Tracking Trouble

Dear All,

What is the secret to getting a Disco properly tracked, that is, correct tow-in AND steering wheel on centre when going straight ahead.
I have owned a Discovery for some years now and dread any tracking check or adjustment as it usually ends with the wheel wrong and the mechanic saying " these are really tricky to do you know". Surely it can't be that "tricky" especially with all their new laser alignment rigs. Also, do the members find their Td5's track well at, say, motorway speeds or tend to follow cambers and the like? Perhaps I should replace my steering damper.

Thanks,

Pat

Tracking is an art, its totally dependant on the skill and patience of the mechanic doing it.

I too have had cars tracked and been told that the wheel is "always like that" or some crap, they just dont care most of the time.

My disco also follows the road camber, i just get used to it.

I have just changed my track-rod ends and set it to standard = 0' toe and she seems quite well behaved like that, not been done long enough to show tyre wear but at neutral toe, there shouldn't be much anyways.

Dave

I have never had problems tracking my Disco. When first purchased, one of the track rod ends was worn and it was completely seized, so I had to replace the whole track rod (so it needed tracking). It also got bent a bit, so I had to re-do it. Both times, no issues. The front rod (from steering box to one of the hubs) is seized though, so I can't adjust to get my steering wheel straight but its a non-issue really.

Due to the number of knocks my disco gets that can (& does) sometime put the tracking out, I actually bought an old set of Dunlop tracking gauges like these; dunlop tracking gauges spares or repairs on eBay (end time 18-Oct-10 20:56:28 BST) spares are available for anything that's missing/broken.
I used to use this type in my younger days, so it's not a problem.
First of all with the wheels as straight as possible, you adjust the tracking, like others, I go for 0º ie. straight ahead.
Once this is set, centralising the steering wheel is just a matter of loosening the clamps and turning the bar from the steering box to the drop arm (drag link), to either lengthen it or shorten it, this will turn the steering wheel slightly without moving the roadwheels, there really is nothing to it, I could teach you how to do it in 10 mins.

Gafferjim said:

Due to the number of knocks my disco gets that can (& does) sometime put the tracking out, I actually bought an old set of Dunlop tracking gauges like these; dunlop tracking gauges spares or repairs on eBay (end time 18-Oct-10 20:56:28 BST) spares are available for anything that's missing/broken.
I used to use this type in my younger days, so it's not a problem.
First of all with the wheels as straight as possible, you adjust the tracking, like others, I go for 0º ie. straight ahead.
Once this is set, centralising the steering wheel is just a matter of loosening the clamps and turning the bar from the steering box to the drop arm (drag link), to either lengthen it or shorten it, this will turn the steering wheel SLIGHTLY without moving the roadwheels, there really is nothing to it, I could teach you how to do it in 10 mins.

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This is ok to a point.

But " over " adjusting like this will mean that the steering box will not be central when the wheels are straight forward. This in turn would affect the steering travel. Tracking and steering wheel alignment should really be set from the steering box central position. ie, you set your road wheels and steering wheel to the steering box, not your steering box position to your steering wheel.


Del.

50 pence said:

This is ok to a point.

But " over " adjusting like this will mean that the steering box will not be central when the wheels are straight forward. This in turn would affect the steering travel. Tracking and steering wheel alignment should really be set from the steering box central position. ie, you set your road wheels and steering wheel to the steering box, not your steering box position to your steering wheel.


Del.

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That makes sense to me, but how do you know when the steering box is centralised?

Yes, but you're only making minor adjustments because the wheel has gone out a little. If it goes "out" due to the vehicle being tracked, then it's not going to be much out.
If I remember correctly, if you remove the steering wheel, the shaft is hexagonal, so the steering wheel can only go in "near to" correct, the fine tuning then is done by altering the drag link with the wheels straight ahead.

Richard Martin said:

That makes sense to me, but how do you know when the steering box is centralised?

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If you look under the steering box, the drop arm has a " channel " cast in the rear where it bolts to the output shaft.
In the casting of the steering box, again at the rear, there is a tapped out hole. When the channel is in line with hole the box is in the central position. ( this is set by putting a bolt in the channel and screwing into the tapped hole ).

