Steering Shudder

[Teddy]

Afternoon All,

I have a 2001 Defender Extreme and have noticed that recently when going around a bend if I hit a bump I get a shudder in the sitting wheel? It doesn’t appear as bad if you are travelling straight but you can notice it just. Is this the steer damper telling me it’s had enough or something else? A part for this the truck handles fine and I had the dampers on all four corners checked recently to be told they are fine. The system is an OME which I have had on the truck for approx 2 years.

Cheers

Ian

[rijidij]

I had a '99 Extreme for a while and it did a similar thing, front end/steering wheel shake when I hit a decent bump on the road. I never bothered really looking into it, but the previous owner said it did the same thing in the past. He said replacing the steering damper solved the problem.
In 15 years, I've never had the same problem with my '88 County (still has original damper), or my '96 Defender 130 (had brand new OME damper when I bought it)

Another possible cause is worn suspension bushes. If it happens mainly when cornering, pay particular attention to the panhard rod bushes which, if worn, will allow the front axle to move from side to side.

Murray

[Teddy]

Thanks Murray. I just checked the panhard bushes and I can’t get any movement out of them so I guess I need a new steering damper.

Cheers

Ian

[I Love My Landy!]

It could be your steering damper, but also check for any play in your tie rod ends. I had this same problem and fixed it by fitting new tie rod ends.

Edward

[Blknight.aus]

can also be wheel bearings.

[Robocop]

I had/have the same issue. It seems to occur when I am on a right hand bend usually on the highway or 80 + kph. I changed the front wheel bearings, nil change, then changed the steering damper, most of the play had gone. I did notice when changing the steering damper there appeared to be a reasonable amount of play in the tie rod ends. I'm looking into other areas the damper can be affixed to.

Cheers

[JDNSW]

For this sort of problem the first thing to look at is the swivel preload, and after that free play anywhere in the front end - tie rod ends, bushes, wheel bearings, then wheel balance. And finally, perhaps the steering damper.

The primary role of the steering damper is to prevent severe kickback in offroad conditions, although this is also helped by the power steering. Stopping oscillations of the steering is only a secondary role for it - which should not be necessary if everything else is OK.

John