Thread: Another steering death wobble

Have you looked at the prop shafts and uni joints joints? May be bent or out of balance

Steering Damper?

New steering damper fitted
Haven't checked drive shafts, hadn't thought that they could affect steering

The type of steering damper matters. You want an oil filled one not a gas one.

Good way to check: pull it off and manipulate it, an oil one just resists movement. A gas one 'pushes back'.

You said swivels adjusted to 14lbs drag? The manual says 1.16 to 1.46kg drag. You can only check this with the axle out and the swivel seal off.

I reckon the superpro Panhard bushes are best for the job. Do you have an adjustable Panhard or a standard one?

For the cost of the tie-rod ends you might as well replace them if you're replacing the Pitman Arm.

Also, check the uni joint in the steering column. It can develop free play and there's a small grub screw you can tighten to tighten it up. Should be halfway along the steering column

Steering damper replaced.

I wouldn't discount the track and drag link rod ends(balljoints).

I had a similar issue on my D1 over a year ago.
I reckon I checked the rod ends 3 times, and all three times felt very tight.
Fourth time lucky I guess! .. this fourth time, I used the drag link to pull myself up off the ground doing a service .. not actually checking the steering wobble.
This time it got to the tight point, and the last 5° of movement went limp. So felt tight up to nearly the end of what I thought was it's range of movement, then it drooped suddenly.

AHA!! .. got the two drag link ends(cheapo greasable types) .. fitted(mongrel to fit as the threads in the rod were rough as guts) .. all back together again and wobbled gone.

Only just a few months back I finally remembered to source a new drag link and original (Delphi, I think) non greasable ends again only to rid myself of the buggered old rod.

track rod is fine, and threads work fine .. just that drag link of mine was knackered.

One day I'm thinking I should do one of those heavy duty sets, but it seems hard to find just the rods, where I can use original rod ends(which I prefer).

Dunno nothing about sway bars and if any play would cause steering wobble .. but if you remove it completely and it changes anything .. you'd probably confirm or eliminate it from the equation.

About the only other thing I can think of for 'ya(because I had this issue on my old RRC) .. when you changed the panhard rod and radius arm bushes, did you re use the old nuts/bolts(mainly bolts).
They can wear just enough to cause enough movement to give some wheel wobble. Not so much death wobble, as in .. full on, scary as hell, arm breaking death wobble .. like a Patrol will do!
Should be a habit that when you do those bushes, you also change the nuts/bolts too.

ps. swivel preload should be closer to 1-1.5kg. Or is the defender different?

simple one - check front tyre wear and pressures. If the tyres are worn unevenly for whatever reason it can affect it. It's something you can look at without spending any money. Looks like you've already done a fair bit of stuff, I think with steering it's worth doing everything at once.

That way you don't 'chase' a problem around

Originally Posted by Wicks89

simple one - check front tyre wear and pressures. If the tyres are worn unevenly for whatever reason it can affect it. It's something you can look at without spending any money. Looks like you've already done a fair bit of stuff, I think with steering it's worth doing everything at once.

That way you don't 'chase' a problem around

Early on in the process wheels were changed from front to back as well as checking pressures. Tyre wear seems even
Panhard rod is standard
As far as I can remember the damper was an oil filled
Steering uni joint has little play in it I didn't think it was very much' also made sure the the clamping bolts on the joint were tight
I set the swivel pin preload to 1.4 kg when I first replaced them but think i have seen info on setting them to the higher level somewhere and I did this as setting the preloads previously before I replaced the bearings made the issue go away for a week or so.
All the old hardware was used there was no visible wear on any of the bolts and they were all tight to remove.
will have another look at the track and tie rod ends
None of the items I have changed have been really worn