samwilk200 Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 Hi, A while a go I fitted 235/85 tyres and HD springs to my 90. When slowing down/coasting at about 40mph with the steering straight the steering begins to vibrate suddenly. If i slow down it stops, and if I'm brave enough to speed up it stops, but some times I have to pretty much stop because it is so severe. The whole vehicle vibrates and its pretty scary!! I've fitted a new steering damper, replaced a couple of track rod ends and had new steering uj's, new panhard rod bushes and radius arm bushes, but it still does it. Does anyone know whats going on?! Because I'm getting fed up of it happening because its bloody scary, and sounds like something will go bang as its happening! Thanks all, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 Check the swivel preload (jack a front wheel up, grab it at the 12:00 and 6 o'clock position and try and wobble it) if there is any movement then (wheel bearing aside) it'll be the swivels. quick fix is to remove the thinnest shim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Check the swivel preload (jack a front wheel up, grab it at the 12:00 and 6 o'clock position and try and wobble it) if there is any movement then (wheel bearing aside) it'll be the swivels.quick fix is to remove the thinnest shim. Agree with preload being a possible cause, but only way to check it is by using a spring balance as described in the manual. Trying the wobble test will detect worn bearing and swivels, but the preload can be out without any play in the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 So it looks as if the swivels need to be a tad tighter. What problems occur if they are too tight??! I will have a check and do them to the manuals preload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Hi,A while a go I fitted 235/85 tyres and HD springs to my 90. When slowing down/coasting at about 40mph with the steering straight the steering begins to vibrate suddenly. If i slow down it stops, and if I'm brave enough to speed up it stops, but some times I have to pretty much stop because it is so severe. The whole vehicle vibrates and its pretty scary!! I've fitted a new steering damper, replaced a couple of track rod ends and had new steering uj's, new panhard rod bushes and radius arm bushes, but it still does it. Does anyone know whats going on?! Because I'm getting fed up of it happening because its bloody scary, and sounds like something will go bang as its happening! Thanks all, Sam the other thing to check is wheel balancing because if its out it can make for interesting driving quick check swap wheels front to back if it disapears or changes the speed it happens your front wheels are out of balance mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 the other thing to check is wheel balancing because if its out it can make for interesting driving quick check swap wheels front to back if it disapears or changes the speed it happens your front wheels are out of balancemike A selection of things can do this or add up to this Swivel pre load too loose Wheel bearings Steering damper knacked Worn trackrods / steering ball joint Out of balance tyres / rims loose wheel nuts Slack in PAS box (adjust out slack) or just plain worn out box PAS resevoir low on fluid Try the above Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 Wheel balance?! Whats that?! Because I rarely go above 60, and most of time tyres are covered in mud etc I never bothered to balance them. Maybe I'l try that first, but it seems more severe. Lets hope its the swivels! I'm right in thinking its a fairly easy job to adjust the preload? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Did the swivels on the 90 (needed doing anyway), but still shook usually when hitting a bump at 50-55mph. Had done all the other checks. Finally cured by swapping the back wheels to the front. Backs were of a different make and were newer. Try that first, simplest, quickest and costs nothing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 get your tracking checked, my disco used to shake all over the road if i hit a bump above about 40mph... got the tracking set up right and it cured it. i'd start with tyre pressures and wheel balancing... at least they're relativly cheap.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsr341 Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 my moneys on your PANHARD rod , mine droped a bush on my defender , got gradually worse when i was out to the point that going over 50mph did not cure it , and the way my vehicle looked was scaring other moterists get some one to rock the steering whilst you look at the axel and chassis mountings for the panhard rod , should see some severe movement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 19, 2006 Author Share Posted December 19, 2006 I've put new bushes in the panhard rod, so its unlikely to be that. Swivels are fairly new, in last 5 years, and i wouldnt have covered 5k miles on them Maybe the preload wasnt set up properly before?! May try and get all the wheels balanced though. wheels and tyres are all the same, and havnt done many miles so arnt very worn. I'll have a look this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troddenmasses Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 