Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Lower UJ help
Im really starting to dislike working on the D3 🤬, right , my new lower steering UJ turned up today so i set about changing it , undid both bolts , eased the UJ off the bottom shaft but i cannot get the top part off , any tips folks ???
30th Mar 2020 3:59 pm
rrhool
Member Since: 28 Aug 2014
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 4400
Did you pull the bolt right out? Should just slide off. Avoid putting any side load on the lower column while you're pulling it down.Richard
D3 SE 2007. Triumph 2.5Pi 1973. Ferguson TEA20 1948.
Discovery 2 4.0 ES 2001- Gone
Discovery 1 300Tdi ES '95 - Gone
Range Rover Classic '79 - Gone
30th Mar 2020 4:04 pm
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Yes pal , bolt fully out , give it a tap and even PTFE spray but still no movement 😐
30th Mar 2020 4:07 pm
Littlewill
Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
Sounds silly but have you checked that the bolt hasn't snapped in the shaft? Or has yours got two bolts?
30th Mar 2020 4:09 pm
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Nothing has snapped pal , it has been on the car for 15 years so i guess its just seized
30th Mar 2020 4:14 pm
Alphamale
Member Since: 28 May 2014
Location: Belfast
Posts: 496
The top clamp sometimes gets jammed with a little corrosion. You need to use a bit of force to get it to shift. If you can reach the slit in the clamp, try to get a screw driver or other such tool in it and try to open it and with a couple of ½" extension bars knock in off. And when you go to fit the new one you may find you have to open the clamp a little to get it on.
Can I ask, is the new shaft Genuine or after market? I only ask because following fitting a new shaft to my own car I started to find I could not steer a straight line and ended up chasing the problem for all of last year. Never did I imagine that the new Lower steering shaft could be the source of all my problems. Only last Sunday did I finally trace the fault to the shaft (after replacing just about every other component in the steering system).
As you have probably found out, the shaft is collapsible and because the non genuine one had slack between the inner and outer shafts i.e. 5º (by the time I removed it) resulting in 50mm free play at the steering wheel. Even the replacement one I was given by my indi' had slack from new, off the shelf, so as they had a genuine one in stock, in which I could find no slack at all, I paid the extra for it and now the steering is precise and I'm getting back all my confidence in it.
To check for play extend the shaft so you can hold both the upper clamp and just above the bottom UJ, now twist the shaft and look for any (even a very slight) differential movement between the sections that would result in free play at the steering wheel. There should be NO movement at all. I recon that every 1º of movement equates to 10mm at the steering wheel.
One more point, when I took off the defective shaft I found that the grease packing, used between the two sections, had leaked out and probable contributed to the severity of free play. Genuine shafts have a part code engraved into the back of the UJ clamp (it is not painted over).
30th Mar 2020 6:31 pm
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Well , after leaving it for an hour to have tea , i put a long pry bar on the top edge and it popped straight off ! 😳 typical , its back together and i must say how nice it is to steering that is accurate, shame the steering wheel is miles 😆🙊🙈
30th Mar 2020 8:27 pm
Alphamale
Member Since: 28 May 2014
Location: Belfast
Posts: 496
That's a question my indi' asked me about fitting the non genuine shaft, "was the steering wheel out of alignment when you fitted it?", "Yes. I replied. Then he said, "it'll straighten back when you fit this genuine one".
But, as I'd had the steering alignment done shortly after fitting it, this new one put it out again. But as I've a new rack fitted (one of the parts fitted while trying to find the reason for free play) it'll be sorted just a soon as the tyre shop reopens after the COVID 19 horrors.
30th Mar 2020 8:41 pm
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
I wasnt too concerned about the steering wheel as it needed this UJ and 2 rear lower front arm bushes , so once all these have been fitted i will get it aligned , i was surprised that LR saw fit to ise a special shaped shaft onto the rack instead of the traditional spline fitment , thinking back when i did the NSR upper arm bushes it put the steering wheel out , it was fine till then
30th Mar 2020 9:08 pm
L319
Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Herefordshire
Posts: 2080
If after work the steering wheel isn't straight, the steering angle sensor will also be out as well, with possible attendant issues.
30th Mar 2020 11:24 pm
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Good point , car had a proper fit as a drove home , HDC , traction flashing , will plug in this morning and reset it 👍
31st Mar 2020 8:25 am
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
Sorted angle sensor and moved the steering wheel, so much nicer to drive with a straight steering wheel
31st Mar 2020 11:28 am
bembo449
Member Since: 14 Jan 2020
Location: Gainsborough
Posts: 256
And another bonus , its stopped the TC cutting in at higher speeds 😆
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