How To Adjust Your Swivel Pin Preload
 

Swivel pin preload determines the amount of tension required to turn the wheels. If the preload is too tight it will be difficult to turn the wheel and may cause wear on the steering system, If the preload is too loose the truck will tend to steer itself based on imperfections in the road.

This is how to adjust your swivel pin preload. You will need a variety of metric wrenches and sockets ranging from around 8mm to about 19mm, you will also need a torque wrench, loc-tite, grease (or one shot tube), a ball joint separator, a common screwdriver, and a fish scale. I would also suggest getting at least a shim pack, new bearing and new washers if not a full swivel pin kit.

First jack up/secure the truck and remove the wheel, disconnect the steering linkage with a ball joint separator (I purchased the one in the picture from Harbor Freight for about $20). The steering linkage is only attached on to the back of the driver side steering knuckle and the front and back of the passenger side steering knuckle (I believe this will be the same on RHD trucks). Ball Joints are secured with a 19mm nut.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292625859

After the steering linkage is removed you can test the preload with the fishing scale from stop to stop. Land Rover says about 12 - 14 lbs is the ideal range although I found many mechanics suggest 15 lbs to allow for some wear and slightly tighter steering.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292626060

Next remove the hard brake line at the bracket, pinching the rubber side with vise grips will help prevent fluid leaking. This hard line can then be gently bent out of the way and the ABS wheel sensor can be gently pried out with a screwdriver. Secure the brake line and sensor out of the way. you will now see a bracket bolted down with 2 bolts.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292625884

Remove the 2 bolts (I believe they are 17mm bolts) with a large ratchet or wrench. They are initially pretty tight and may take a little effort to break free. After both bolts are removed slide the brake line bracket back and unhook it from the brake dust shield, then remove the brake line bracket. As you may see in my pictures I cut a slot in my bracket with a hack saw so I can easily remove the brake line without needing to bleed the brakes on any future jobs. Once the brake line bracket is removed, gently pry up on the pin to pop it out of the swivel pin housing. Be careful not to catch the shims with the screwdriver as they are flimsy and can be damaged easily.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292625922

At this point you will merely adjust the amount/thickness of the shims to determine how far down the pin will sit inside the housing (and how tight it will clamp down on the bearing). If all you are doing is tightening the preload then just remove a shim or two and test the tension. I replaced the bearing and the washers before I started adjusting shims. You may want to pump a bit of grease down in the swivel pin housing while the pin is out. Once you have removed a shim or two you will replace the pin back into the housing. My pin would not drop right in so I used the two bolts to press the pin down in.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292626110

once the two bolts became snug I would torque them down to about 50 ft-lbs and test the tension from stop to stop with my fishing scale. Once you have found the right amount of shims to bring your tension to the desired range, replace the brake line bracket (don't forget to hook it on the brake dust shield), then apply loc-tite to the bolts, then torque the bolts down to about 57 ft-lbs.

My goal was to get the tension to read about 15 lbs on the scale however on the first attempt i read about 7 lbs (I could actually feel it was not tight enough but chose to test it anyways to see how far off it was). A few shim adjustments later and I was at about 14 lbs and I decided that was good enough.

lastly you will replace (reattach) the brake line, steering linkage, bleed the brakes, and replace the wheel.

repeat entire process for the other side.

a few additional pictures and details
 

this is a picture of the area with the brake lines out (I reconnected the brake lines together) and the ABS sensor removed.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292630056

a better picture of the brake line bracket and the upper swivel pin

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292630083

the upper pin, bearing, washers and shims

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292630145

the upper pin with a couple shims on it

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292630117

be careful upon removing the pin as the thrust washer often times comes out with the pin

https://landroverforums.com/forum/at...1&d=1292630221

really nice write up Chris !! I am now inspired to attack this myself soon

Very nice Chris, thank you.
This has been added to the tech section.

this is one of those jobs that it takes time to learn how to do it or if you break something. Maybe an hour or two to do the first side and then half that time to do the other when you know what mistakes not to make again!

today was my second time doing them over these last 2 weeks and it took me just under 2 hours to do both sides.


and this was my 1000th post!!!!!! woo hoo, time for a celebration beer!!!!

Does this take care of the bottom too?

yes and no.
The pins as a set are only adjustable from the top so if all you are doing is adjusting then the answer to your question is yes. Now if you are rebuilding the swivel assembly with new seals, pins, and bearings you have to pull the hub/rotor, the stub axle, the brake caliper, the steering knuckle (swivel pin housing), and possible remove the cv joint (I don't think it's necessary but it may make the job easier). The lower pin is bolted on with two torx tip bolts and the bearing (a larger bearing) actually sits between the steering knuckle(swivel pin housing) and the swivel ball and can't be removed until the swivel pin housing is removed, and the main swivel ball seal goes on over the swivel ball with the knuckle removed.

AWESOME write up...i need to do this once it warms up

Good write up!

Did doing that help tighten the steering much? I have all new tie rods ends and a new power steering box and all new bushings in the front and it still has a little loose feeling.

this is a good question and I will say yes but honestly not as much as I had hoped for, what I mean is my preload was at about 0 lbs when I first did this a few weeks ago. The hub would actually swing back and forth on its own because there was no resistance! now at 14 lbs you actually have to put a little muscle into it (not much its actually like picking up a 14 pound dumbbell or as one person said a 12 pack of beer!) now where that was a problem for me was when driving down the road it was actually difficult to drive the truck straight, it would over correct because the road wheels reacted so easily to the steering wheel. The other big problem was when I came to a bump in the road or even worse a worn set of tire grooves at a stop light (around here many of them are 10 to 15 feet long and about an inch or two deep) well the truck would try to pull you around in those grooves and a few times it almost pulled the wheel out of my hands if I didn't have a good grip on it!

the steering actually feels only a little tighter than it did and I think to tighten it I have to adjust the gearbox (which I plan to try here soon) but the self steer and over correcting feel seem to be pretty close to gone.

I do however feel more of the truck shifting it's weight on the highway when I change lanes now but that could be because my anti roll bar bushings need to be replaced.