MY16 D4 Vibration towing uphill

[JamesAdelaide]

Hi Guys,

Took our 1.75 tonne boat for a test tow with our new disco yesterday.

Towed awesome, until we hit the first slight hill at 100km/hr.

A very bad vibration started through the car, at first I thought we had thrown a wheel balance weight or something, it was pretty bad.

Ca has done about 2000 km's since new.
I have suspected a slight wheel balance issue as we have been getting very minor vibrations at highway speeds from time to time, but very minor.

This however was really bad.

After reading a bit on the forum I now suspect it is the trans/active centre diff?

It mainly occurs under slight load going uphill.
Have not yet tried playing with gears etc, as we only drove a short distance yesterday.

Anyone with a new ish D4 had similar issues?

Trailer is a dual axle mackay boat trailer and I've towed it for about 6-8000km's on my 2010ajero and it tows like a dream, so I am 9.9% sure this is not a trailer issue.

Towball height is pretty similar to the pajero, trailer is sitting nice and level.

Cheers
James

[Nicky]

Had a similar problem in my 2015 D4. Turned out to be a faulty universal in the rear drive-shaft

[JamesAdelaide]

Thanks Nicky, did land rover need to tow with it to re-produce the issue?

[Nicky]

No, it was there with no towing, hard to trace, tried wheel balance, rear diff, nothing till the faulty uni joint was found.

[laughto]

Had a similar problem in my 2015 D4. Turned out to be a faulty universal in the rear drive-shaft

Was your problem constant and as harsh as the OP has described? I also have a slight vibration when towing, however it is not consistent/constant and not particularly bad.

[PeterJ]

Hi James, had a similar thing in my car, (MY13 HSE SD3.0) at about 100kph, was not towing at the time, very very severe vibration. I am not a great one for coincidence and as I had just had the auto trans serviced (oil and filter changed at 50k, I do a lot of towing), took the car back to the dealer expecting to find something left loose in trans mount, they claim nothing wrong (as would be expected), car stayed overnight for the checks. Went for a drive with the tech next day but I could not get it to reproduce and it has never done it again. I have thought about it since and suspect that the gearbox oil was low, they did not do the level check after the refill, this could cause the vibration but I can not prove it or confirm it. Try to reproduce the conditions again that caused the vibration mine was light throttle application, going up a slight incline at 100kph in 8th. Note down the conditions, have the passenger record it (video will give you voice as well to comment on RPM, gear, throttle position any thing else. A clear container of water sitting on the console in the video focus before during and after might give a clear indication of the severity of the vibration) on their phone if you can, then use the paddles to swap gears and see if it stops, try without the trailer, and/or for a short test leave the trailer unplugged, this will deactivate the trailer towing mode, hence change the gearbox parameters, but still provide the load. The goal is to be able to find the conditions that can reproduce the vibration.
Hope this is of use..............Peter

[Nicky]

Was your problem constant and as harsh as the OP has described? I also have a slight vibration when towing, however it is not consistent/constant and not particularly bad.

Worst between 75 and 95 kmph