Steve mac Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have just replaced the Swivel Balls and Bearings on my defender and set them to the correct preload, It felt 100% for about the first 100 miles and now the dreaded wobble seems to have returned. It is only very slight but annoying as it was 100%. Can you check the preload with everything on apart from wheels and brake callipers or does it all have to come off again. If it can be done what is the approx preload. One other thing is that when I replaced the balls one of them only required one shim (the thinest). does that seem right? Cheers Steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 You will need to remove the drag link, track rod and the swivel seal to test it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Also, There are two different preload settings, depending on wether you have railko bushes or taper top and bottom, from memory, the higher figure of 4kgish is for the railko bushes, and the lower 1kg figure is for taper bearings. Did you use the correct setting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The bearings tend to bed in a bit after a bit of use and can feel a bit sloppy again, I think it helps to set them a bit on the stiff side to allow for that. doesn't sound quite right that you aren't using any shims on one side though - you didn't get a britpart kit by any chance did you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patch1 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Ive just done the swivel bearings and railko bushes on my brother inlaws D90 and I used 1thick and I think 2thins on both sides and all seams fine, dont know how long for though he bought britpart bearings. Timkin all the way. Hope you get yours sorted. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciderman Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The swivel seals also need to be removed to set up the pre-load , If not you wont get a true setting as the seals introduce a drag when measuring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve mac Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Thanks all for responses. Paddock kit was used. I only needed to replace one ball and that is the one with only 1 shim, The ball was part of the kit, I,m guessing from some of the responses that the kits are notoriously rubbish? Maybe I'll leave it a while to see if it gets any worse and then get some decent taper bearings. If the seal is removed to check the preload how much one shot can i expect to loose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pist0nbr0ke Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 The bearings tend to bed in a bit after a bit of use and can feel a bit sloppy again, I think it helps to set them a bit on the stiff side to allow for that. doesn't sound quite right that you aren't using any shims on one side though - you didn't get a britpart kit by any chance did you? HEY!!! To be fair i have just replaced both swivels with the Britpart kit (some of us need to be consious of the pennies!!!!!) and found no fault with the quality or supply of parts. For info i used a thick shim on the top and a thin shim on the bottom, and it felt right to do that on both sides. The main danger of over tighening the bearing is really going to cause reduced life, now a new set of bearings at some time in the future isnt so bad, they are not really doing loads of work anyway. With that in mind i deliberalty went a little tighter. Oh errr missuss!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 When you pop the seal - all the swivel grease will come out (lovely stuff! ) With a full hub rebuild - always set the preload on the too tight side. The bearings will bed in and it'll slacken off quite quickly. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwood Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 When you pop the seal - all the swivel grease will come out (lovely stuff! ) With a full hub rebuild - always set the preload on the too tight side. The bearings will bed in and it'll slacken off quite quickly. Les. Changed the swivel ball, bearings. discs, seals . Total axle end re-build basicaly. 200 miles later no problems but I did re-check the pull off load about at about 100 miles no further adjustment needed. One large and two small shims. You can check the pr-load with the seal atached if you allow for the extra drag of the seal. Padocks bits seem ok so far but you can get bad bits from the main dealers or cheap supliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Changed the swivel ball, bearings. discs, seals . Total axle end re-build basicaly. 200 miles later no problems but I did re-check the pull off load about at about 100 miles no further adjustment needed. One large and two small shims. You can check the pr-load with the seal atached if you allow for the extra drag of the seal. Padocks bits seem ok so far but you can get bad bits from the main dealers or cheap supliers. I havent done this yet, but couldnt you rebuild, measure the pre-load properly (i.e. seals removed etc) and then add the seal and caliper etc, then see what the pre-load was once the bits that you dont want to take off again are fitted. Then you could check the preload a few hundred miles down the line and compare to the adjusted figure you took after you'd re-built the axle with the seal and caliper etc. Oviously you will still have to remove the TREs. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puffernutter Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 My 2d for what its worth! I am not an expert and I am quite prepared to be shot down in flames, but after my recent experiences with "Death Wobble", I have a few thoughts. As was pointed out to me, many different things can cause the vibrations, my theory is that with a car in reasonable mettle, there probably isn't enough slop in any one item to cause a problem. BUT, if you get something that is particularly in poor condition with others that are average, then the vibration will probably occur. In my case I replaced the Panhard bushes (initially with bog standard factored versions) and that had no effect. I know that my swivel on the offside has little resistance (I found out when I removed the steering gear to weld up in a new outrigger for last years MOT) and I was expecting to have to refurbish that (note, it is just a pre-load issue, there is no play in my swivel joints). However replacing those factored Panhard bushes with blue polybushes, the problem has gone away, and I've now done nearly 1000 miles without incident and 400 of those was towing my caravan last week. So, what I am saying is that it may not be the pre-load. When they were refitted, it probably was enough to overcome other issues at the front. Now they have loosened slightly, then the other problem is dominating again. Does that make sense? Cheers Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve mac Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Many thanks to all of you that have replied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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