
No I didn't touch the trackrod only dropped the draglink out of the drop arm, but when the new steering box was fitted the draglink wouldn't reach the drop arm even tho the drop arm and steering box was centralized it was about half inch away, so I took steering lock off and gently pulled the drop arm to the draglink

The drag link sets the position of the steering wheel, the rear arm adjusts the toe. Pulling the drag link will of course move both wheels equally, it won't change the toe in relation to each other. If you have one wheel pointing in different direction to the other then the toe was never correct in the first place.

frostythor · Jul 4, 2023

Discovery Series II Workshop Manual - 1999MY ON - 6th Edition - Eng
Hi all been following this, so I thought I would jump in, so here goes

Place the front wheel on tin, I used 2 old biscuit tins, one lid and the cut out bottom with grease in-between on
Centralize the steering box, check it correct by, putting in a pin I use a drill fits nice and is in the slot
check the steering wheel is no central if it is OK , if it not unbolt it and move it the required number of spines
OK so if your car is right and drive the DRAG Link adjusts the nearside wheel
Next run a string from the back across the centre of the back wheel to the front and across the centre of the front wheel the back
Pull the string tight, if the string touched the tyre at the back and you have a gap at the front you are toe in on that wheel, so you will need to lengthen the drag link as its too short adjust it so the string when pulled tight has 1-2mm gape at the back
Now without moving the car or the steering, move the string to the driver side, and pull it tight across the centre of the wheels from rear to front,
Now check to see were the string touches on the front wheel, if it has a gap at the front that wheel is toe in and you will need to adjust the TIE Bar, that’s the long bit behind the axel, it need to have 1-2 mm on the tyre at the back of the wheel, as the front wheel are Toe Out- to Parallel
You may need to do it a couple of times but the thing to remember is the Drag link adjusts the near side wheel the tie bar adjusts the offside wheel
As the recommend toe out is

! Toe out - Front

– 0° 10' ± 0° 10' (total)

As shown in the drawing below

marjon · Jul 4, 2023

frostythor said:
Discovery Series II Workshop Manual - 1999MY ON - 6th Edition - Eng
Hi all been following this, so I thought I would jump in, so here goes

Place the front wheel on tin, I used 2 old biscuit tins, one lid and the cut out bottom with grease in-between on

Centralize the steering box, check it correct by, putting in a pin I use a drill fits nice and is in the slot

check the steering wheel is no central if it is OK , if it not unbolt it and move it the required number of spines

OK so if your car is right and drive the DRAG Link adjusts the nearside wheel

Next run a string from the back across the centre of the back wheel to the front and across the centre of the front wheel the back

Pull the string tight, if the string touched the tyre at the back and you have a gap at the front you are toe in on that wheel, so you will need to lengthen the drag link as its too short adjust it so the string when pulled tight has 1-2mm gape at the back

Now without moving the car or the steering, move the string to the driver side, and pull it tight across the centre of the wheels from rear to front,

Now check to see were the string touches on the front wheel, if it has a gap at the front that wheel is toe in and you will need to adjust the TIE Bar, that’s the long bit behind the axel, it need to have 1-2 mm on the tyre at the back of the wheel, as the front wheel are Toe Out- to Parallel

You may need to do it a couple of times but the thing to remember is the Drag link adjusts the near side wheel the tie bar adjusts the offside wheel

As the recommend toe out is

! Toe out - Front – 0° 10' ± 0° 10' (total)

As shown in the drawing below

View attachment 292113

I will need to digest that, but it would help if you added boxes to say what to adjust in each situation, to get where it needs to be.
Yes I could work it out, just asking to make it easier for others. I can see it in your write up.

J

frostythor · Jul 4, 2023

I cant really see how much easier I can make it, it's a step by step guide, I have never taken off the sterring wheel, so once the sterring wheel is centred you need to make sure the Pitman arm is lined up on lineing up hole with the pin/drill on the spline before tightening up the nut, then remember the Drag link adjust the nearside and the Tie bar the off side front wheel and thats it in a nutshell, like you I have taken my old D2 to get it tracked but thesaid the new Laser equipment did not do it as the info was not in the COMPUTER, sad when they cant do a simple job with older equipment maybe ita cost thing. more profit using the computer, as oppossed to thier brains

Steering box alignment disco 2

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