For my money, I'd look at wheel balance, and tracking. My tracking was slightly out, and it affected the steering horribly. Now it's just back to the normal 'Landy' horrible steering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettisse Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 These exact symptoms happened to me on my 3oo tdi Hybrid, turned out to be the panhard bushes although they were hard to detect to be faulty in the normal way. Very satisfying when you've cured the problem though. Best Regards to all, Billy Westley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 another panhard rod vote its not the bushes though - my moneys on the hole in the bracket going oval. 5 second fix, pain in the backside to diagnose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 The panhard rod makes sense too - the axle moves slightly right, which is the same as steering left. This pushes the axle left, which is the same as steering right... I had this problem and tried dogging the nuts up as tight as I could. This reduced the problem to a less alarming level but I may come back from Sodbury with some more scrap to work on it a little further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 quick fix is just weld a 3mm washer onto the bracket to bring the hole back to circular - only takes a few mins to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Thanks Jez - I was nearly going to spend my hard-earned then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Even though it's been replaced - I'd still say the steering damper. Even if all the other bits are knackered, the damper will still pretty much get rid of most of the oscillation. The panhard rod bushes/oval hole are easy to check by turning your steering from left to right & back a little, such that the wheels only just start to turn and see if the front of the vehicle moves from side to side. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green110 Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I went through all this with a friend's Discovery. First thing I told him to do was change the damper, which he did for a Britpart one - made no difference. Then we tightened the swivels, checked all the bushes, wheel bearings, track rod ends - everything. Still no better. Finally we put a genuine damper on, and it cured it. Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 ... Even if all the other bits are knackered, the damper will still pretty much get rid of most of the oscillation.The panhard rod bushes/oval hole are easy to check by turning your steering from left to right & back a little, such that the wheels only just start to turn and see if the front of the vehicle moves from side to side. Si fraid not Si , the damper wont stop it and it only takes a nats todgers worth of ovalation in the mounting hole to get it shaking in a amusing for onlookers/terrifying to drive styleeeee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 Right, update to the Steering Vibrations, still really bad at 20-50mph, feels like I'm going to loose the axle. When going over 50 its fine, and when going round bends its fine. Only start with steering straight and can sometimes be stopped by suddenly steering, putting pressure on the steering system! Within last 12 months its had new; steering damper (paddocks), panhard rod bushes (britpart), track rod and drop arm ball joints (bearmach) steering column uj's Checked swivel pre load with seals on, approx 14lbs, manual says 8-10 without seals, so they appear ok, Got front wheels balanced, made no difference at all. Also played with tyre pressures. Wheel bearings are fine. Another option I've got is to change the radius arm bushes but wouldnt have thought that would help as they dont really locate the axle sideways, only up and down! Only other thing i can think of is I put some secondhand radius arms on (they had better bushes so got through the MOT). Is it possible that these radius arms are a different castor angle for some reason?! Panhard rod mount seems fine, have tightened the nut and bolt to F/T and no difference!! Any more ideas as its really stumped me?! Cheers all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 did it do it prior to MOT and old radius arms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 MOT didnt pick up on it. I changed the tyres, springs and radius arms together. Before that it was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Try just swapping front and rear tyres. I've been round and round this on the Disco and that ws tyres in the end and the 90 had a nasty vibration, like prop or pinion bearing which also turned out to be a duff tyre. May not be but it won't take you long to check and I know I now wish I had (before changing radius bushes, diffs, ...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samwilk200 Posted December 29, 2006 Author Share Posted December 29, 2006 Trying to work out what the hells causing my vibrations I rocked the steering wheel, and before the wheels begin to turn the chassis moves side to side quite a bit!! I'm presuming that this is why it vibrates, and this isnt normal!! Just gotta don full water proofs and go and find whats loose!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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