When I restored the vehicle, I rebuilt the steering box with new bearings (top and bottom) and in the steering nut. There aren’t many photos of this as its very messy job.
However, what was really needed was a replacement steering rod as the screw was quite pitted. Replacement steering rods are a) rare (for LHD) and b) very expensive.
Series Land Rover steering can best be described a vague but with 300,000 km on clock, new bearings weren’t going to help… much. The steering wasn’t that bad but one did have to work quite hard to keep the thing in a straight line.
Given all the other components in the steering arrangement are new right down to the swivel pins, I’d been looking for a replacement LHD shaft to finish things off. I’d seen one or two but, again, expensive.
There are some aftermarket manufactures making these but no feedback on quality is available, so when I spotted an entire original LHD steering box for sale on PA Blanchards (PN 551703), at the right price, I jumped at the chance…. ironically it was in the same price range as a new shaft!
In general the internals look fine but the paint needs to be stripped off as it’s not so nice.
One of the essential parts of the steering box is the cross shaft (below). The steering drop arm fixes on the threaded end and the nut sits in the fork. As the nut moves up and down the screw, the shaft rotates. Wear in the fork can also induce vagueness in the steering.
The first thing to check is the seal land. It’s been in there dry for a very long time…
With the nut and thread introduced to each other, it was time to look at the machined housing where the shaft runs.
Oddly the rest of the photos didn’t come out. New gaskets and seals have been ordered… so that’ll be the next instalment.
Little Green Landy 