Look at RAVE for instructions. There are two steering boxes fitted depending on year both have different methods.
kooky_guy
Well-Known Member
I found the Rave section on this totally unhelpful.
dogsbody
Very senior member
RAVE is the workshop manual.
Datatek
Well-Known Member
Hi there
Hopefully this posting will help someone who suffers the common steering issues & going all over the road with P38 Range Rovers.
My car is a 1999 4.6 HSE V8 with factory tyres & 18” rims & from day one has suffered with wandering & vague steering, it had the classic death grip problems especially after hitting a bump requiring prompt counter steering & needed constant correction of steering wheel to keep it on track, it followed disturbances in the tarmac like a tramline & seemed to be worse over 40 Mph. I have cured the problem with my vehicle which turned out to be bushes, steering box centralisation, & more importantly tracking. I had replaced all shockers, steering damper, steering box, front wheel bearings which did not improve things.
I had read adjustment of the steering box to remove central free play is possible & without understanding how the steering box fully worked internally I adjusted the hex screw on top too much which pushed on the output steering arm causing steering fluid to leak from bottom seal. This is why you need to be very careful when adjusting the steering box adjustment screw as it moves internal components significantly with only a small adjustment of the screw. I had to replace the steering box with a 2nd hand one from the scrappers & to be honest it was not that bad to replace. I did strip down the old box to see how it works & once apart it is very easy to see that only a quarter of a turn (max) is required to remove any play. So don’t overdo it or you will get tight spots or leaks & you will regret it. Remember if you sit in the vehicle with your head out of the window & move the steering wheel slightly in the straight ahead position if the tyres move in sync there is no need to adjust steering box. Best way to see this is sit the front tyres on plastic bags to allow easier movement of tyres. Remember if it isn’t broke don’t fix it!
Check the steering relay rod & track rod ball joints have no loose play there are 4 to check. Have someone move the steering slightly in both directions with little movement of tyre, use eyes 1st then your hands to grab the ball joint so that any play can be felt. You should feel no play at whatsoever & both parts of the joint top & bottom should move in unison. If not you will need to replace ball joint or entire rod which are cheap. If you do have to replace any relay or track rods measure the old one end to end on its fixed parts exactly in millimetres & write it down. Then make up & adjust the new one to exact same length & refit then read TRACKING below.
How to centralise the steering,
Place the vehicle in standard ride height then on the steering box input shaft coming from steering wheel is a plastic disc pushed up against the steering box case with a protruding lump / finger , & this must align between the two metal markers on the casing of the steering box,. On right hand drive vehicles the marker is found pointing towards the engine. Use your hands to feel it if you can’t see it. To make it easier for adjustment & remove steering stress, either raise both front wheels or simply place plastic bags under both front tyres then Move steering wheel to get marker to sit exactly between the two metal pointers as above. Once the marker position is centralised lock the steering by removing the ignition key. At this point check the position of the steering wheel if the steering wheel is not level then it will be necessary to remove it & reposition it on the shaft to get it precisely level in the straight ahead position (easy job). Once this step is complete the steering wheel & steering box is now centralised as per factory. Take the vehicle for a test drive if you find that the steering is off centre when trying to steer the car in a straight line, you will need to adjust the relay rod which connects from the steering box to the opposite road wheel, this rod has the steering damper fixed to it as well. Level & Lock the steering wheel at dead centre as before then rotate the adjuster on the relay rod to lengthen or shorten it, there are two small clamps to slacken to allow the adjuster to rotate. Safety note: under no circumstances should you try & drive the vehicle between adjustments with the clamp brackets loose, always retighten them again before road testing. It may take 3 or 4 test drives & slight adjustments to get it right. On right hand drive vehicles lengthening the rod will make the vehicle steer to the left & shortening it will make it go to the right you need to remember this when adjusting in relation to the direction your car is veering to. Things to remember follow guidance in the workshop manual RAVE & to prevent damage to the steering lock always sit the front tyres on multiple plastic bags this will allow the tyres to move under adjustment instead of placing stress on the steering lock. If you have turn plates use them but I don’t have any. Once the adjustment is complete & the steering wheel is dead centre with the vehicle drives maintaining a straight ahead position on a smooth straight road then adjustment is complete. Recheck all clamps are correctly tightened on the adjusters to prevent them becoming loose or you may find yourself having a nasty crash so make sure & don’t forget to recheck.
