Wheel judder and bouncy disco

[reb78]

This is my mums disco, (2001 TD5 ES 75K on the clock) so the order of things looked at below may seem strange, but that is because she doesnt always do the things i suggest in the order i suggest them and i dont live nearby to look at it!

There may be two problems here, but the first is that the disco has a judder through the steering wheel when cruising at 45 and 70 mph. It is less severe at 70. The second problem is that the ride is also very bouncy on rough roads - i know a rough road will cause the vehicle to bounce about, but its reaction seems excessive sometimes. I dont know if these are related.

Checked so far...........:

1. had the steering geometry checked with a hunter alignment - all pretty much within spec (i hoped that we may pick up anything severly wrong with the setup and or bushes here)

This morning i got chance to look over it and:

2. checked the tyre pressures - she had 36 psi in the front and changing it to 28 moved the judder to 45mph from 48mph. Both, but especially the one at 70 have lessened in severity since correcting the tyre pressures. Mum still hasnt had the balancing checked even though i told her to do this before anything else.

3. checked the steering column UJs for play. They seem pretty good - although there appears to be a little looseness in a circular part of the column found just as it exits the bulkhead.

4. no play in any of the TREs

5. no in/out play at the wheel in any direction if the axle is jacked up so the bearings are good. No play at 12 o clock/ 6 o clock either.

6. Radius arm bushes have a little sidwards play if i use a lever, but not up/down - felt pretty much the same as my 110. The rear bushes where it attaches to the chassis look ok, perhaps a little perished around the edges, but not so much i would worry.

Could this benefit from changing the radius arm bushes anyway? Could the shock absorbers be at fault (how do you test them??)? Have i missed anything else i should check or change? She needs to get the wheel balancing checked before going any further really i would think (i didnt have time to take it anywhere this morning). Any other thoughts welcomed....

[JohnL]

As you say, check the wheel balancing first.

The shocks could well be shot and that's what I'd look at next. Are they leaking? Maybe get a suspension specialist to look at them (mind you they probably recommend replacing even is brand new!)

If it's any consolation my mum never did what she was told either :-)

Cheers,

John

[M&S]

Yup, wheel balancing first, and if the problem still exists try shocks.

Just done the shocks on mine and it stopped the bouncing for sure. Still a soft ride but doesn't get out of hand on bumpy roads like it did. My shocks looked and felt fine, even off the vehicle, no leaks or anything. Just age at 145k miles

I find 32 psi good in the front.

[leeceltic]

I had a strange vibration in my old tdi at around 43-45 mph after checking all the stuff you mentioned it turned out that one of the grease nipples on the hardy spicer joint on the front drive shaft had broken off and the joint had failed because of grit and water getting in. it was falling apart and throwing the shaft out of balance, at the right speed the vibration was passing through the axle to the steering wheel..

I could power through it but it was worse coming down through the mid 40's speed than it was going up...

[Def90]

I had something similiar on mine. changed the shocks twice, it helped but didn't stop the wobble/bounce. I eventually had the air suspension reclaibrated and this seemed to do the trick