new noise/vibration MY12 D4

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Driving back from the coast this weekend I noticed a new noise/vibration. It seems to be coming through the steering column. Only comes in around 90KPH on the overrun or at constant speed on the flat.

Its not like unbalanced wheels or a steering wobble, just like metal on metal vibrations at a reasonably fast frequency.

Any ideas?

[Graeme]

Pretty basic, but have you checked for loose wheel nuts?

[chuck]

What tyres do you have?

I have something similar at 95 - 100 km/h on smooth bitumen.

Pretty sure it is my tyres GG AT's.

[Weird Al]

Lotz-a is yours a 2.7?

My previous D4 (2011 2.7) had the same sort of thing, only felt through the steering wheel, and at about 85km/h under gentle acceleration.

I never noticed it until about 10,000ks. But then it was always there, particulary on one part of the daily commute.

But my new 3.0L does not.

[Platypus]

What tyres do you have?

I have something similar at 95 - 100 km/h on smooth bitumen.

Pretty sure it is my tyres GG AT's.
Ditto
Paul

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Have a 3.0 SDV6 and it's not the tyres, this is a new noise never had before, almost like a dry bearing.

[BobD]

Don't be so sure about your tyres. If you have AT tyres it almost certainly is your tyres. It only happens as they wear. There is never any vibration when they are new. If you put OEM Wrangler tyres on you will see that the vibration disappears.

Bob

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Have had dealer fitted GG AT's on the car since I've had it and know the noise of the tyres. Sometimes makes you think you've got diff noise.

This one is quite different, sort of like a small dry roller bearing spinning a few hundred RPM when actually attached to the steering column.

It will annoy the business out of me till its identified.

[rufusking]

One way to check if it is the tyres is to swap front to rear, rear to front. The axles wear differently so you should get a different effect if it is the tyres, that is unless you had them rotated recently/regularly.

[BobD]

I am not talking about the normal tyre whine or the normal tyre vibration. As the tyres wear you get a different noise and vibration exactly as you have described. Pitty you haven't got the original tyres. It is very easy to check whether it is tyres or something else when you can easily swap to the OEM tyres.

There have been several recent posts on this topic and some older ones also where people are getting similar issues to what you have described, some with GG tyres. With my old Continental Cross Contact tyres, which were very quiet for a long time, I had the same thing after about a year (30,000km) and I was really scared my wheel bearings had seized or something similar. Put the OEM tyres on and no vibration at all. My D697's after about 30,000km are now just starting to exhibit the same sort of behaviour, although not as bad as the Contis. The silly thing is that there is also nothing visible on the tyres that would indicate that such a vibration could occur.

As I said, don't discount the tyres so readily.

Bob

[willem]

I am not talking about the normal tyre whine or the normal tyre vibration. As the tyres wear you get a different noise and vibration exactly as you have described. Pitty you haven't got the original tyres. It is very easy to check whether it is tyres or something else when you can easily swap to the OEM tyres.

There have been several recent posts on this topic and some older ones also where people are getting similar issues to what you have described, some with GG tyres. With my old Continental Cross Contact tyres, which were very quiet for a long time, I had the same thing after about a year (30,000km) and I was really scared my wheel bearings had seized or something similar. Put the OEM tyres on and no vibration at all. My D697's after about 30,000km are now just starting to exhibit the same sort of behaviour, although not as bad as the Contis. The silly thing is that there is also nothing visible on the tyres that would indicate that such a vibration could occur.

As I said, don't discount the tyres so readily.

Bob

Agreed. I thought it was a wheel bearing and replaced it and it made no difference. Put the old wheel bearing back and again it made no difference. Sniegy pointed out to me the feathering on the LHF tyre - run you hand over the tyre against the direction of rotation and you can feel the ridges. There's nothing particularly wrong, just irritating.

I would not believe it was tyres until I started to experiment, but I do think that's what it is.

Willem

[MR LR]

Diana, it may just be your quiet modern car slowly evolving into a proper Land Rover!

In all seriousness though, I'm another vote for tyres, on Dad's Navara (don't tell anyone he drives a Navara!) he had the same issue, to the point he replaced front unit hubs, which didn't correct it, and then we discovered it was tyres, D3/4's seem to be very hard on tyres, in the case of Arthur's anyway, so it would surprise me if it was anything else.

Cheers
Will

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Hi Will so are you changing your name to "Mr Datsun" or "Mr UD" :wasntme:

It just seems so very very weird that this new noise is sooooo different to any tyre noise I have ever had, and remember I have had them all. Including bar tread Oly Steeltrack and APL,XtraGrip,XZL,XMS,Duellers,BFG AT and MT,Synchrome and road patterns.

Diana

[Lotz-A-Landies]

There is a little feathering, so I will rotate front to rear and see.

[chuck]

I got my tyres rebalanced & rotated at the last service & the noise is still there.
MLR investigated the service before and came to the same solution as me - harmonic vibration noise out of the tyres.

Cheers

[Platypus]

Is there anyone at the club with whom you could swap wheels for even just a few kms of test driving to see if that made a difference?
Just a thought.
Paul

[Lotz-A-Landies]

We keep coming back to the same issue, I have had noise from the ATs since I originally picked up the car from the dealer (45,000 km now). On different road surfaces it varies cometimes sounding like the diff is going.

This new noise is nothing like that.

[Platypus]

I know it's frustrating, but the only way to 'know' it's not the tyres is to eliminate them as the cause. So if you could somehow swap over to a set of wheels/tyres which are known to be quiet and from a similar vehicle, and after a suitable drive, your noise continues then you know it's not your tyres and we on this forum can eat humble pie. It will mean, though, you still have a noise of unknown origin :(
Mind you, the noises the rest of us are getting could turn out to not be the tyres after all :o
Not a fourth Amigo?!:twisted:
Paul

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I am going to rotate them first and see but I'm not confident, in the slightest.