Air suspension
Stability issues can be caused by incorrect levelling of vehicle ensure car can reach all the heights with no warnings & using a tape measure check each corner of the vehicle on flat ground to ensure there is no significant differences on each height setting. if any difference greater than two inches is recorded recalibration of EAS is required. Check for leaky airbags on the suspect corner & listen for air leaks. If necessary use the soapy water technique.
Tyre pressures
With factory tyres on 16” or 18” rims the front are 28 psi & rear 38 psi. As per Land Rover instruction.
Tracking
My vehicle was tracked with laser tracking at a garage & they stated no issues were found. After some time had passed I purchased a low cost DIY laser tracking device for about £70 & found my tracking was set at 0 degrees neither toe in or out dead central. Looking in RAVE & owners manual it stated the toe setting is “toe out” at 0.02 to 0.07 inches or 0.60 to 1.08 mm. I set my tracking by adjusting the track rod which sits behind the axle & runs between both road wheels to 1mm toe out which is 8’ minutes for 18 inch wheel rims. Once this was done the difference was unbelievable & hitting potholes & disturbances did not result in the usual corrective action or frightening death grip. It just steered perfectly & did as it should I could not believe it what a difference. If you do make an adjustment use a laser tracking instrument or get a garage to do it for you & get them to show you the results after dictating to them what the setting is, don’t try & do the adjustment blind without the correct gear as it will scrub the tyres. Also make sure the adjuster clamp brackets are oriented correctly or they will foul with the wheel rim on full lock & remember it’s toe out not in.
Bushes
If you can have a go at replacing the front PANHARD rod bushes yourself as they control lateral movement of axle. When I did it made a significant difference with line stability. You can get the complete rod with bushes very cheap if you don’t have a press. & I would not recommend the polybush get the proper ones.
Radius arm bushes upper & lower do have troubles but visual inspection will reveal any issues with tearing of rubber etc & in my opinion need replacement as a last resort after everything else fails. If replacing radius arm bushes remove the whole unit by removing the lower & upper bush mount bolts. Do one arm at a time to prevent axle from moving about & bursting airbag & chock all 4 wheels. There is no need to raise the vehicle or take the wheels off to do it. The lower bushes will require a press & a special tool.
Hopefully this posting will help someone who suffers the common steering issues & going all over the road with P38 Range Rovers.
My car is a 1999 4.6 HSE V8 with factory tyres & 18” rims & from day one has suffered with wandering & vague steering, it had the classic death grip problems especially after hitting a bump requiring prompt counter steering & needed constant correction of steering wheel to keep it on track, it followed disturbances in the tarmac like a tramline & seemed to be worse over 40 Mph. I have cured the problem with my vehicle which turned out to be bushes, steering box centralisation, & more importantly tracking. I had replaced all shockers, steering damper, steering box, front wheel bearings which did not improve things.
I had read adjustment of the steering box to remove central free play is possible & without understanding how the steering box fully worked internally I adjusted the hex screw on top too much which pushed on the output steering arm causing steering fluid to leak from bottom seal. This is why you need to be very careful when adjusting the steering box adjustment screw as it moves internal components significantly with only a small adjustment of the screw. I had to replace the steering box with a 2nd hand one from the scrappers & to be honest it was not that bad to replace. I did strip down the old box to see how it works & once apart it is very easy to see that only a quarter of a turn (max) is required to remove any play. So don’t overdo it or you will get tight spots or leaks & you will regret it. Remember if you sit in the vehicle with your head out of the window & move the steering wheel slightly in the straight ahead position if the tyres move in sync there is no need to adjust steering box. Best way to see this is sit the front tyres on plastic bags to allow easier movement of tyres. Remember if it isn’t broke don’t fix it!
