Nev's heading 'left'

Nev has developed a severe swerve to the left if we let go of the wheel??

We have taken him to be tracked but the mechanic said that wasn't the problem - he said - there is a problem with the 'steering link rod' and the 'pitman arm link' and to get the front steering checked.

Now clearly I know exactly what this means - NOT!!!

Nec was only serviced at Danbury in October and has done very few miles since.

Is this a fault that suddenly happens?

Is it fatal?

Is he drivable?

(also a oil leak on the gear box seal)

I'm booking in at Paul's in February to get fixed but any advice in the meantime gratefully received - thanks all

Just some thoughts:

Swerve when driving or under braking or both?
Tyre pressures?
Binding brakes?

Does Nev have PAS? Litesteer or Danbury direct drive?

when driving def
maybe both
tyre pressures checked and good
brakes not binding mechanic checked yesterday
he has Danbury direct drive

thanks Keith

I don’t know how much of the original steering gubbins gets replaced or changed with DDD, def the steering box, but not sure about pivot arms and steering rods etc.

Not so many DDD vans around.

As the Direct Drive mech is Danbury/Creative Engineering derived I suggest you contact them. Do you remember going over any particularly bad pot holes or sleeping policeman?

The Danbury direct drive includes rack and pinion. Unless I have misunderstood, rack and pinion steering systems do not have pitman arms. You have a bevel box attached to the bottom of the steering column, which is connected via a linkage rod to a pinion which moves the rack from side to side when you turn the wheel. My guess is that there is either something wrong with the power steering mechanism which is pulling the steering to one side, the linkage rod, or with the tie rod which connects the steering rack to the wheel. By the way, I have had bad experience of getting tracking checked at a local tyre centre. Now I always use the garage which services our van or go to Red9 who supplied our steering rack.

Cannot offer any advice on Nev, just hope it gets resolved soon

As the others have said, if you have direct drive, the steering box is dispensed with, and the steering column is attached direct  to the rack and pinion. (so no Pitman arm)



The balljoint from the end of the rack and pinion is attached to the idler arm which moves the tie rods left and right.



The tie rods are attached to the wheels, and the whole system is damped to make everything smooth. All the parts are interconnected so they all need checking for free movement.

From your description, it sounds like the tracking is out, and the usual culprit is the tie rods, if they are bent, or the tracking has been knocked out of alignment by the wheel hitting a pot-hole or kerb, as Tim says.

thankyou all - I guess we will wait until we see what Paul says - I still don't know of any one in the Midlands to use - does anyone else?

Hi did you have the same thing earlier in year where you have a control for the power steering and it had been turned. Tim

Als wrote:

thankyou all - I guess we will wait until we see what Paul says - I still don't know of any one in the Midlands to use - does anyone else?

Try giving Bob a call at Volkshaus Kenilworth, 07980 659610. He concentrates on the technical side of VW campervan repairs and modifications rather than restorations. He did a great job on producing a customised shaft to enable us to put a Beetle gearbox into Voyager.