If the Range Rover is experienceing the dreaded steering shakes when
you go over bumps, especially on curves, one of the causes can be too
much play in the steering box. This can be taken care of by a simple
adjustment. (If this does not fix the problem, other causes can include
worn Panhard rod bushings, worn ball joints or tie rod ends, or
incorrecct swivel pin preload).
Photo at right by Ron Beckett:
Top view of a steering box removed from vehicle. The adjuster screw is
exactly at the center of the image.
Adjustment Procedure
The adjustment for the amount of play in the steering is an Allen
screw
located on top of the steering box. The procedure is to jack the front
wheels off the ground so you can easily turn the wheels with the engine
off. Then, undo the locknut that holds the adjuster screw in place. As Larry Michelin reports, this
step can be slightly tricky. However, both he and I found that this can
be done without removing any of the power steering lines.
Close-up of top of steering box
showing Allen screw and lock nut in center. Photos courtesy of Ron Beckett.
"Closer close-up" of adjuster
screw and lock nut.
The adjustment itself is done with an Allen wrench. With the wheels
pointing straight ahead, turn the screw clockwise till you just take
out the play. You do not want to tighten it too much -- the idea is not
to have any binding when moving the steering wheel with the wheels
straight ahead. Larry instructs: "You will be able to see the steering
box input and pitman arm if you reach through the window as you move
the steering wheel back and forth. When you tighten the lock nut, you
may have to hold the adjustment from turning with the lock nut (or you
can play the game of planning on the lock nut to get your last bit of
adjustment.) Check the steering for play or hard spots after tightening
the lock nut.
"One thing you should note is you will have play towards the extreme
left/right lock positions. This is why you must do the adjustment at
straight ahead. If you take out the play at left/right lock, you will
have hard steering at straight ahead.found
that all the fasteners that required removal came out without a problem
(boy
do I love that air compressor.) The difficulty was in separating the
parts. For starters, Larry had
trouble separating the steering shaft from the box input shaft, so he
separated the steering shaft at the rubber donut. The bolt fits through
a groove in the input shaft and must be removed or the universal joint
won't come off."
