Fabricating steering arms....

[sowen]

I've got a project in the garage right now, doing an axle swap on my Land Rover. All the suspension mounts are sorted, and I'm now looking at the steering system. I want to make a set of high steer arms for it, rather than trying to bend and bodge my way round the incompatabilities of the old series leaf sprung axles and later coil sprung type axles.

I've done some research into it previously, as I've made high steering arms before for a mate and his off-roader, so fabricating something isn't an issue. The problem I have is the legality, and peoples opinions on what is legal or not. I've fond a link to the MOT manual and had a read of it and found this:

www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/bl/mottestingmanualsandguides/mottestingmanualsandguides.htm

Reason for Rejection

1e. inappropriate structural modification or repair by welding to a steering linkage component, or signs of excessive heat having been applied

Also reading through the IVA manual I can't see anything particularly relevant that would stop me from fabricating steering components:

www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/M1%20IVA%20Inspection%20Manual.pdf

My understanding has always been that modifying and repairing existing parts is not acceptable, but fabricating steering components of suitable construction for the vehicle is acceptable, am I right or wrong?

Have a few of examples of what is going through my mind

[composimmonite]

There are some steering arms "off the shelf" that will fit. I adapted coil swivels to fit a leaf axle with machined adapters. Even managed to source some new coil axle FWH's (very early 110 items). In the end gave up due to the steering arm problem but the chap who bought my FWH's showed me his conversion using arms that bolted straight on. Unfortunatley I can't remember what model donated them - maybe very early 110 (2.25 with selectable 4x4) again ?

Paul h

[sowen]

It's actually running permanent 4wd, the front axle has coped pretty well with the conversion so far, not exploding and wiping out humanity like some 'experts' will have you believe.

I'm sure I've read in the past Mercedes steering arms have been used on an axle conversion, but I don't know what conversion that would have been. It all comes back to the legalities of simply making some bespoke parts around the swivel assembly, rather than trying to adapt something to suit.

[composimmonite]

AFAIK proper machined parts are acceptable but cutting and rewelding / heating / bending is not.

Just to clarify. You are keeping standard leaf sprung axle & swivels ? If so I'm sure that there must be suitable arms available. Have you tried the existing arms on top ? The bearing stub has to be machined off but otherwise do the bolt holes line up ?

Paul h

[sowen]

May 13, 2013 17:10:29 GMT composimmonite said:

AFAIK proper machined parts are acceptable but cutting and rewelding / heating / bending is not.

That is precisely what I want to clarify, and really want to see it in writing especially if someone has gone into it before. The MOT manual I linked implies to me that I can fabricate parts, as long as they are of suitable construction. I have seen one example of a fabricated steering arm on a factory car.

May 13, 2013 17:10:29 GMT composimmonite said:

Just to clarify. You are keeping standard leaf sprung axle & swivels ? If so I'm sure that there must be suitable arms available. Have you tried the existing arms on top ? The bearing stub has to be machined off but otherwise do the bolt holes line up ?

Paul h

Yes, I have a set of coilsprung axles which I've removed the coil mounts and welded on leaf spring mounts. The rear axle is half fitted now, leaving the front to do.

I have tried the original steering arms against the bottom pin, and the holes do line up, but there's only two holes, not four, and the arms foul the discs so is not feasible to do. The top is far better in my opinion, in that it is a larger boss to utilise, and will mount the arms higher up so less vulnerable to damage to the trackrod.

This is also for future reference, as I have a couple of ideas for a future project that will almost certainly require some significant fabrication work, and I want to build it 100% legal to VOSA, DVLA, MOT, insurance etc.

[composimmonite]

I found coil arms put the rod straight into the springs. People get around this normally by custom shaped rods (don't like this idea) or altering the angle the axle sits on the spring (affects steering so not a good either).

I recently had a query (about definition of how close wheels have to be together before they are classed as single - turns out to be 460mm) and contacted VOSA who couldn't provide an answer. I suspect therefore the instructions to a MOT tester are along the lines of fail if any evidence of heat, welding etc rather than to pass properly machined items so doubt you'd find anything written down.



Paul h

[sowen]

May 13, 2013 20:10:57 GMT composimmonite said:

I found coil arms put the rod straight into the springs. People get around this normally by custom shaped rods (don't like this idea) or altering the angle the axle sits on the spring (affects steering so not a good either).

Yes, those are the situations that I am avoiding, another alternative I know of is to use a lhd swivel arm and so have the trackrod running between the draglink arms. Attaching the trackrod to that will be tricky, but not impossible.

May 13, 2013 20:10:57 GMT composimmonite said:

I recently had a query (about definition of how close wheels have to be together before they are classed as single - turns out to be 460mm) and contacted VOSA who couldn't provide an answer. I suspect therefore the instructions to a MOT tester are along the lines of fail if any evidence of heat, welding etc rather than to pass properly machined items so doubt you'd find anything written down.

Paul h

That is what I suspect, that they give out a general guideline of unacceptable modification and repairs to fail, going back to this bit from the MOT manual

Reason for Rejection

1e. inappropriate structural modification or repair by welding to a steering linkage component, or signs of excessive heat having been applied