My Steering Is Driving Me Insane

[Bostonian1976]

I can't stand "slack" in my steering, but my Rover seems to want to keep adding some everytime I take it offroad. I'll tighten one point that I find loose, then another will come loose ( I start to have an 'elastic' feel to the steering and can tell something is up) and sure enough, the steering column will sway back and forth a bit when I steer, indicating yet another loose bolt somewhere down there (it's usually the mounting bolts to the frame, or the one that attaches to the floor). Anyone have any ideas to stop this? Lock washers apparently aren't doing it...

[LH Drive]

Used old nuts & bolts threads have already been stretched out and will come loose. Try new hardware and use some liquid locktite or buy longer bolts and use two nuts instead of one. Tighten the first one then place an open end wrench on it so it will not spin while you tighten the second one. This is what we used on all SS 9/16 hardware inside the hydrocrackers in an Oil Refinery. Alot of vibration and high pressure inside these collums and years later when we would open and inspect them, no loose hardware.

[BackInA88]

I take you have checked all the tie rods, swivels and adjusted the slack out of the steering box.

I have heard that the steering box mounting can come loose and or break.
I just had my whole steering box out this weekend to replace one little dry rotted O-ring on the output shaft.
But leak fixed!!!

There were a lot of bolts holding that baby on!
And what I think might be a homemade bracket on mine that went across the top of the main support bracket. Being mine is a IIA maybe this is a Series III piece?
It over hung the engine side of the main bracket a little.
It was mounted to the engine side of the main support and the 4 steering box mounting bolts passeed thru it as well.
And there were also 3 closely spaced bolts that went into the top of the foot well in a small triangle pattern.
It is real bitch to bend back the mounting bolt locking tabs with this bracket on there.

I'll take a picture of it whan I get home if I can get a good shot.

Steve

[PH4]

How do you adjust the slack out the steering box? I have jacked up the rover and checked the swivels and there is no play there so it must be the steering box.

[Bostonian1976]

my slack usually comes from a random bolt that holds the steering column/box to the frame or floorpan. You can start to tell the slack is coming from a loose bolt because the metal column that attaches to the dash will sway a bit when you turn the wheel....

[Mercedesrover]

Install power steering and be done with it.

[BackInA88]

How do you adjust the slack out the steering box? I have jacked up the rover and checked the swivels and there is no play there so it must be the steering box.

Remove the cover inside the wheel well.
You will see a bolt (square headed I believe) and a jam nut coming out the side of the steering box.
Loosen the jam nut and screw in the other checking your backlash while you go.
This pushes the fork on the output shaft over a cone inside the box.
When it's right lock the jam nut back down.

Don't make it to tight!
LH steering boxs are hard to come by.


Steve

[daveb]

no, that is a stock peice. there are sometimes shims between the "3-bolt" tab and the top of the footwell, to take up any space there.

bostonian, you shouldn't need to rpelace any bolts, unless they are stripped. the fastening torque, especially where bolts enter the aluminum casting of the steering box, is not high enough to stretch the bolts any appreciable amount. it is not a "torque to yield" application. whatever you do, don't use stainless as I think may have been recommended. it isn't strong enough.

there is ALOT of forces acting on these bolts. make sure everything is tight and use loctite. Do you have the 3 big thick washers on the inside of the frame where the bulkhead support tower mounting bolts (4" or so by 5/16" UNF botls) pass through? these probably make a big difference.

I did notice my 109's steering box was a little loose recently. Didn't know it for all the tie rod ends that were full of dry dirt.

So yeah, check the threads in the steering box, they can get stripped. you can always helicoil them if need be.

And what I think might be a homemade bracket on mine that went across the top of the main support bracket. Being mine is a IIA maybe this is a Series III piece?

Steve

[BackInA88]

Here is a picture of the bracket.
And it does have and aluminum shim under it.

[LaneRover]

My loose steering can usually be attributed to either the big nut that hold the drop arm onto the steering box itself, or the nut that tightens the steering arm onto the bottom of the drop box.

Brent