Steering wheel out of line after adjusting play

Hello everyone, I've had a lot of play in my steering for a long time and it was becoming a skill to drive with it. I checked underneath and everything looked okay so I tightened the Allen key on the steering box up a bit. (front wheels off the ground facing forward)

The play went away but when I took it for a test the steering wheel is now out of line. Have I somehow changed the tracking by doing this? I'm not sure what to do other than try backing the Allen key off again and see if it goes away.
Thanks for reading!
Simon.

Just adjust the steering arm from steering box to wheel

Set wheels straight, best done by driving forward a bit on the flat then do the above.

Thanks both I'll have a look, is it quite straightforward to do?

As long as the clamps undo on the steering rod and you can turn the tube no problem.

Happens all the time at work, adjust the steering box slack and voila one out of line steering wheel, I just remove the wheel and move it around a spline or two, have to use a puller on the trucks, no idea on a defender?

Are these the two nuts I undo, then move the top bit until the wheel's straight?

You won't of changed the tracking as that's fixed. I would remove badge from centre of steering wheel. 22mm socket, undo but leave a few threads on. Hit the underneath with your hands until it pops off. Remove nut and wheel and reposition on spline. As said above , drive on flat road a few yards in a straight line then top and do the adjustment.

As steve24v said "adjust the rod from the steering box to the wheel.
Should you try steering wheel removal be aware if it has not been off before likely to be very tight [ back in the day Land Rover employed man mountain to fit them I recon]
It may be possible to adjust on the column in your pic but not all have a groove for the pinch bolt, some have just a flat you cannot change position.

On mine the steering column UJs just have a scallop out of the shafts where the bolt goes so you can't really turn them round. Assuming the steering arm that comes out of the box is approximately in the middle of its movement when the wheels are straight ahead it's easier to take the steering wheel off and move it round a few splines. Mine usually needs a puller.

Just to give an indication of how stiff the steering wheel can be to get off, here's a picture of how much I bent my puller doing so:

Brown said:

Just to give an indication of how stiff the steering wheel can be to get off, here's a picture of how much I bent my puller doing so:
View attachment 262978

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Blimey, mine came off with a slap of the palms of my hands.

mick the builder said:

Blimey, mine came off with a slap of the palms of my hands.

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Probably been off before.

tottot said:

Probably been off before.

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Maybe but not I the 6 years I've had it.

mick the builder said:

Blimey, mine came off with a slap of the palms of my hands.

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Have to say despite the horror stories I have never had an issue removing a steering wheel I must have just been lucky. Even the tractor that before my owner ship had spent 60 years living outside came off with hand wiggling only.


Something to bear in mind with the tracking is the steering wheel is an irrelevance as it can be removed easily and rotated on the splines to line it up to your desired positioning (this may not be straight, I deliberately have mine two splines clockwise to lower the top spoke (old thin four spoke wheel) to a comfortable height to rest my elbow out the window!).
To correctly adjust the tacking it is the steering box that must be centered not the steering wheel or the road wheels. Centre the steering box, then adjust the passenger wheel to be pointing straight by adjusting the steering box to wheel steering rod, then make the wheels parallel (correct toe spec) by adjusting the wheel to wheel steering rod. Once this has been completed you can then remove and adjust the steering wheel to the desired location.

It is a nightmare getting garages to do it properly, especially as I deliberately don't have my steering wheel straight even, if they are used to drag link systems rather than modern cars they all try to start at the steering wheel.