will4x4 Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 OK i have read sooo much on the death wobble to try and get rid of mine as at the mo i cant go over 20mph. i have replaced the following with new wheels / tyres have balancing beads and work fine on a friends truck new radius arm bushes new panhard rod bushes new king bearings with correct pre load adjusted bearings no play and in perfect condition new steering damper no play in the steering column new drop arm ball jonit and steering arm / trailing arm good condition ball joints. and from what i can see my steering box looks ok (maybe a bit of play which i tightened up with the grub screw on top..... im just running out of ideas now on what to do... PLease help i cant drive thing any where now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share Posted October 22, 2010 Just to add the only thing i can think of is steering box...anyone have a good one in Surrey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Have you replaced the ball joints in the steering bars? They might appear okay stationary but exhibit play when under load. Are all the hub-wheel mating faces completely clean, so the wheels are on 100% straight as it were? Checked tracking (toe in/out)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 22, 2010 Author Share Posted October 22, 2010 Hi ball joints are good as is the hub mating face. i havent checked the toein/out how would i do this? thank in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Proper method - take it to a garage and have them check it on their laser alignment machine. 'Pikey' method (which I use) - put a bit of string around the centre of all four wheels and adjust until proper. You basically work down the system, so centre the steering box (I believe there is an alignment hole or mark somewhere for this), and adjust the drag link until the LH wheel is correct. Then adjust the track rod until the RH wheel is correct. Then fit the steering wheel on in dead ahead position and bob's your uncle Nige did a write-up here explaining the basics: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=26532 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashtray Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 How big are your tyres? If you are running anything bigger than a 265/75 i would upgrade the steering damper to a butcher one like an old man emu one, and i would reccommend some heavy duty steering drag links if you have massive tires. The standard drag links do tend to flex with the bigger wheels. I compared the standard landy ones with a g-wagon the other day, the g-wagons bars are about 4x the girth! They even make HD draglinks look pansy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Have you looked at the Panhard rod nut's and bolt's? When my 90 developed a death wobble I found that my panhard rod nut's and bolts were A) the wrong size-ie: diameter, and B) they were loose, Get someone to steer the vehicle ie: at a standstill and move the steering wheel from left to right with yourself underneath it looking at the panhard rod and see if it's moving when the steering wheel is moved-or anything else is moving when the steering is turned for that matter HTH John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 Running 35,s I have checked the panhard bolts this morning and are tight. Drag links / steering bars are all heavy duty competely miffed by this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deface Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 If your running 35" tyres your more than likely gunna have to change them temporarily if you want a garage to check your tracking as when i did it they were too big for the laser equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 what state are the panhard rod bushes in, old/soft ones will give you a steering wobble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shauniedawn Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I had this happen to me on a Disco. You used to think the dash was going to fall out the vibration was so violent - happened at about 50 to 55mph. The long story shortened is that the new pro-comp steering damper that I'd fitted was the problem. It had the smallest amount of 'slack' before it started to offer resistance. This was the cause. I had trouble convincing the supplier that this was the cause, but they believed me in the end when I returned it and they did in turn to the manufacturer who confirmed it was defective. I repalced it with a standard one and the death wobble was cured. I'd changed lots of things at the same time as the damper, so it took a good while to diagnose. Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 This is just ridiculous.. i think some people get confused with the death wobble... this is so bad you cant accelerate through it. if you look out the window the wheels look like shopping trolley wheels dancing all over the place and the steering is shaking with it... only way out it to brake down to 5mph to stop it... today i changed the track rod and joints plus i put a new steering box in it... still bad when i hit 30mph or a bump to set it off so now i have done the following wheels / tyres have balancing beads and work fine on a friends truck new radius arm bushes new panhard rod bushes new king bearings with correct pre load adjusted bearings no play and in perfect condition new steering damper no play in the steering column new drop arm ball joint new steering arm / trailing arm ball joints. new steering box.. im pretty gutted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 are the springs & shocks good, look for broken or cracked coils & weak shocks that have no damping affect. that's about the only things not on your list above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 springs are OME and good nick i suppose the shocks could be gone as there pro comp rubbish tend to only last a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shauniedawn Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 This is just ridiculous.. i think some people get confused with the death wobble... No - I'm not confused. I know exactly what I was describing. And the symptoms were identical - but occurred at a different speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 Shaunie that was not aimed at you meant in different context - worded badly I swapped the front wheels to my old 33's so am running 35's on the back is this ok to do? as in will the t case blow up? Its stop the wobble and means when i get to the play day i can whack the 35's back on the front? it would make sense that it would be ok as the the t case has a differential but just wanted to make sure or if anyone else has done this would be great to know? thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 should be ok for diagnosis purposes, as the wobble has now gone, there muct be something wrong with the tyres or wheels, are there any bulges in the tyre tread or sidewalls ? are the wheels undamaged ? or it could just be a poor match between one or both tyre/wheel on the front. is the mating face of hub & each wheel clean/undamaged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 yeah must be the tyres. is it OK tomorrow to keep the 33inch tyres on the front and 35inch tyres on the back - drive to a play day (about 50 road miles) put the 35's back on the front for the play day then on the way home put the 33'back on the front again... (looks a like a dragster a bit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 probably be ok, have you swapped the rear tyres/wheels to the front ? to see if that cures the wobble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbman Al Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I had some insaturbos fitted to wolf steel rims the other day. The fitter had a nightmare job trying to balance them. The best ones were marked 'front' and he said I would probably get a nasty wobble if I put them on the wrong way round. They were 235/85's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I had some insaturbos fitted to wolf steel rims the other day. The fitter had a nightmare job trying to balance them. The best ones were marked 'front' and he said I would probably get a nasty wobble if I put them on the wrong way round. They were 235/85's. Get some ceramic airsoft beads and stuff about 200g in each wheel. works brilliantly on knobbly tyres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diff Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 yeah must be the tyres. is it OK tomorrow to keep the 33inch tyres on the front and 35inch tyres on the back - drive to a play day (about 50 road miles) put the 35's back on the front for the play day then on the way home put the 33'back on the front again... (looks a like a dragster a bit) I don't think this is not a good idea. The centre diff gears are very small and are only designed to take up small variations in speed between the front and rear axle. A large difference in tyre diameter from front to rear will cause the centre diff to work very hard. 50 miles will be working it hard for an hour. It may survive, but it isn't supposed to do that and it may cause premature wear. Regards, Diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will4x4 Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 ThankS guys. The wheels have the air balls in already. I put my 33,s on all round and it drove perfectly. Put the 35,s back on and I got such a bad death wobble on at 30mph lasted about 2 seconds as I breaked to a stop....looked underneath and it had ripped a brand new panhard bush to peices .... Only thing I can think of is after I have replaced it again is get some caster correction arms.... I'm just doing anything now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Well it's clearly the wheels/tyres at fault, but you say they work fine on a friends' truck? What is it on yours then that's causing the issue I wonder, bushes perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco-Ron Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I wondered if it could be just one of the wheels at fault, and maybe that wheel was fitted to the rear of the mates truck..... hence the issue wouldn;t show up.,..??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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