Thread: Front end wobble

You might have chopped out your panhard rod bushes which stop the sideways movement of the axle. I'd also check all the other front end bushes while you're going.

I would be looking at all the front end bushes and steering linkages.

Having said that, it sounds like either wheel balance or swivel preload.

Worked in the tyre game a few years back. 80kph vibration. I'd be looking at wheel balance first. If it’s not, wheel balances are cheep and you’ve eliminated bent rims, delaminated tyres and balancing all at the same time?

Originally Posted by BigJon

I would be looking at all the front end bushes and steering linkages.

Having said that, it sounds like either wheel balance or swivel preload.

Or both. A lot of these sort of problems are a combination rather than any single fault. You fix one of them and it goes away, but there are still faults that show it up again as soon as one of them gets just a little bit worse.

A wobble at a specific speed is almost always initiated by an out of balance situation (even very slight) - but keeps going once started if the damping, mainly from the swivel preload, but secondarily from the steering damper, is not adequate. And the amplitude of the wobble is greater if there is excessive sideways movement allowed by loose, worn or soft panhard rod bushes. And the amount of out of balance needed to start the wobble depends on the castor angle, which is maintained by the bushes on the radius arms, so if these are loose, soft or worn they can make it easier to start a wobble.

John

Just had this in mine, and it got to the point after an off road trip where it was basically undriveable.

I first did the swivel preloads which improved it but didnt get rid of it, then it came back worse.

In the end to eliminate it completley I ended up changing the panhard rod bushes and the 4 large radius arm bushes.

The majority of the shakeon mine was caused IMO by the panhard rod.

I had a similar thing in my troopy and it got so bad it would almost shake me out of the truck.

The wobble was mainly at 70kmh and after getting the tyres balanced and the front end check, I gave up trying to fix it. Then while doing a grease and oil change, I noticed the rear uni on the rear tailshaft was flogged out, I replaced this and have not had a problem since.

Just something else to check. As yours if full time 4wd, I would check all the uni joints.

Neale

Panard Rod bushes is the place to start. Unfortunately when I had a similar problem it was the LAST place I checked!!

Get someone inside moving the steering wheel from side to side as you look under the front at the steering. If the Panard Rod bushes are worn the whole front will move from side to side as the steering wheel is moved.

Regards,
Greg

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I have a project to do on the weekend. Will keep you informed.
Cheers,
Ken