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Mon 8 Jan 2007 08:46

Land Rover Discovery - bikemade3

G/F has had new tyres recently put on the front of her discovery. It now handles that bad that anything over 40 MPH sees it wandering that badly it feels safe to drive. Car pulls to the left on power and right when coming off power and wanders badly in left or right hand bends.
The old front tyres were on the legal limit and might have been masking any suspension/geometry fault but it did handle ( as well as a 4x4 can)
Any other ideas as to what could cause this bad handling other than the tyres themselves?
Could the fact that the front axle diff has not had its oil changed for a long time and the diff be causing this problem?

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 09:09

Land Rover Discovery - 659FBE

Tyre "specialist" has probably bent something (maybe track rod) due to inconsiderate or uninformed use of trolley jack.

659.

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 12:45

Land Rover Discovery - umistim

Long time since I have seen a tyre specialist using a trolley jack, the normal is a lift with wheel free facility. Easier, faster and avoids the problem stated.

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 13:09

Land Rover Discovery - Screwloose

Were the new tyres the same make [and physical size] as the replaced ones or the ones on the rear? Some brands do not mix well with different sidewall construction makes and can feel terrible; a bit like driving on a flat tyre. [The pressures are correct - aren't they?]

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 13:45

Land Rover Discovery - bikemade3

Tyres on the front and rear axles are from different manufacturers.The tyre pressures are all the same. Intention is to swap front to rears and replace the front differential oil at the same time and see what that does for the handling.

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 13:52

Land Rover Discovery - M.M

Wonder what year/model the Discovery is? What are the two tyre makes and models in question?

With the huge variety of tyres and tread types available for these vehicles it is quite possible to end up with a front/rear mismatch that gives a very unnerving wandering even if the suspension is otherwise OK.

David

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 14:46

Land Rover Discovery - ChrisMo

Tyres on the front and rear axles are from different manufacturers.The

tyre pressures are all the same.

The same left to right, or the same all around? If I remember correctly the pressures are different front to back, something like 28 front 38 back for 205s Mine always felt a bit funny if the rears were down. Swapping front to back sounds like a good plan.

C.

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Mon 8 Jan 2007 15:13

Land Rover Discovery - Group B

I once bought an old Audi 80 that used to pull left slightly on accleration, and dip right on braking. It turned out it had a broken front spring, only about quarter of a turn had snapped off at the top so the difference in ride height was not noticeable.
So I would check out suspension components as suggested by 659FBE..
It also sometimes made a comical BOINNGGG noise when turning the steering to full lock.

:o)

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Mon 15 Jan 2007 18:35

Land Rover Discovery - bikemade3

Update:
The rear near side tyre is shagged to such an extent that it's not sitting straight , and it toeing in , new tyres to be fitted tomorrow and hopefully a much improved landie.It's also got a bulge in the side wall so for the moment it's not going anywhere.

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