As part of my build I've replaced the steering box. What I didn't realize when swapping in the 'newer' part was that the pitman arm was not centered (pictured below). As pictured, the drag link is off by inches from lining up to the pitman arm. My guess is it was pulled off the original Disco when the wheels were turned. This is my first build and I'm not familiar with how to remedy the situation. Looking for advice on how to get the arm centered. The front wheels are straight forward and steering wheel seems to be centered. Thanks for the help.

 

Confused. Can't you just turn the wheels to the right to move the drag link? Also the steering wheel might appear centered, but remember it has about 3 instances/revolutions where it can look centered.

 

I believe the steering wheel is centered because it remains as I left it after driving straight into my garage. So, at this point, the steering wheel, drag link, and tires are all pointing straight forward. My thought is that if I were to raise the truck and turn the wheels to align the arm with the drag link I would end up with something in that mix of alignment points being off. To fix this, I was thinking I could turn the steering wheel to align the arm and drag link, attach the drag link, turn the wheels back to center, and then remove the steering column, center the steering wheel, and finally re-attach the steering column. Does that make sense?

 

I think you're probably over thinking this a bit. Start with knowns. You know the steering wheel needs to be centered in order to have the pitman arm in the center, straight-on position, so do that. You know the wheels need to be pointed straight, set those. Then adjust the drag link to fit. You'll need an alignment after all this anyway, so I wouldn't worry much about trying to be super precise about this. It's a super simple system. Also disconnect the damper until it's all put together, that's last.

And also don't try to troubleshoot the drag link situation until the panhard bar is installed.

 

Thanks. I felt I might be overthinking it. Will stop thinking and start doing :-)

 

FWIW, the steering box on D1 has an alignment slot on the back side of the pitman arm for straight ahead. If the same for D2, then the steering wheel joint may need to be disconnected, then turn the input shaft by hand to get the Pitman arm centered, without touching the steering wheel. Otherwise bad stuff can happen with the steering wheels rotary wiring, if it is connected one turn off-center, or the box might get to lock only on one side.

 

There's a procedure for centering the wheel in the RAVE manual. Connect everything up and then adjust the wheel afterwards.

 

Don't forget that there is a "centered" position on a steering box. It will only turn so far in each direction. Your solution might be as simple as spinning the wheel one or two turns. Generally, the procedure is to see how many turns of the steering wheel it takes to go lock to lock. Then divide that number of turns in half. Then turn all the way to one lock, then back by the "half" number of turns. At that point, your steering box is centered. Now does your drag link meet the pitman arm correctly? If so, connect it. Then adjust your steering wheel to be level-ish, then complete the formal procedure so that you drive straight down the road with a level steering wheel.

 

Thanks all. Going to work with all of the tips and insight you've provided and will report back on progress.

 

Problem solved. Thanks again for the comments. As suggested, I ended up popping the steering column of the steering box, moving the pitman arm back to 'center', re-attached the steering column, and easily slipped the drag link into place. it'll get an alignment once it's back on the road but for now we're as centered as we can be. Now on to the next problem :-)