Check the steering relay rod & track rod ball joints have no loose play there are 4 to check. Have someone move the steering slightly in both directions with little movement of tyre, use eyes 1st then your hands to grab the ball joint so that any play can be felt. You should feel no play at whatsoever & both parts of the joint top & bottom should move in unison. If not you will need to replace ball joint or entire rod which are cheap. If you do have to replace any relay or track rods measure the old one end to end on its fixed parts exactly in millimetres & write it down. Then make up & adjust the new one to exact same length & refit then read TRACKING below.
How to centralise the steering,
Place the vehicle in standard ride height then on the steering box input shaft coming from steering wheel is a plastic disc pushed up against the steering box case with a protruding lump / finger , & this must align between the two metal markers on the casing of the steering box,. On right hand drive vehicles the marker is found pointing towards the engine. Use your hands to feel it if you can’t see it. To make it easier for adjustment & remove steering stress, either raise both front wheels or simply place plastic bags under both front tyres then Move steering wheel to get marker to sit exactly between the two metal pointers as above. Once the marker position is centralised lock the steering by removing the ignition key. At this point check the position of the steering wheel if the steering wheel is not level then it will be necessary to remove it & reposition it on the shaft to get it precisely level in the straight ahead position (easy job). Once this step is complete the steering wheel & steering box is now centralised as per factory. Take the vehicle for a test drive if you find that the steering is off centre when trying to steer the car in a straight line, you will need to adjust the relay rod which connects from the steering box to the opposite road wheel, this rod has the steering damper fixed to it as well. Level & Lock the steering wheel at dead centre as before then rotate the adjuster on the relay rod to lengthen or shorten it, there are two small clamps to slacken to allow the adjuster to rotate. Safety note: under no circumstances should you try & drive the vehicle between adjustments with the clamp brackets loose, always retighten them again before road testing. It may take 3 or 4 test drives & slight adjustments to get it right. On right hand drive vehicles lengthening the rod will make the vehicle steer to the left & shortening it will make it go to the right you need to remember this when adjusting in relation to the direction your car is veering to. Things to remember follow guidance in the workshop manual RAVE & to prevent damage to the steering lock always sit the front tyres on multiple plastic bags this will allow the tyres to move under adjustment instead of placing stress on the steering lock. If you have turn plates use them but I don’t have any. Once the adjustment is complete & the steering wheel is dead centre with the vehicle drives maintaining a straight ahead position on a smooth straight road then adjustment is complete. Recheck all clamps are correctly tightened on the adjusters to prevent them becoming loose or you may find yourself having a nasty crash so make sure & don’t forget to recheck.
Air suspension
Stability issues can be caused by incorrect levelling of vehicle ensure car can reach all the heights with no warnings & using a tape measure check each corner of the vehicle on flat ground to ensure there is no significant differences on each height setting. if any difference greater than two inches is recorded recalibration of EAS is required. Check for leaky airbags on the suspect corner & listen for air leaks. If necessary use the soapy water technique.
Tyre pressures
With factory tyres on 16” or 18” rims the front are 28 psi & rear 38 psi. As per Land Rover instruction.
Tracking
My vehicle was tracked with laser tracking at a garage & they stated no issues were found. After some time had passed I purchased a low cost DIY laser tracking device for about £70 & found my tracking was set at 0 degrees neither toe in or out dead central. Looking in RAVE & owners manual it stated the toe setting is “toe out” at 0.02 to 0.07 inches or 0.60 to 1.08 mm. I set my tracking by adjusting the track rod which sits behind the axle & runs between both road wheels to 1mm toe out which is 8’ minutes for 18 inch wheel rims. Once this was done the difference was unbelievable & hitting potholes & disturbances did not result in the usual corrective action or frightening death grip. It just steered perfectly & did as it should I could not believe it what a difference. If you do make an adjustment use a laser tracking instrument or get a garage to do it for you & get them to show you the results after dictating to them what the setting is, don’t try & do the adjustment blind without the correct gear as it will scrub the tyres. Also make sure the adjuster clamp brackets are oriented correctly or they will foul with the wheel rim on full lock & remember it’s toe out not in.
