GQ sloppy and wandering steering.

[adzyspence]

hey guys ive done some searches but cant find anything to exactly answer my question. The steering on my patrol has got a bit of freeplay in and seems to wander on the road a bit at the moment. ive got a rancho steering dampner on it, should i be replacing it with a RTC steering dampner. i got 35" creepys on at the moment but they arnt going to be my road tyres.
just after some advice on the situation.
cheers

[gqmudder91]

a rtc steering damper will only hide the problem that is wrong with the car wat bout ur drag link ? have u replaced it

[adzyspence]

yeah all new draglink and panhard rod and all new bushes in the drop arms. i reckon the tyres arnt helping at the moment, but i still think it could be a bit stiffer so to speak.

[coxy321]

Hows the tie-rod? Check it for bends, and check the rod-ends too. Another thing you should check is the steering box - make sure its bolted up tight and the chassis mount isn't cracked.

[maverick01]

When you fitted the drag link and im assuming its adjustable and if it is then did you get teh sterring box back in the straight ahead position and i dont mean just by turning the steering wheel to straight ahead but if you get under the drivers wheel arch where the steering box is, and you grab hold of where the drag link bolts up and move it you will find it will get to a very small point where there is no slack or movement in the gears at all.

That point there is the straight ahead position of the steering box and then you may need to re align the steering wheel.

I have only just rectified mine by doing this as mine had the same issues as yours and also once you have done this then you may also need another wheel alignment.

[adzyspence]

yeah i have got a adjustable draglink, and since i put the coil spacers in i havnt straightened the steering box, but i didnt think it woiuld have affected it that much, ill straighten it first on the weekend and see how it goes.
thanks for the advice guys.

[BadMav]

Adzy, there is an adjustment screw with a lock nut on top of the steering box. Undo the nut and wind the screw in until it just starts to tighten up, then lock down the nut again.

x2 on the steering dampener hiding problems, I still run the same one that came on the car 18 years ago.

[Rock*]

Yeah also if your preload on your swivel hubs is too loose will give you excessive wandering and bouncy steering, a rtc dampner will fix this but is only a cover up for the real problem.

[sidewayz]

also worth checking the rubber bush that joins the steering shaft to the steering box (drivers side engine bay) they have a tendency to rip/break...

didn know about the centre position of the steering box being tighter, cheers for that, il have to check mine. Id just got used to sloppy steering after 3 years!

[adzyspence]

thanks fort all that advice guys, ill straiten my steering box on the weekend and do the screw up as well. just got the passenger swivel hub all done, then ill see how it all goes.
thanks guys.

[Yom]

Adzy, there is an adjustment screw with a lock nut on top of the steering box. Undo the nut and wind the screw in until it just starts to tighten up, then lock down the nut again.

x2 on the steering dampener hiding problems, I still run the same one that came on the car 18 years ago.

Be weary of this nut!! If the source of the play in the steering is coming from the box then it needs to be reconditioned. Simply tightening this nut up is not recommended unless you have plans of upgrading to GU or a newer/reconditioned box later on. Removing steering slop via this method is supposed to wear the box out faster.

Mind you its what I did when selling my GQ and the steering wheel was behaving more like a suggestion wheel.

Also check toe obviously.

Failing that...it could just be series standard. Its the price you pay (along with poor handling and ride) to have a front end which doesn't self destruct offroad.

[lucenzo]

Had the same problem with mine been more of a suggestion wheel then steering wheel like said above.

just had a play with that adjusment screw and lock nut definately sorted it out, car actually goes where u point it and not just somewhere there abouts.

think i might have done it up to tight, as u can definately feel some resistance there now so will back it off a touch. I think with the added resistance of and rtc damper too it will definately wear the box out pretty quick.

good fix though definately sorted the issue just have to wait and see i guess if it all heads south.

[rallydave]

thanks fort all that advice guys, ill straiten my steering box on the weekend and do the screw up as well. just got the passenger swivel hub all done, then ill see how it all goes.
thanks guys.

Just be careful, if you tighten the screw too much it can make the steering very heavy when you are near full lock, and then won't return to center by itself. this is caused by the center section ( straight ahead) of the steering box wearing more. to tighten it, put the steering box near full lock.
and make sure to check your front wheel bearings are tight too.

[lucenzo]

thanks fort all that advice guys, ill straiten my steering box on the weekend and do the screw up as well. just got the passenger swivel hub all done, then ill see how it all goes.
thanks guys.

Just be careful, if you tighten the screw too much it can make the steering very heavy when you are near full lock, and then won't return to center by itself. this is caused by the center section ( straight ahead) of the steering box wearing more. to tighten it, put the steering box near full lock.
and make sure to check your front wheel bearings are tight too.

thanks for that mate i've been noticing that the steering has been heavy now and lack of returning to centre, had a feeling it was all related but i've never owned a patrol before or drven anything with tyres bigger then 33's so was thinking/hoping it was just how it was?

i might have to re do mine with the steering near full lock as i did mine with the wheels pointing straight ahead because thats where the problem was, when driving, or trying to drive, in a straight line.

cheers again.

[RIZZO]

mate your truck having the steering wobbles could be a number of things, might be something simple like tyre balance or bushes or could be something more serious like king pin or wheel bearings etc. You will find your steering dampner will have little to do with the problem, its not your dampner thats causing it, so yeah you can try a new dampner or whatever but it will come back. I had this problem bad in my first patrol 7"lift 36 centepedes. not the best tyre for the road. these wobbles are most likely are few things all contributing to ur wobbles. I'd check all tie rod ends on steering arms, as this can cause this as well as check and tightened wheel bearings. doesn't take long on patrols if you know what your doing. check king pin bearings, know of a couple of blokes to totally remove the washers top and bottom on king pin bearings which has really helped, i'd be more tempted to just replace these bearings and leave washers there,personal opionion. I would not alter steering pump as said, if the pump is your problems just spend the money and get reconditioned cause it wont get any better. hope all this helps. the wobbles can be very fustrating sometimes but my wagon had them bad, now it drives better than a new car with the lift and the lumpy centepedes. also check rear bushes in the trailing arms can help vehicle on the road alot. good luck