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Hi,
I have a 92 brumby, std suspension, well I say that but the front struts have been replaced by a previous owner.

I have an intermittent fault where the steering will take a lot of effort to move off centre to turn a corner. It is all nice and light when pointed straight ahead but when you go to turn a corner it is stiff as you turn the wheel (left or right).

Initially it was thought to be the steering racks so that was completely replaced with a different refurbished item and yet the fault re-appeared.

This stiffness can come and go at any time, I drove it down into Angaston from home (12Km) and it was stiff all the way, parked in the town (still stiff) then get back in the car after buying a pasty and it is normal again.

When driving home yesterday (mid week) I noticed that the self centering of the steering is quite aggressive, which made me wonder if it was front end geometry but then I can not explain how it can come and go like that. Wheel align was done when steering rack was replaced and a few weeks before then when fitted new tyres.

Local mechanics are puzzled as they did the steering rack replacement and were confident it was fixed, yet 24hrs later the fault is there.

Had thought it was the steering UNI but they tell me it is good, anyone have any suggestions other than sell it and get a Forester as have sunk a lot of money into this Brumby so far and it still has nasty habbits?
Regards,
Peter.

Okay,
driven again today for the trip home, had to pull off the road to answer phone, hard braking to slow down. Noticed once at stop steering tight... Ahhh once mobile it returned to normal about 500 metres later.

Tried a few hard brake cycles and each time to varying degrees the steering gets tight, what I thought might be aggressive self centre was not the whole story as the wheel was tight even at a standstill. Still perplexed but now looks more like something in the suspension on one side..

Peter

Have you had the front struts out to have a look what the previous owner did? Particularly at the top end around the strut mount. I would suggest maybe they didn't do the job properly, left something out or used the wrong parts as is quite common.

When you turn the wheels the spring rotates around as well, at the top mount there is a plate/bushing arrangement that should be greased up and move around with the spring. When this gets old and crusty, seized up etc (or installed wrongly) the steering gets super heavy because the spring can't rotate and you're winding the spring up with the steering.

If it's intermittent/random and the steering rack checks out this could be pointing to incorrect installation by previous owner.
Hope you find the problem!

Thanks Silverbullet would never have thought of the strut towers, as have never had one out to full understand how they go together, hmmm time to get the books out.

Given some of the other bodgy jobs done to this Brumby it might be a good spot to look as it was drowned in mud by the youngster that had it before me.

sounds like coffee book and a few biscuit's to some research.
Peter

Have a good look at the uni's in the steering column, maybe even the bearing in the top of the column.

Disconnect the tie rods and try turning the struts, but that wont give a good indication, as you'd need the vehicle weight on it. I got caught on a vehicle only the other week, steering was 'weird' and heavy at times. I disconnected the tie rods, one strut turned fine, the other tight. Previous workers had put a tappered washer in upside down, so rather than the bearing turning, you needed to make the washer slip.

Thought that would fix it...nope. Then I looked at the colunm, one uni was very, very stiff. Got that sorted... Surely now it's fixed... nope, the pump had a lazy pressure relief valve... second hand pump, and it's all good... Unbelievable, 3 problems.

Have a real good look at all the suspension bushes, you might have one worn, and allowing it all to move about.

Thanks Gents,
have passed on your words of wisdom to local mechanic who did the steering rack... as the struts are new-ish I can only imagine it was a backyard job and highly likely its done wrong..

Hey Subyspanner if they can not find it might have to become one of your customers

Peter

Well today I stumbled over a youtube video of a strut problem on a car that sounds an awful lot like my problem (pretty well spot on)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWh3JxRJ5L8

first few mins where he describes it, is what my Brumby is like.

Speaking of strut tops, if you find a source for them let me know!

I always welcome new customers

Will keep a look out for strut tops, so far my searches have not gotten me any where... So Wednesday was a drive with the local mechanic, first off it refused to play up, then in the home stretch it went full on stiff, stopped and let him drive back to the workshop, much frowning and sounds of hmmm.

They managed to get it to go bad on the hoist so now its a case of which strut or other component it might be (want o keep an open mind).

At least now its not just me who has experienced it, at this rate the Brumby will be like new after all this, next job is Exhaust and a weeping carby.

Peter

lots of time has passed and for most of it the brumby has sat at the local repairer. Picked it up on Tuesday (24th oct) and at first seemed okay Woohoo..
Drove the beast to work and thought I had felt some tightness but convinced myself I was reading too much into it..

On the way home, BAM the steering is tight again when moving left or right but now the right turn is like hitting a hard stop but you can pull the wheel through it. Left side is tight but nowhere as bad as the right turn. Then when I get home (20Km) it comes back to normal after doing a hard right turn in the driveway.

F@RK

Report from repairer says both struts have been removed, ball joints looked at and a number of other items looked at and another wheel align..

I am beginning to think owning a Brumby for me is now a curse.. need to find the one I sold in 2011 as it was near perfect when sold to an old bloke in Nuriootpa.

Wish me luck, any fresh ideas are always welcome

Peter

G'day Pedro,

Sorry to hear you've had all these issues and no luck with driving your brumby. Any steering issue is a concern.

I'd be looking at the strut tops - make sure they're not cracked and are moving freely as they should.

The other one that comes to mind is what SubySpanner mentioned - the steering knuckle uni joint. These can jam up when they're dying. If yours has any sign of poor operation I'd be replacing it. Best yet, pull it out and feel the movement in your hands, if it's got a crunchy or tight then free, tight then free feeling to it you need to replace the uni joint.

Another thing it could be is the bearings in the steering column itself. These rarely shag out but if the previous owner has had it in a lot for mud and water anything could be possible.

Cheers

Bennie

Thanks Bennie and others,
well looks like the journey is over, have replace the steering column uni joint and the Brumby is behaving well... only had a short drive today (10km) but no sign of any tightness.

In the end I think there was a combination of things going on, the steering uni was causing the notchy feel and a unhappy strut bearing was creating my crazy self centering when cornering (way more than torque steer could ever do).

While I asked that the uni be checked on day one of the work, I was assured it was all okay... and the steering rack was the cause and needed to be reconditioned, later on in the drawn out process (months now) the business boss took over the work and the uni was highlighted as being 'tight' so I sourced one from a Gawler wrecker that was nice and free, they fitted it and all seems to be sweet, mind you I am now $800 poorer (2nd hand uni cost me $30).

hope this is the last of my steering problems and the G/F can use the ute safely when I am not rearing up the local roads..

Good to hear that it's finally fixed Pedro. Shame it took $800 to work it out

Could've got power sterring for that price, maybe including fitting!

Cheers

Bennie

Oh Bennie
I too wish I had gone for power steer as my G/F has a sore wrist and Power steering would have been a god send but when this was all in play I did not want to add another variable to the mix but never expect a cost of over $800 as my original rack was deemed un serviceable... which is odd as I asked for the parts to be returned to me and they look okay to me... oh well that part should not give me any more trouble now..

Onward and upward maybe a Forester ute is on the horizon

Peter

Last I saw, Lonsdale U pull it had two MY wagons with complete power steering units. I'd love to pull one for the shelf in the event that I end up with another MY of some sort that doesn't have PS.

It really transforms your brumby, makes it feel more sporty as it makes the vehicle feel VERY lite and easy to throw around...

Cheers

Bennie