As gafferjim has said, lenghtening/shortening the drag link is ok for small adjustments. ( anything under " 5 minites too " and " 5 minites past " I reckon ! )

Del.

Dear All,

Thanks for your time and apologies for the late follow-up. I think you all have it essentially right and, after referring to my LR manual, I notice that the official strict way to do it is:
Uncouple the drag-link arm at the road wheel
Centre the drop arm using the method described by Del '50 pence'
Ensuring road wheels are straight ahead, adjust drag link length to refit ball joint

This centralises the steering linkage hence steering wheel. Then, according to Land Rover:

Perform wheel alignment (with suitable gear) by adjusting the 'track rod'

Now I may be being thick and I know that the adjustments will be small, or even zero, but is it not the case that if the track rod length only changes then that will feed back through the drag link rod and, again, slightly shift the steering wheel position. I could imagine compensating by simultaneously adjusting the drag ling length.

Perhaps this is why Dave describes it as an 'art', and Land Rover said they would do it for me for around £200!

Best,

Pat

Pat Bryant said:

Perhaps this is why Dave describes it as an 'art', and Land Rover said they would do it for me for around £200!

Best,

Pat

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Yes exactly, they are both inter-related, adjust the tracking and re-adjust the drag link. Its the re-adjusting of the drag link that most cannot be bothered to do, hence the wheels off-centre.

£200 For tracking, feck me, surely it should not be more £50 odd???

Dave

davek0974 said:

£200 For tracking, feck me, surely it should not be more £50 odd???

Dave

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I paid an extra £167 in 2007 for tracking on a Mitsubishi 4x4 when I had a new set of tyres fitted, but then it's a Mitsubishi.................

Nigel.

Feck me, i think i'll open a tracking shop

Whatever happened to using a bit of chalk?

Landys are capable of being tracked with chalk method, there's no need to pay someone to use fancy stuff as there's so much play in the steering it makes it a bit pointless.

I do mine with a tape measure.

I have HD steering bars fitted, which are great because 1. They're pretty new so aren't seized and 2. Because they have a traditional locknut rather than the clamp which I don't like.

But nevertheless, the job is the same, just a bit harder if your bars are seized up!!

There are a number of separate areas of concern when tracking the landy.

Consider the two wheels as a system, they have a rear tie rod to hold them together, and it is that which alters the tracking.

Then there's the steering wheel and steering box assembly, the steering box needs to be in the centre as described above, and then the wheel needs to be plonked on straight.

If you can't do this finely at the steering wheel, you can adjust it at the splines on the steering shaft.

Then there's the drag link at the front which links the two systems, so they both know where they're at.

Start with the rear tie rod. Get a proper tailor's measuring tape and carefully measure the distance between the front inner edges of the wheels, and the rear inner edges. There is sometimes some suspension in the way so you have to do your best.

If you an imagine that the front are rear inner edges of the front wheels are the same distance apart from eachother, then the wheels are pointing straight ahead, in parallel, at 0 degrees toe (or thereabouts)

Check various points around the wheel, by rolling forwards and backwards, in case your wheels are buckled!!

Once you're happy you're at 0 toe and the wheels are parallel, lock up your nuts or clamps and check again. adjust if necessary!

Then setup your steering box at centre, and get your steering wheel on straight, by adjusting splines at the wheel or the steering shaft in the engine bay.

THEN, all you have to do is adjust the front shaft til the car drives straight.

Make sure you unlock the steering box before driving!

Find a good piece of level Tarmac, and drive forward and backwards with the wheel straight.

If the car goes to the left driving forwards, you need to shorten the front bar. If it goes right, lengthen it.

Make adjustments til the car drives straight, tighten up clamps and go for a road test.

Adjust the front bar if it still drives off centre.

Check lock to lock, to make sure if hits the steering stops at both ends (which it should!!) and then your done!

That's how I did it anyway!

you can pull a taught piece of string tied to the towbar:
bring it around the rear wheel and then onto the front wheel at the same height.

if you can get the string to touch in four places.

that is: on both the left and right outside face side of both the front and rear tyres, then whip it around the other side of the car and do the same without touching the steering...

then you have a good benchmark if your steering wheel was central and had been locked at the box using the center bolt .