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steering pump question

girlrvr

By girlrvr
in General Discussion Forum

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girlrvr Newbie

girlrvr

Posted
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first, do i win for the "most problems in one car" prize? :-)

 

so, back to steering.

have a call into RTE to confirm/discuss that they sent me the wrong drag link.

 

question is:

would having a drag link that is too long affect the steering pump? or affect anything else (undue wear/tear, etc)?

 

current status:

-- steering very loose/sloppy.

-- feeling that the steering pump may be on its last legs (hard to turn when not accelerating/moving)

 

 

background info, FWIW: issues when installing the RTE drag link and RTE tie rod (some of this repeat from an earlier post - sorry!)

-- couldn't get the steering wheel to 12 o'clock (it was at 10 o'clock)

-- had to monkey around with the steering wheel to adjust for that, leaving it at 1 o'clock and super super tight (hard to turn)

-- monkeying around with the steering wheel caused the mechanic to bust the clock spring (which he replaced at his own cost).

-- mechanic had to monkey around with the steering wheel some more because it was taking two hands sometimes to turn the friggin wheel.

 

as always, any/all input welcome!

 

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DHappel Mentor

DHappel

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If when you are sitting still it's hard to turn at idle but easier with the engine rev'ed up then that would make me think steering pump.  They are known as a less than great design.

 

The question is 'how hard is too hard' related to steering.  With your small tires it shouldn't require much effort at all even at idle.

 

Replacement pumps are cheap at PnP, or you can do a GM swap which will cost considerably more but should be an end to the issue once and for all and puts out more power as well.

 

For a point of reference, you'd want to compare it to another truck with stock steering and similar size tires.  Unfortunately my only truck with similar tires would be my parts truck...and it's not driveable at the moment.  :)

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girlrvr Newbie

girlrvr

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If when you are sitting still it's hard to turn at idle but easier with the engine rev'ed up then that would make me think steering pump.  They are known as a less than great design.

 

The question is 'how hard is too hard' related to steering.  With your small tires it shouldn't require much effort at all even at idle.

 

Replacement pumps are cheap at PnP, or you can do a GM swap which will cost considerably more but should be an end to the issue once and for all and puts out more power as well.

 

For a point of reference, you'd want to compare it to another truck with stock steering and similar size tires.  Unfortunately my only truck with similar tires would be my parts truck...and it's not driveable at the moment.  :)

 

Have just noticed that I have to use more effort sometimes turn the steering wheel. Will pay closer attention to when it happens.

 

I remember you mentioning the swap. I might just have a shop try to tighten it and see how it goes from there.

 

Got off the phone with RTE (Ryan).

They are gonna send me a new one because mine is too long. 

"Too long" is hard to say because they change the design often (Graeme, the D2 one you have is an older design - hence the huge difference) and, as far as I can tell based on talking to Ryan, the sizes range from something like 33 1/4" to 33 3/4" (mine is 33 7/8").

But it was determined that it's at least 1/4" to 1/2" too long.

 

Anyway, one more problem off the to-do list (nearly) !! 

 

Thanks, guys!

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DHappel Mentor

DHappel

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Jeanne,

 

I call BS .... The distance from TRE pin center to pin center is a constant. So add the bar length to the two locknuts widths and no amount of design change alters that. You need 830mm which is 32-5/8" or there abouts.

 

Graeme

Agreed.  Why would they change it?  Nothing changed on the trucks that I know of.

 

Then again, I sort of have the same issue with mine... I've got it dialed to it's shortest possible setting and the steering wheel is still a little off.  

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DHappel Mentor

DHappel

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Don,

 

Probably an RTE and too long?

 

Graeme

Possibly.  Not sure on the brand without digging through receipts.  Could stand to be an inch shorter though.

 

 

(not something I say every day)

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JFuller Newbie

JFuller

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If all you're worried about is the steering wheel being off center then you can make a coarse adjustment using the steering shaft u-joint. It's splined and hend on with 2 bolts. So remove two bolts. Slide the u-joint assembly back, rotate a spline or two and reassemble. Make your fine adjustments at the drag link. If the drag link is truly too long (designed for a bigger lift than you have) then it will limit your left hand turning ability but wouldn't have anything to do with the amount of force required to turn the wheel. Leave the steering wheel and the air bag and clock spring alone. No need to mess with that.

 

If difficult steering is intermittent then I would suspect power steering issue. Possibly pump or box.

 

Sloppy steering can be caused by worn parts like rod ends, loose pitman arm(happened on mine until I double nutted it), loose steering box mounting bolts (still happens on mine), worn bushings, improper swivel ball preload, and even worn rear third link ball joint.

 

Best of luck.

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DHappel Mentor

DHappel

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Hope its not the pump itself, since she has the 95 like mine they are NOT cheap. Don your 96 has the cheaper and more common one. 

Actually mine had a P38 pump on a custom bracket driving a hydro assist.   But now I'm running a GM pump, still driving the hydro ram as well as the stock PS box.  It's noticeably more powerful than the one I had.  I'd recommend looking at doing the change if it actually turns out to be the pump.

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Jethro Rising Star

Jethro

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Actually mine had a P38 pump on a custom bracket driving a hydro assist. But now I'm running a GM pump, still driving the hydro ram as well as the stock PS box. It's noticeably more powerful than the one I had. I'd recommend looking at doing the change if it actually turns out to be the pump.

I'd like to do that GM pump with Gwyn Lewis hydro assist... maybe next year with the 37s

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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DHappel Mentor

DHappel

Posted
Posted

When I bought mine Nick, the guy I bought the kit from, told me I wouldn't even need my hydro assist as he'd used it on 35s with no problems.  I kept it since it was already installed and I do eventually expect to go to bigger tires anyway, but given how much more power this steering pump has I believe him.

 

Here's the link to the kit I used again:

http://3rj.org/Auto/LandRover/PowerSteeringConversion/

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