steering, lifting and less aggression

I have an old d1 which I'm currently restoring. It will likely be offroaded but only light laning. I will be putting in too much work to risk killing it.

Currently, it has big insa turbo wheels and two inch lift. I quite like the ride height and look. I hate the tyre noise though and would ideally like an almost hybrid type of tyre at some point if this exists? Something in the middle...

The main issue though, which is on my list to rectify, is the dodgy steering. Since collected it the wheel has sat at about 1 o clock to make the vehicle drive straight. It will then pull to the right or almost wobble when letting off or breaking. It feels like its trying to put you in a ditch!! I have had a nose through RAVE and under the car and the only thing that looks a bit off is the bolt holding the drop arm doesn't look fully torqued down.

Where would be best place to start to find such a fault? No doubt it will need track rod ends, the ARB bushes are shot too... Could it be a cause of these big wheels knocking the tracking/alignment out? Its really quite substantial!

Any wisdom appreciated! Thank you

Get some one to sit in the drivers seat & wiggle the steering.
You have at least 3 track rods & panard arm with a bit of play in each & it soon causes trouble. Also you may have worn swivel pin or loose wheel bearing.

Which style of drop arm have you got?

I believe its just standard Phil. I have also noticed theres some residue/spill around the pump. Looks old but does look suspect!
I'll get my mrs to wiggle whilst I have a look. I'll get some pictures also of the arms to confirm.

Is your drop arm central when steering straight ahead?

You can check easy enough, (from memory, so forgive me if I get the size wrong) you should be able to put an M10 bolt into the bottom of the steering box through a fork on the back of the pitman arm, I might have a photo or at least I can get one tonight if you need it, this is the box centred and the steering needs to be set up from there, is, flat level ground and running at it's nominal weight, adjusting the steering rod to correct the deviation.

The big nut on the steering shaft that secures the pitman arm should have a locking tab washer that will hold the nut in place.

Insa special tracks are amazing in the mud but howl like hell at speed on the road, I have Cooper STT and find them very good both in terms of noise and performance, OK they'll never be pirelli scorpion road tyres but it's not too loud.

As Phil says, check your panhard rod bushings, radius arm bushings, track rod ends, swivel pins and bearings along with wheel bearings for excessive play.

Cheers. In all honesty, I don't know. I'll get some pictures and do a bit more studying on RAVE as unsure of component names etc. I was reading earlier regarding centre-ing the steering. I'll upload a pic of the suspect bolt too!

That's good to know about the tyres. I just can't put up with that level of noise lol.

To add to the above ..

One issue with lifting the suspension, even only 2", but increasing as you go higher, is that the axle is moved out of line slightly to the plane the steering works in. A slightly longer panhard rod can help with this. It causes slight differences when turning one way or the other and can make a big difference to the feel of the steering.

resto_d1 said:

I'll get my mrs to wiggle whilst I have a look

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Phnarr

(Where's me coat..)