Freelander 1 Tracking problems: need new track rod ends?

Hippo said:

I think there were several revisions to the tracking over the years. At least 4 if I remember correctly. When I did mine I remember finding some additional measurements for different wheel sizes anorl. Not sure why they went to that extent unless they were trying to keep things happy.

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Altering suspension settings for different wheels is very common. Different sizes of wheel alter the suspension geometry and so needs to be taken into account.

Nodge68 said:

Get both sides the same length. Then make sure the tracking is adjusted equally both sides. You are after both left and right track rods to be as equal as possible, with the rack centred accurately.

It's interesting that the printout shows the specs from 2001 to 2006. I'm sure they were revised somewhere between those dates, but I could be wrong.

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Good suggestion I'll do exactly that and get the car re-tracked.

Hippo said:

I think there were several revisions to the tracking over the years. At least 4 if I remember correctly. When I did mine I remember finding some additional measurements for different wheel sizes anorl. Not sure why they went to that extent unless they were trying to keep things happy.

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That's very interesting. I rather hope they have the appropriate settings in their machine based on age or chassis number?

Are the tracking settings (and versions thereof) on line somewhere?

rob_bell said:

Good suggestion I'll do exactly that and get the car re-tracked.

That's very interesting. I rather hope they have the appropriate settings in their machine based on age or chassis number?

Are the tracking settings (and versions thereof) on line somewhere?

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It was some years ago I did mine, but I found it in Haynes, in rave and online. All sets of info were different. I had problems with the rear wheels pointing inwards and a bit to the right, which offset the steering. Couldn't find a tyre shop who could do all 4 wheels. those that had a go on the fronts made it worser. Travelled specially to a garage that could do all 4 according to antother none 4x4 LR forum who also have 4x4 cars but the ***tards only did the front and didn't really have the right kit to do it all. The bloke couldn't even show the kit so that's proof in my mind he dun't have it. So I bought a track ace and did it meself.

http://www.trackace.co.uk/

found mine

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/td4-wheel-geometry-specs.257444

Replaced the steering arms and track rod ends this morning. Would have been exceptionally easy were it not for me not completely releasing the ball joint nut - doh! Then spent an hour trying to remove it before resorting to the blow torch.

1. Separated the arm into its three component parts:

Then copper greased the threads:

And then reassembled

2. Now to the steering rack:
First surprise: not the expected hex head screws! Luckily I have these torx sockets:


Size E18

I loosened both at this stage.

3. Now undo the ball joint nut. Don't do as I did and not get it to the point where it is only finger tight!

The original steering arm and adjuster is rather crusty....

I used a wedge- type ball joint separator to separate the taper. Once done, remove the ball joint retaining nut and remove the steering rack to steering arm screw.

Remove steering arm and replace with the new part. Here the taper and ball joint are attached. The other end - the steering arm to rack screw - is left finger tight.

Repeat on other side. Ball joint nut torque is 41ft.lb.

Once both arms are in, the steering rack screws can be tightened:



Haynes manual states torque of 74lb.ft??? Is that correct? Seems mighty tight to me? Can anyone verify in the official workshop manual for me?

PS forgot to say I greased the steering rack screws and thread locked the thread with Loctite - you don't want these parts falling out in future...

One other problem: when the track rods are set at equal length, the steering wheel is 45 degrees right hand down The steering rack can't be central.

Two options:
1. Square up the steering wheel to straight ahead and accept different length steering arms (about 20mm different side to side)
2. Centralise the rack and take off the steering wheel and refit to the straight ahead

I think option 2 would be best...

Look what I had stashed in the garage:



One TackAce!

I've not used it before, hence the desire to get it "professionally" done, but hey, my starting point was way out. And I didn't have anything to loose.

I set both track arms to the same length on the turnbuckle on each (which using these B&B arms on my car was 32mm between the arm and track rod end) and set up the TrackAce using the manufacturer's instructions. It's pretty straightforward and easy but of kit to use.

The picture above shows the final total front toe angle: 0deg10min toe out. Happy with that

I checked the rear total toe to compare with the tracking data from the alignment centre. I got a total toe of 0deg 5min toe in. That compares to 0deg 10min toe in from the shop. Not too bad a correlation

Steering feels miles better now. Only down side is that the steering wheel is still well off. Hopefully if I take it off, I can put it back on the correct spline. Here's hoping anyway...

Looks as though the airbag is held on by two screws behind the spokes - same as the MGF/ R200 etc. Job for tomorrow I hope.

rob_bell said:

One other problem: when the track rods are set at equal length, the steering wheel is 45 degrees right hand down The steering rack can't be central.

Two options:
1. Square up the steering wheel to straight ahead and accept different length steering arms (about 20mm different side to side)
2. Centralise the rack and take off the steering wheel and refit to the straight ahead

I think option 2 would be best...

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74 Ftlb is about right the the rack centre bolts.
Centre the the rack exactly and then fit the steering wheel to be correct in that central position.
The air bag is held on by 2 Torx bolts from behind. Make sure you disconnect the battery for 30 minutes before unplugged the air bag. I often just leave it connected, simply balancing it on the top of the wheel.

Cool. I'll be double checking everything before removing the steering wheel - including the steering rod lengths and the steering rack centre point.

Interestingly the steering arms that were removed were 5mm different in length. What I am unclear about is whether that is how it left the factory, or whether someone has made a slight error in the past and gone the long way round to mask an incorrectly centred rack? My hunch is that this is how it left the factory, but I fear that there is no real way of knowing...

Checked the rack centre point again last night, this time by counting from lock to lock the number of turns of the steering wheel. It confirms that the steering wheel isn't straight with the rack centred.... Will need to take off the steering wheel and re-position. Hopefully will get some time to do this this evening

rob_bell said:

Checked the rack centre point again last night, this time by counting from lock to lock the number of turns of the steering wheel. It confirms that the steering wheel isn't straight with the rack centred.... Will need to take off the steering wheel and re-position. Hopefully will get some time to do this this evening

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Sounds like the wheel has been changed to make it straight after a previous tracking job.
You're doing the car justice, by doing it correctly.

Nodge68 said:

Sounds like the wheel has been changed to make it straight after a previous tracking job.
You're doing the car justice, by doing it correctly.

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Thanks
And yes, I am sure you're right. Having set the tracking correctly using the TrackAce, the steering feels so much nicer now too

With the steering centred I marked the straightahead with some masking tape at the top of the rim.

Airbag held on my two T30 torx screws - removed and put to one side.

Marked the straight ahead on the steering column shaft based on the masking tape on the wheel, pulled the wheel and then replaced it according to the marks and put everything back together.

Jobs now a good un!

Great post Rob - about to do exactly the same as following replacing the lower suspension wishbone arms the tracking is now out, and of course the track rod adjusters are completely rusted up like yours. I even have an almost brand new wedgie separator that i needed for the wheel ball joint that could get its second use in a week!

Before I make the same mistake can you explain what you mean by "Would have been exceptionally easy were it not for me not completely releasing the ball joint nut - doh! "

Do you mean before separating the ball joint taper? I guess if it's been released then turning the nut would just spin the bolt/ball instead of coming completely undone?

That’s it! I’d loosened the nut, but had left it on a few turns from the end of the bolt before splitting the taper. As it’s a nyloc, I then had a devil of a job releasing that nut! If doing it again, I’d leave just a couple of flats only so the bolt thread is out of the nylon section and it should be really straightforward