steering damper and drop arm - dry dry dry

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The drop arm ball joint is knackered or will be in months without a seal. I think it's an MOT failure as it is anyway. The rubber on the other balljoint shown in the pictures is twisted and this will also break unless you let it straighten up. I'd see if you can work it round with your fingers or disconnect the joint and then refit it after it's straight.

The dampers do rattle on the bolt fixing near the drop arm.

The drop arm ball joint is a weak point in the system so I'd use the genuine part if you can afford it. Follow Buster's picture guide for the instructions on how to do it.
 
cheers for that. I got the gen part today, like 6 times the price of non gen! I didnt think the price diff. would be so high, but its an important moving bit, so quality and all that. Ill try and give that other seal a finger to see if I can straighten it up! Cheers again. Buster has it all, ill follow his photies
 
no nipple in the gen kit, and at the landy shop they said dont have them with nips. :-(, call another place and same thing. noticed today my steering is getting stiff sometimes and then loser at other times, not extreme, but noticable. Is that likely due to the fcuk drop arm ball joint?
 
RUDDdefender90 said:
no nipple in the gen kit, and at the landy shop they said dont have them with nips. :-(, call another place and same thing. noticed today my steering is getting stiff sometimes and then loser at other times, not extreme, but noticable. Is that likely due to the fcuk drop arm ball joint?
Click to expand...

It might be the drop arm ball joint but it's unlikley, it could be your steering box, mine went like this (mine was also leaking) so I changed mine and when I had the old one on the work bench (held in a vice) I worked the streering arm from one lock to the other and I felt (and heard) the tight spots, so, if you diconnect the drop arm joint, you should be able to perform the same operation on your steering box but whilst still on the car,
it should need the same force to move it back and forth from full lock to full lock. Even an inexperienced mechanic will be able to tell if it's sh*gged.
 
hmmm ok, it did leak a little when I got it, but I got some fluid to bung it, which seems to have done the job. Did you keep using the steering box til it was completly dead, or did you change it sooner? (new, or recon unit?). Also, did you change the steering box yourself, or get some mechanic to do it. How much? Its rather costly I think. hmmmm

About testing the power steering unit. If I take off the drop arm ball joint. I leave the drop arm in place? and move this (drop arm) from full lock to full lock? Should I lift it on to a jack or something first, so the wheels are of the ground?
 
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RUDDdefender90 said:
hmmm ok, it did leak a little when I got it, but I got some fluid to bung it, which seems to have done the job. Did you keep using the steering box til it was completly dead, or did you change it sooner? (new, or recon unit?).


Also, did you change the steering box yourself, or get some mechanic to do it. How much? Its rather costly I think. hmmmm
Click to expand...

the leaking on it's own wasn't a problem ( I kept topping it up, and it passed 2 mots. ) its when it started to get stiff and noisy (rumbling noise) that I changed it, I found a second hand one from a fellow forum member and fitted it myself, it's pretty straight forward (but be warned the steering box is very heavy so I lashed it with rope and had an assistant lower it to the ground when I removed the last bolt)
 
there's no need to jack it up, as when you disconnect the drop arm joint you are disconnecting the whole of the steering, you just move the arm coming from your steering box left and right.
 
think he was pointing out what I said Buster about testing the steering etc, no one disputes what you say around here :). The Uj are good! the ball joint is awful, and the steering box leaks (a little) leaving me with slopppy and stifff driving at times!

Oh I also notied today its pulling a tad, but that prob is just the ball joint right? I kinda got stuck in mud other day and had to jack myself out of it, so my poor joints got extra hammering then!
 
update: my steering was consistant and fine today (with no work being carried out, look above, was sloppy and stiff yesterday). If prehaps a tad resistance, but then its only power assisted steering, so thats normal right? I drove fully locked left and right, and both felt smooth, just did that on some roundabout and so on, on way back from supermarket, which I may add is damn busy!


Also, there is a tad free play on the steering wheel either side of dead straight (5 to 12, 5 past 12, 12 being straight ahead), ie very very smoth compared to rest when I cont. through to go round bend etc.
 
I think you should address each problem seperately and one at a time, this will give you feedback on things that you have done and any effect this work has had, before you move onto the next job.
drag link ball joint first, then drop arm ball joint, then steering box, but do each one at a time and road test as you do each one and take note of any improvements/or otherwise.
 
ended up replacing the power steering pump, track rod, drop arm and drag link joint. is it possible hitting a one tonne snow ball would cause that damage? It bent my steel (standard) bumper in and pinched into my wing, and caused the outer wing to pop out a big, but hit it back in with a hammer, at the time everything seemed normal, well nothing had changed to my understanding from before the snowball and after it which was about 2 2 weeks back. But, noticed steering issues about week after? hmmm
 
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