[Duke4]

Hi Diana,

We met at the LROC xmas party, I have the Stornoway Grey D4, I asked whether you had this noise back then which you didn't (hope I didn't curse you by asking). I've tried the tyre rotation and balance twice since the noise first appeared but no change.
Regardless of which tyre is where mine always seems to come from the drivers front wheel, I've checked for wheel bearing play but it seems fine there is no logical connection from the symptoms to the tyres but I'm starting to believe everyone else because there is nothing left.
My last test before I totally convert is try changing the tyres, I have a friend with a new D4 so I'll swap the 2 fronts with his and see if it goes away.

If it is the tyres my next concern will be how much damage will this cause other parts of the car like suspension and steering if we can't get rid of it?

[MR LR]

Hi Will so are you changing your name to "Mr Datsun" or "Mr UD" :wasntme:

It just seems so very very weird that this new noise is sooooo different to any tyre noise I have ever had, and remember I have had them all. Including bar tread Oly Steeltrack and APL,XtraGrip,XZL,XMS,Duellers,BFG AT and MT,Synchrome and road patterns.

Diana
Haha, most definitely not, we still have two Td5 Discoverys and my Classic, so majority still rules in favour of the green oval ;)

Although between my buggy and dad and little bro's dirt bikes, Yamaha power is in an equal tie!

When dad's tyres went, it did really sound like a wheel bearing noise, even went back to Nissan for it, the monkeys there were stumped too.

Cheers
Will

[Epic pooh]

If you're sure it's not tyres how about - a stone somewhere, wheel bearings, tie rod ends or similar kinds of things ?

[Lotz-A-Landies]

If you're sure it's not tyres how about - a stone somewhere, wheel bearings, tie rod ends or similar kinds of things ?Nothing obvious on quick inspection, but is the reason I asked other D4 owners if they had similar symptoms.

If it were tie rod ends, you'd expect loose steering and it to be present at all speeds, stone a possibility, but you would expect to hear the stone at slow speed or once again at all speeds/conditions.

[Graeme]

Mine often gets a build-up of dirt and gravel on top of the gearbox tray that eventually half-burries the exhaust pipes but I wouldn't describe the noise as metalic, more just a noisy vibration that can change between on and off throttle possibly due to the twist of the engine and gearbox in their mounts. Mostly heard at idle anyway.

[BobD]

Mine often gets a build-up of dirt and gravel on top of the gearbox tray that eventually half-burries the exhaust pipes but I wouldn't describe the noise as metalic, more just a noisy vibration that can change between on and off throttle possibly due to the twist of the engine and gearbox is their mounts. Mostly heard at idle anyway.

Yes, I had that over Christmas after a lot of sand driving. I would describe that as a rattle but it is a vibration transmitted to the body from the exhaust pipe through the sand in my case. I was worried at first until I got underneath and found out what was going on. Easily fixed by washing the sand out.

Bob

[jammers]

Mine is at approx 40km/h under light throttle. I'd call it a hum type vibration. I know its not tyres cause I went from scorpions to D697 with an identical noise. I guess both of those are AT tyres but D697 are more aggressive and have more general hum during tramac road conditions.

I don't think it is cabin based and am sure it is a column drivers side source. Having a brother in law that is particular about rattle etc as me, tracking rattles to their source with one of us moving seats ending in the car boot! I know only too well how deceptive these things can be.

Now if only there was a straight road I could use to look in the engine bay while driving...

[Platypus]

Mine is at approx 40km/h under light throttle. I'd call it a hum type vibration. I know its not tyres cause I went from scorpions to D697 with an identical noise. I guess both of those are AT tyres but D697 are more aggressive and have more general hum during tramac road conditions.

I don't think it is cabin based and am sure it is a column drivers side source. Having a brother in law that is particular about rattle etc as me, tracking rattles to their source with one of us moving seats ending in the car boot! I know only too well how deceptive these things can be.

Now if only there was a straight road I could use to look in the engine bay while driving...
You could try the Robert De Nero technique he used in Cape Fear..... Just hang from the chassis rails... Just make sure Off Road height is selected and preferably with GOE rods or llams.:D
Paul

[chr9]

Driving back from the coast this weekend I noticed a new noise/vibration. It seems to be coming through the steering column. Only comes in around 90KPH on the overrun or at constant speed on the flat.

Its not like unbalanced wheels or a steering wobble, just like metal on metal vibrations at a reasonably fast frequency.

Any ideas?


Not sure if this thread has come to a close but I seem to experience a similar issue - not that I have an answer - but seems to not be a single case at least.

I am still on the OEM wranglers. I get the vibration from around 80KPH and above - there is also a constant minimal vibration in the steering. A shimmy has accompanied me from early days (Late 2011, MY12, SDV6 - now 40k) - many wheel balancing acts later, one help (which I got from another member on this forum) is to constantly and perfectly keeping the tyre pressure as per LR (33/36 psi) - it doesn't completely address it but helps. You can see me at the air-station every Saturday morning - great start to the weekend!

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I closely listened to the noise on a couple of trips down the coast and new noise was harmonic to the reqular noise. Therefore I rotated the tyres, FRH to RLH, FLH to RRH etc and the noise is back to the way it was, before the new one arrived.

BTW: There was some feathering on the trailing edge of the tread blocks and as I'm still not convinced about the notion of not swapping the sides because it increases wear. The result is the tyres are now running in the oposite direction so hopefully the blocks should wear back to flat