 | Home > Technical > Defender 300tdi drag link tube length? |
 
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| NickH Member Since: 01 Nov 2014 Location: Halifax Posts: 204   
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Thats the last time I help another defender owner,
Just been out in the  rain with a tape measure, dog has run off, door shut behind me and locked me out, daughter took 15mins to answer her phone and let me in.
Its 31" also. Sounds like you need to centralize your steering box and work on from there. Going for a shower and a lemsip now ! 2003 Td5 90 2013 sport hse 2012 700 raptor quad 2012 siromer 4x4 tractor |
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28th Feb 2015 8:26pm |
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| I Like Old Skool Member Since: 23 Feb 2015 Location: Manchester Posts: 809  
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Thank you muchly Nick, you will get your reward in heaven......
That puts me back to square 1. I was going to rip into it all when installing the Dam bars and start from scratch but when the discrepancy between Dam bar and drag link came to light I thought I was onto something. It's odd because the track rod tubes match perfectly with the Dam bar butting up to the clamps. My old 200tdi 90 had double clamps so maybe I can slip a couple of extras on the 300tdi to keep the Dam bar central and see if I can tweak the geometry to get my steering centred. |
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28th Feb 2015 9:54pm |
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| Mountain_man Member Since: 09 Dec 2011 Location: Right side of Offas Dyke Posts: 756 
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Drag link (from steering box to NS swivel) should not affect geometry, only the position of the steering wheel relative to the road wheels. The Disco has a longer drag link than a defender since it uses a different drop link from the steering box. If your drag link has a track rod end on both ends and a straight drop link then it is the diso set up. If it has a "swan-neck" curved drop link and a ball joint/track rod combo, then it is a defender set up.
The Track Control rod, behind the axle, does influence geometry but these are the same length on all models. If you are rubbing the radius arms on one lock and not the other then you will need to adjust the limit stops on the swivels. It has nothing to do with the set up of the steering links at all. HTHs |
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28th Feb 2015 10:37pm |
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| I Like Old Skool Member Since: 23 Feb 2015 Location: Manchester Posts: 809
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Hi M_m
I still have the standard Defender swan neck and drop arm ball joint set-up. I had a tinker with the lockstops shortly after getting the 110 as they must have been at the factory settings. Turning circle was awful (I'm used to 90s and XJ Cherokees  ) and the steel modular wheels give a lot more room for lock. This transformed the turning experience but left me with more lock in one direction. I shortened the drag link but this still wasn't enough. I'm familiar with which rod affects which setting and even with the lockstops removed I am being prevented from getting full lock in one direction.
The plan is to strip it all down one day this week and find out what is limiting the movement. It could be the steering box or maybe the swivels are at the limit and something internal is preventing further travel. I'll get to the bottom of it and optimise the set up but I just thought maybe the longer Disco drag link tube had been fitted with the Defender swan neck and that was my problem. |
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28th Feb 2015 11:25pm |
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| V12vanquish Member Since: 28 Sep 2014 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 52 
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Make sure your steering box is centred, there is a hole on the steering box for a 6mm bolt or pin.
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2nd Mar 2015 6:35pm |
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| I Like Old Skool Member Since: 23 Feb 2015 Location: Manchester Posts: 809
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Hi V12 I've never heard this about Defender steering boxes before. Have you got any info on where the centring lock pin should be inserted? |
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3rd Mar 2015 9:59am |
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| I Like Old Skool Member Since: 23 Feb 2015 Location: Manchester Posts: 809
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Finally got this sorted. I took off the drag link and wound the steering to full L/H lock then marked the bottom of the steering wheel with some electrical tape. I then went the opposite way and counted the turns until it stopped and again marked the bottom of the wheel (about 3¾ turns). I then used a different colour tape to mark the mid point between the 2 limit marks and turned the wheel back just less than 2 turns till the new centre mark was at the bottom centre of the wheel.
It then became apparent that the drag link was simply adjusted too long by about 10mm so I stripped it out, cleaned and greased the threads, then screwed them both fully in and refitted it. This means both threads are in equal amounts and the draglink tube can now be turned to adjust the length that allows the steering to point straight ahead with the temporary centre mark at the bottom. I drove around the block a few times to get this spot on. The steering wheel is then returned to horizontal by undoing and removing the 3 steering column U/J clamp bolts (no need to do the final one at the steering box) which will allow the steering column to slide off the splines at the top clamp. The splines at the top steering column are not indexed and can be assembled in any orientation to allow the steering wheel to be turned to horizontal. A final test drive showed I was lucky enough to get this right first time and the splines didn't need re-aligning and incredibly, the drag link didn't require any further adjustment. I'm a happy chap now because the steering wheel sits dead level when driving along a straight road with a mild camber and the tyres just gently rub the radius arms on full lock when reversing. I have set the stop locks at this position to prevent the steering from taking the force of any off road knocks at full lock. Before anyone comments, I have always set my 4x4s to lightly rub the radius arms this way as it gives maximum turning and the only damage done is a small spot of shiny metal where the paint is rubbed off by the tyres occasional contact. I hope the above description helps anyone else who wants to 'optimise' the turning circle of their landrover tank  |
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3rd Mar 2015 4:48pm |
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