Thread: Steering vibration

I have a 2005 Defender, and have had intermittent steering woes, and the dreaded "death wobbles". Thought I had them fixed as had the front steering components replaced by Rene at Landy Automotive in Cairns. This consisted of tie rod replacement, bushes, steering damper, panhard rod adjustment. Bearings and steering box all o.k. All needed work as all were original parts, and 160k on the clock.
Much improved, but still a bit wobbly in certain conditions. Went to get wheel balance, and the tyre mob said tyres were not road worthy. The General Grabbers have about 90k on the vehicle (alternated with muddies on other rims). The muddies are too worn to put back on, so am getting General Grabber AT2's put on next Monday.
Will see how the AT2's work out, as they will be my main tyre for the next few years. 50/50 road, and gravel/dirt up here.

Will keep updated on the Grabber AT2's, because I have been impressed with the General Grabbers so far.

Cheers,
Ken

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Mudnut

Which bearings were replaced?

Did they check the swivel ball bearings and preload? Steering vibrations are sometimes related to worn swivel pin bearings/bushes or lack of preload.

Diana

Rene said wheel bearings were the first thing he checked. He replaced all the steering bushes, and adjusted the preload, not sure if the bearings in the swivels were done.

Hopefully the new tyres will do the trick. 2 are in decent condition, and 3 including the spare have about 3 mm of tread left on them. I knew would need to replace them this year, but have been putting it off.

Have not done a wheel balance in a while, so eliminating that step.

Cheers,

Ken