Thread: 130 wiggle at speed

The lower link in the rear suspension can cause similar problems if the bushes are worn. You don't say how old your vehicle is, or what mileage it's done. Someone with more ideas will be along soon.
Don.

Originally Posted by Don 130

You don't say how old your vehicle is, or what mileage it's done.

Thanks Don, I'll have a look at the rear suspension.

It's an '08 MY07 with about 116,000 on the clock.

Problem solved with warranty.
Send it back and dont accept it until its fixed.
It isnt normal and tell the dealer nobody cares about his 110 or its accepted faults.

I'd focus attention on the front. You say it's worse with load in the rear which means less weight over the front.

Have you checked swivel bearings? I'd put a screw driver to all your front bushes as a little play can be excentuated.

You didn't say if you had a lift, if yes, you might also have a little castor action coming in at that speed.

The swivel balls is my bet.

Originally Posted by strangy

Problem solved with warranty.
Send it back and dont accept it until its fixed.
It isnt normal and tell the dealer nobody cares about his 110 or its accepted faults.

I agree completely, just want to go back and tell him what he needs to look at so I don't end up going round in circles (without a car).

This sort of fault is not particularly unusual for Defenders, but it is definitely a fault, not normal behaviour. It is often an accumulation of minor issues, with a fix to any one of them stopping the behaviour, but only temporarily until something else gets a little bit worse.

You have already got the wheels balanced, which is a good first step. Time now to do a few tests. You need a helper to do this.

1. Have the helper move the steering wheel back and forth while parked. Look carefully at the steering linkage and suspension links, especially the Panhard rod. Put you hand on each link, feeling for a click or clunk as the steering input is reversed. Any such feel is a definite fault. Check both ends of the Panhard rod, the drag link and the track rod. Check visually that the chassis is not moving sideways relative to the front axle (panhard bushes). Check the steering box is not loose and that the pitman arm is not loose on its shaft.

2. With the centre diff lock engaged and handbrake on, have the car rocked back and forth while you repeat this procedure feeling each end of both front and rear lower links and the A-frame ball joint and front bushes.

3. For each front wheel separately, jack it up and attempt to rock it holding the top and bottom of the tyre. There should be no perceptible movement. If there is, it is either wheel bearings of swivels (or both). Determine which be having your helper apply the foot brake - this stops the movement due to wheel bearings.

The Defender is made more sensitive to this sort of problem by oversize tyres and by suspension lifts, but as I commented at the start, should not be there. To some extent it can be masked by a more elaborate steering damper, but this does not fix the problems.

You should also check for loose or bent wheels, althouogh the people who balanced the tyres should have tightened the wheels and reported bent wheels!

John

Further to what John (JDNSW) said, a friend has a Defender, had a wobble, the steering box was loose, you could see rust and wear marks where it had been moving on the chassis, it could be anything from worn tie rod ends to wheel bearings that need adjustment to Swivel pre-load.
You stated in your post that you got a wheel alignment, be very interested to know what they actually did, as the only adjustment is Toe In or Out, so get details of what was done as a wheel alignment and if you paid more than $50 for a Toe adjustment, then you were ripped off, let us know the results, Regards Frank.

Although the tyres were balanced, could a rear tyre be out of round?

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