Bushes
If you can have a go at replacing the front PANHARD rod bushes yourself as they control lateral movement of axle. When I did it made a significant difference with line stability. You can get the complete rod with bushes very cheap if you don’t have a press. & I would not recommend the polybush get the proper ones.
Radius arm bushes upper & lower do have troubles but visual inspection will reveal any issues with tearing of rubber etc & in my opinion need replacement as a last resort after everything else fails. If replacing radius arm bushes remove the whole unit by removing the lower & upper bush mount bolts. Do one arm at a time to prevent axle from moving about & bursting airbag & chock all 4 wheels. There is no need to raise the vehicle or take the wheels off to do it. The lower bushes will require a press & a special tool.
kooky_guy
Well-Known Member
I've resigned myself to the fact that nobody seems to be able to do tracking properly.
The last place I took it to had my car for 5 hours (and they were working on it continuously - I know as I kept going back to see if they had finished yet) and it still came out no better than it went in.
The last place I took it to had my car for 5 hours (and they were working on it continuously - I know as I kept going back to see if they had finished yet) and it still came out no better than it went in.
Some of it good but. I lost the steering box alignment half way through, so.
To centralise steering box Wheels must be set in straight ahead position and kept there.
Then check line up of marks. If out, disconnect drag link from drop arm.
Turn steering wheel to set marks to alignment on steering box.
Adjust drag link until with wheels still in straight ahead position it can be fitted to drop arm with marks aligned.
If steering wheel is now not centralised remove and line up.
Steering wheel can only be fitted in 5 degree increments, so to get wheel straight slight re-adjustment of drag link is acceptable.
To centralise steering box Wheels must be set in straight ahead position and kept there.
Then check line up of marks. If out, disconnect drag link from drop arm.
Turn steering wheel to set marks to alignment on steering box.
Adjust drag link until with wheels still in straight ahead position it can be fitted to drop arm with marks aligned.
If steering wheel is now not centralised remove and line up.
Steering wheel can only be fitted in 5 degree increments, so to get wheel straight slight re-adjustment of drag link is acceptable.
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Datatek
Well-Known Member
Good post except that a 2 inch deviation from corner to corner on the EAS would be immediately and ridiculously obvious. The limit is 7mm
The heights should be set within +/- 5mm of the manufacturers settings for each level.
SpacePig
New Member
This stuff really turn me mad, I will go next week to Rover Again... But it seems that I may have to check the car's suspension height. Below 20km/h the car goes straight unless I am on a bumpy road and today stuck in a traffic Jam (80km Traffic JAM!) I could test this "Theory" at will!, now go beyond this speed and bang, goes to the left, go beyond 90km/h the car will move into Highway mode and then, the car run straight...
Also, I realized while being stuck on the highway that the car tends to level up (nose going up) when fully stop, meaning that while I am driving the car nose goes down (is this normal?). Also while waiting for my wife in a Parking Area, I saw the car having problem to stabilize its height and going up down for 10 to 15sec until it will stop. Nothing really amazing but noticeable. Air Sus are New, I changed them three month ago, but I am scare that either I have a ECU problem or a height sensor problem.
Also, I realized while being stuck on the highway that the car tends to level up (nose going up) when fully stop, meaning that while I am driving the car nose goes down (is this normal?). Also while waiting for my wife in a Parking Area, I saw the car having problem to stabilize its height and going up down for 10 to 15sec until it will stop. Nothing really amazing but noticeable. Air Sus are New, I changed them three month ago, but I am scare that either I have a ECU problem or a height sensor problem.
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Datatek
Well-Known Member
The nose will lift after you release the brakes when you stop and then it may level down a little. If the whole car goes up could be the driver pack, unlikely to be the ECU as they seem to be reliable.
Everytime the vehicle speed drops below 1 mph the front valves open to equalise pressure across the axle. If one side is set higher than the other or weight on drivers side is considerably greater than passenger side the car will drop slightly, the front bags will then be filled to level car. This happens EVERY time car stops in traffic. If the car is dancing noticably it is more than likely a sensor problem.
