Steering Wobbles

[Mudnut]

My steering is becoming a bit sloppy when going over bumps. I will have the TD5 Defender in for a service within 2-3000k. At this time will try and get this sorted. What to replace?? Genuine or aftermarket bushes?? Will also replace the front springs with heavy duty ones, to bring it up to normal ride height (sagging due to bull bar, and winch). Might even fit some new shocks all around, as I am coming up to 90,000k on original ones.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ken

[samuelclarke]

I would also check your steering universal joints for play...I replaced mine a week ago and it's like a different car! Steering is exact and responsive! (OK, so it's still not a sports car :angel: )

[BigJon]

If you do a search there is a lot of information on this site.

Briefly,

steering wobbles are caused by bushes, tie rod ends, swivel bearing preload, steering damper, worn tyres, worn steering box, loose pitman arm and possibly other factors.

You need to pinpoint the fault and rectify it.

[JDNSW]

I would check swivel preload, wheel bearings and tie rod ends. Probably also worth checking wheel balance.

John

[camel_landy]

Wot they all said... You need to identify the problem rather than just randomly replace things (though panhard rod bushes should be high on the list of suspects).

I've had a couple of wobbles in the past, the current one has taken me a while to identify but have just found that the drop arm ball joint is FUBAR (with some additional play in one of the drag links).

HTH

M

[JDNSW]

Wot they all said... You need to identify the problem rather than just randomly replace things (though panhard rod bushes should be high on the list of suspects).
.......

Well put - don't just replace things - everything can be checked fairly easily. When you say wobble - do you simply mean wander? If this is the case, look at anything that allows the wheels to change the direction they are pointing without steering input - any free play in the steering (includes panhard rod bushes, but also includes things such as the steering box mounting bolts), and also anything that allows either front or rear axle to move where it shouldn't - almost all the suspension bushes. But check what it is, otherwise you are wasting money.

John

[PAT303]

Swivel pre-load and panhard bushes is where I'd start. Pat

[Mudnut]

Thanks for all the expedient replies!! This is why I love this site. I am a bit of a mechanical novice, and I don't just want to take the car to a mechanic and say fix it. I want to know what is going wrong in the first place. My gut say's to stick with LR parts, when I do replace bushes/parts, (except maybe Bilstine shocks) as they have lasted 90,000k so far.

Keep the information coming.

Ken