P38A wandering star

Hi All.
Just brought my first P38A , S reg with the 2.5 BMW diesel engine.
It is a nightmare on handling , slightest bump in the road it goes all over the place , it has 18" wheels , I am sure these should be 16" rims , the wheels stick out a bit from the body , it has dunlop road tyres with plenty of tread
Any ideas ????

Cheers

Daryll

First thing I would do is check your tyre pressures. Very sensitive to pressure and the bigger the wheels the more sensitive

18" wheels are standard fit, tyres and pressures can cause problems. But i would take a look at steering linkages, steering damper, tracking and set up Etc.

Second thing, is just do a check on the steering joints i.e. anything involved with the vehicles steering, as u would do in a pre MOT inspection. Assuming it's the steering as " it goes all over the place " leaves me guessing, sorry.

What tyres does it have fitted?

Its getting a bit dark , but I will post the tyre size tomorrow , also on the rear wheels there appears to be a blue spacer fitted , about 30mm thick , that would explain the tyres slightly proud of the body work.
Wheh I say " all over the place" , let me explain in more detail , if I drive over a bump at 30-40mph it tends to want to wander , I have to keep making steering corrections to keep it in a straight line , if the side of the road is uneven (as I live in the countryside this is more the norm)I have to fight the steering to keep in a straight line , never had this on my old discovery , the old gal is due an MOT this Friday , lets see if they find anything

take the spacers off, you'll be amazed at the difference, so long as its not knackered any ball joints with the extra loads its been suffering

Nickpen said:

take the spacers off, you'll be amazed at the difference, so long as its not knackered any ball joints with the extra loads its been suffering

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Depends if he has proper P38 wheels or the 18" he has are off something else. If P38 then there should be no spacer.

Yep, mines on 18's and no spacer. I just use the pressure in the book. (think it's 36psi)and no problem with wandering or tramlining.

Wazzajnr said:

Yep, mines on 18's and no spacer. I just use the pressure in the book. (think it's 36psi)and no problem with wandering or tramlining.

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28 psi fronts, 38 psi rears.

See this is where a pic would have really helped, but wheels sticking out the arches, bump steer, its still wrong wheels and spacers or just right wheels with spacers.

Grrrrrr said:

28 psi fronts, 38 psi rears.

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You may well be right, it's a while since I checked the handbook but I'd have had a tenner bet on it being same front and back on the 18's. I think my memory is going!

Wazzajnr said:

You may well be right, it's a while since I checked the handbook but I'd have had a tenner bet on it being same front and back on the 18's. I think my memory is going!

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On 16s or 18s 28 front 38 rear.

If spacers are fitted it you might have wheels off of an L322 fitted and if you remove them you will be in trouble as they center the wheel on the hub.
Another cause of your wandering may be the steering damper.
Having said that about the wheels they should not stick out from the body and the tyres should be 255 55 18
I have 255 60 18 on mine and when suspension is at its lowest the front ones tend to rub on the mudflap and getting the wheel into the spare wheel compartment is almost impossible that is why I have a swing away spare wheel carrier and carry a spare tyre without a rim in the spare wheel department.

ovalandrover said:

If spacers are fitted it you might have wheels off of an L322 fitted and if you remove them you will be in trouble as they center the wheel on the hub.
Another cause of your wandering may be the steering damper.
Having said that about the wheels they should not stick out from the body and the tyres should be 255 55 18
I have 255 60 18 on mine and when suspension is at its lowest the front ones tend to rub on the mudflap and getting the wheel into the spare wheel compartment is almost impossible that is why I have a swing away spare wheel carrier and carry a spare tyre without a rim in the spare wheel department.

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Bit of confusion here, wheel spacers are not needed to fit up to 2005 L322 wheels but hub spigots and new nuts are. You can fit 255-65-16, 255-55-18, (standard fit) 255-50-19 or 255-45-20 (L322) all will fit in spare wheel carrier, and the speedo will read true because the rolling radius is constant. But you will be able to tell if a 10p coin is heads or tails if you run over it with the 20s fitted. 19s and 20s are L322 wheels and need a hub spigot to centre them on hub or they will be up and down like a brides nighty.

wammers said:

Bit of confusion here, wheel spacers are not needed to fit up to 2005 L322 wheels but hub spigots and new nuts are. You can fit 255-65-16, 255-55-18, (standard fit) 255-50-19 or 255-45-20 (L322) all will fit in spare wheel carrier, and the speedo will read true because the rolling radius is constant. But you will be able to tell if a 10p coin is heads or tails if you run over it with the 20s fitted. 19s and 20s are L322 wheels and need a hub spigot to centre them on hub or they will be up and down like a brides nighty.

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You can also get 18 inch l322 wheels and they also need hub spigots and new nuts as i have them on mine with 255 60 18 tyres which puts the speedo reading out but i use my satnav to reaad the speed.

ovalandrover said:

You can also get 18 inch l322 wheels and they also need hub spigots and new nuts as i have them on mine with 255 60 18 tyres which puts the speedo reading out but i use my satnav to reaad the speed.

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Ok but why would you fit 18 inch L322 wheels when P38 18 inch wheels are all over the place for a song and don't need any mods?

i picked up 8 brand new wheels for less than a song and the p 38 hurricane ones that i had tended to crack and leak when used over rough and stony country

ovalandrover said:

i picked up 8 brand new wheels for less than a song and the p 38 hurricane ones that i had tended to crack and leak when used over rough and stony country

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Granted you have special requirements for the areas you cover. But not needed on the mildly damp grass most UK used P38s drive on from time to time. .

wammers said:

Granted you have special requirements for the areas you cover. But not needed on the mildly damp grass most UK used P38s drive on from time to time. .

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There can be somne pretty demanding brown mounds to get over, depending how many Classics and Discoveries they've owned in the past.