Like a few people here my P38 has steering issues. The steering is vague in the centre and sometimes pulls slightly to either side depending on the camber of the road.
So far I've replaced/done:
I'm not sure what else there is that could affect this. Anyone got anymore ideas what I can try?
Damn, I've got a long way to go :(
I hate to say it, but "vague in the centre and sometimes pulls to the side" is pretty normal. It's a fairly low-tech 1940s setup.
Mine has a tiny amount of play at centre (a couple of mm at the steering wheel) which I reduced to the present level with a tweak of the adjuster on the steering box. I could probably get it better but I've got used to it. Pulling to one side with the camber of the road is pretty normal too, let's face it, there's nearly two and a half tonnes of metal trying to fall down a slope so you need to hold the steering the opposite way to keep it straight. As Gordon says, it's a very old design and not like the rack and pinion steering used on more modern cars. You only need to worry if you start getting the shudders through the steering as that is a sign that something has some slop in it.
Hmm, maybe you're right.
One other thing that's maybe not right is that occasionally when you hit a bump with a single wheel it seems to cause the angle of the steering to be effected. i.e. the car might be pulling to the left from the road camber, it hits a bump and now the car will want to pull to the right and need the steering correcting to the left. I'm guessing that's not normal?
No, not normal. Usual cause of that is slop in the panhard rod bushes so the axle can move from side to side but as you've already replaced those it doesn't seem likely. In saying that, some brands of poly bushes have been found to wear out in a matter of weeks, so if you've fitted poly bushes there could still be movement where there shouldn't be.
No I didn't fit poly bushes. I bought the Land Rover branded ones from LRDirect as I'd read about cheaper ones not being as good. When I fitted the panhard rod bushes everything did feel tighter for the first journey. The next time I got in it, it felt like it was back to normal!
I don't know if the steering geometry of a P38 is similar to the Classic, those cars have a 2º toe-out to accomodate tractionforce of 4x4 devided 50/50 front and rear where 2wd cars have toe-in and stay better on track. A P38 will always be a bit 'wandering' for that reason, plus the tyres are wider than those on a Classic and increase that effect.