P38 veering all over the shop!!

hi again.

another problem i have had for a while but been too busy to fix is the steering on my P38.

when driving it will tend to move aroud alot (left and right) but dont get any feeling in the steering wheel, dont feel like its moving when the car does, i just have to counter it when it happens. also the steering wheel is not centre. to drive straight the steering wheel needs to be slightly left. i had the driver side steering ball joint changed cos there was slight play in it but still doing it.

i was watching a program last night and someone had bought a car and that was veering and had sloggish steering and it turned out to be the anti roll bar drop links.
could this be the cause of my problems. i have seen them pretty cheap.

dull steering and car veering across road.

what could it be.

oh and i just remembered the passenger front wheel is going bald around the outside.

any ideas????

tracking is out by the sounds of it,check all ball joints and everything to do with the steering.
any shake at around 50 from the wheels?
if so get them balanced
check shocks as well

yeh, u just reminded me, yes there is shake when holding at about 55mph.

if you push through it say up to 70 it goes. but back again at about 90 (on a track of course cos that would be illegal on the roads).
steering box seems good. all other joints seem good when i checked last week. but i never checked the suspension joint or shocks.
will do that soon.

Track rod ends and drag link. Check the VCU while you are at it.

Check yuer Steering Damper (Under front just in front of Diff) looks like a BIG Shock Absorber ....

mikey!!!! said:

yeh, u just reminded me, yes there is shake when holding at about 55mph.

if you push through it say up to 70 it goes. but back again at about 90 (on a track of course cos that would be illegal on the roads).
steering box seems good. all other joints seem good when i checked last week. but i never checked the suspension joint or shocks.
will do that soon.

Click to expand...

Wheel balance.

wammers said:

Wheel balance.

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, the apparent wheel balance problem on mine completely disappeared when I replaced the drag link I guess they were just shimmying from side to side due to the play in the drag link

it does not always wobble at 50.

and i was thinking maybe the damper. they not too expensive so i will try that aswell.

Sidewear on tyre is tracking for sure, get that corrected firstly - should also straighten steeringwheel. Good idea to get wheels balanced at the same time. If not happy after these two (simplest, cheapest) bits, I'd then be looking at damper!

Ridesafe said:

Sidewear on tyre is tracking for sure, get that corrected firstly - should also straighten steeringwheel. Good idea to get wheels balanced at the same time. If not happy after these two (simplest, cheapest) bits, I'd then be looking at damper!

Click to expand...

Tracking is probably due to worn track rod ends, worn drag link will cause wheel to be off centre, damper if those dont fix it.

Datatek said:

Tracking is probably due to worn track rod ends, worn drag link will cause wheel to be off centre, damper if those dont fix it.

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Yup, get trakin/balance done, garage will then confirm or otherwise....wot Datatek says, lol!

Ridesafe said:

Yup, get trakin/balance done, garage will then confirm or otherwise....wot Datatek says, lol!

Click to expand...

Change the track rod and drag link yourself, less than an hours work, pay to have the tracking done

i have had the track rod end changed a few weeks back and i have the drop link on order. that should be by end of week.

Are these correct??
RANGE ROVER P38 95-02 FRONT 2 ANTI ROLL BAR DROP LINKS on eBay (end time 28-Dec-10 12:02:29 GMT)

Draglink assembly here:
Drag Link Assy Right-hand Drive QHG000060 Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order.

thanks. thats the cheapest i have seen one of them.

Is this going to come ready to fit straight on the car???

H Mikey,

yes, straight swap, off with the old and on with the new!! I have used Island 4x4 quite often and found service to be excellent.

A word of warning here. Drive car forwards until steering is straight ahead. Remove drag link and fit new. Then with wheels still straight ahead adjust length until steering wheel is straight. It is ultra important to have steering box centralised.

To check steering damper:1. look for oil seepage, lots of oil it`s shot. 2. disconnect one end, if moves in/out with no resistance it`s shot.

A few years back I had a bit of shimmying from the front of my P38 not long after I bought it.
It turned out to be the front shockers, the nut on the bottom mount had backed off!
I removed them, checked the bushes were fine and fitted new lock nuts.
Problem solved..
Worth a look.