Steering vibration – panhard rod bushings (r&r)

Vehicle: 1991 Range Rover Classic with 172K miles

Symptoms: Occasional steering vibration when hitting bump at speed or at heavy braking

Identify Problem: With assistance from my 7 yr. old son to turn steering wheel, I saw movement at driver side panhard rod bushing. (Bolt not moving.) I checked tie rod ends and for vertical play of the raised wheels with tire iron, no problems.

Panhard rod locates the front axel relative to frame, connecting near steering box and axel at the opposite side. The end on the driver side is most likely to fail due to notorious leaks common in steering boxes.

Tools: 22mm (7/8”) wrench and socket with breaker bar/ratchet

Parts: Two new panhard bushings from dealer ($25).

Atlantic British has bushing kit with new blots/nuts. http://www.roverparts.com/ProductLi...=9000&x=14&y=13

I used existing bolts/nuts but would suggest replacing them especially in areas with road salt.

Issue: Aside from usual tight/frozen bolts the key issue is removing/replacing old bushings. I decided to have a machine shop do it for $40.

(I have read of drilling out rubber, hack sawing outer sleeve two places, and chisel out small strip. Install new bushing with short pipe, x2-3 longer bolt, nut and two washers. This sounded like too much work especially with no vice to stabilize bar.)

Machine shop said one bushing came out ok but another took 8 tons (rust visible). They said installing took 3 tons (I assume psi.)

Reinstall Special notes:

1)These bolts are meant to be tight (100ft/lbs ?) to hold the inner sleeve to the flanges without movement as they are managing the lateral momentum of the front half of vehicle. Bolt movement could enlarge holes over time.

2)Water can enter around the around the sleeve and cause minor rusting on bolts and flange holes.

3)After bushings were installed into rod, I coated the surface of the bushing (including inner and outer sleeve) with Permatex Hylomar HPF, a gasket/flange sealer prior to reinstall.

http://www.permatex.com/heavy_duty/...m&item_no=25249

(Shop suggested anti-seize or boat wheel grease.) I did not put sealer on the face of the inner sleeve for a clean mating to flange. Also I had cleaned all surfaces with wire brush, small knife, and rag for good adhesion (sanding would be good also). The sealant is viscous but appeared to slowly drip around sleeve/flange interface.

4)The combination of the water/rust/loose bolt could enlarge hole. This would be evident if the bolt moved relative to the flanges when diagnosing the problem. Fender washers can be used to correct this and should be welded to the flanges if possible.

5)After appropriate tightening, I also put small amount of sealant around the bolt head and nut with a small knife and used socket/wrench to evenly distribute.

6)Finally I put red/high strength “locktight” on the nuts. Don’t want these babies going anywhere as failure could be bad news (think of front axel going different direction from frame.)

7)Odd note: The bolts were NOT the same length. The passenger side was shorter which allowed access with box end wrench. This was not an issue on driver side due to flange design but flange material must be thicker since nut was near the end of the bolt after reinstall.

8)It was the driver side bolt that had surface rust. Passenger side was bright and shiny perhaps because it is more enclosed by flange.

9)Bolt orientation: Driver side had entered from rear but removal interfered with axel; use bottle jack to lift frame. Upon reinstall I put bolt in from the front, nut in back. Passenger side bolt could enter only from front.

10) Flange hole did not align with sleeve. Pull on vehicle bumper.