Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Rock and Roll

  1. #1
    Cutch Guest

    Rock and Roll

    Hi all,

    My DS has developed a very disconcerting rock and squirm. It seems to only happen in sweeping right hand bends. It's as if the driver is sawing at the steering wheel through the corner. Reminds of a 70's RR! It's most noticeable on smooth roads including freeway, bumpy roads seem to mask the motion but it's still there.

    Tyre pressures and wheel alignment are ok. It doesn't do it all the time, maybe half a dozen times in my regular 250 km trip. My son borrowed the car and had the same experience. It freaks the passengers who also feel it. It's been bad enough to frighten me a couple of times and I don't frighten easily. (I race cars)

    Any ideas on the cause? The only one I can think of is a failed shock absorber. The dealer says he can't look at it for 2 and half weeks even when I explained it's a safety issue. Not happy about that!

    The car's done just over 80k kms.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Free Again Thanks Dan
    Posts
    10,148
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by Cutch View Post
    Hi all,

    My DS has developed a very disconcerting rock and squirm. It seems to only happen in sweeping right hand bends. It's as if the driver is sawing at the steering wheel through the corner. Reminds of a 70's RR! It's most noticeable on smooth roads including freeway, bumpy roads seem to mask the motion but it's still there.

    Tyre pressures and wheel alignment are ok. It doesn't do it all the time, maybe half a dozen times in my regular 250 km trip. My son borrowed the car and had the same experience. It freaks the passengers who also feel it. It's been bad enough to frighten me a couple of times and I don't frighten easily. (I race cars)

    Any ideas on the cause? The only one I can think of is a failed shock absorber. The dealer says he can't look at it for 2 and half weeks even when I explained it's a safety issue. Not happy about that!

    The car's done just over 80k kms.
    It is obviously a serious issue that by sounds could easily go pear shaped very quickly for the untrained
    .
    Personally id be seeking out someone else to check over it asap and dont drive it for the sake of your family and others on the road

  3. #3
    Cutch Guest
    Well, LR came to the party! I called roadside assist as the advice was not to drive it. They sent the NRMA who organised a tow truck to the dealer and then for a hire car to be delivered to me, all at LR expense. Is that why LR's are so expensive?

    I've been told the problem is worn rear control arm bushes on both sides and they are being replaced, I assume under warranty.

    All very good so far. But ... this is unexpected at 80k kms. Not good. Yes, the car travels on secondary country roads and the weekly trip includes a few km's of gravel and a couple of river crossings on concrete causeways. And I have a reputation as a revhead.

    But I don't think this acceptable. Going on previous experience with FL2 I can expect tie rod ends around 130k kms and maintenance escalates after that. The old RR's and Discos had their share of niggling faults but they were very robust. It seems that no longer is the case.

  4. #4
    Cutch Guest
    Picked the car up our way to the country house for an extended weekend. Heading up the freeway guess what? Yes the problem was still there, only worse. At one point the sway on a straight bit of freeway at the speed limit was bad enough to set off the stability control.

    We didn't really have an option but to carry on at reduced speed. In the opinion of an anonymous person at an anonymous dealer these cars are ok on sand and slow speeds on gravel. Any more arduous use will see premature failure of bits. That's not why I bought my 7th LR. Sure I respect that the DS is a soft roader but I didn't expect it to be that soft. Even my previous FL2 didn't start to fall to bits until about 150k kms.

  5. #5
    Cutch Guest
    The problem is eventually solved by a new right rear hub at Land Rover's expense. The problem was not only control arms but the bush in the hub. But the bush is not available separately, replace the hub at around $1k parts only. Effectively a rear suspension rebuild at 80K kms! And how long before the left hub needs replacement?

    Despite the fact that Land Rover did this under warranty and they and the dealer provided replacement cars I'm our of here. 7 Land Rovers over more than 35 years with only a 2 year break due to a company car and at least 800k kms they've lost me. Nearly all had done well over 200k kms before needing replacement.

    But they've turned into over priced urban **** cars. Can't cope with regular use on a gravel road? Not what I need. The DS is heading for trade in on something more robust before it runs out of warranty.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Brisbane,some of the time.
    Posts
    13,641
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Many on here have found the same.

    All they produce are very expensive to maintain,highly complicated, urban upmarket runabouts.

    Or what you could say is lots of Range Rovers,that all look very similar, in different shapes and sizes.

    I need to move my D4 on,but after 20yrs of LR's,all bought new, they have nothing that suits our needs.
    Paul

    D2,D2,D2a,D4,'09 Defender 110(sons), all moved on.

    '56 S1,been in the family since...'56
    Comes out of hibernation every few months for a run

  7. #7
    Cutch Guest
    Well, I have a quiet night with nothing to do so I thought I might share a few thoughts. The DS is gone about a month ago replaced with a Ford Everest second hand for a change-over of $9000 or 10,000 if I take take the tow bar into account. The 'new' car has done 11k kms, about 3 months driving for me.

    Comparison? Well you know you're driving something heavier and more robust. It has a gruff roar accelerating off the line that I find unpleasant but once into third gear has a nice off beat sound. Certainly hasn't the performance sparkle of the DS SD4 but gets going well enough. To compensate it doesn't have the appalling turbo / gearbox lag of the Disco. Ride and handling seem similar but I'm still learning it and it's on the original road biased tyres. And it's quieter on the freeway.

    On gravel it's better, there's immediate throttle response and with permanent 4wd it doesn't wash out at the front when the power eventually arrives as in the Disco. Gravel ride is better and off road of course no comparison.

    It's bigger, has 7 seats with a full size spare although seems to have a similarly inadequate jack. (I'm sensitive to this, not long ago had 5 punctures in two weeks). Equipment levels are different in detail but overall similar. I'm loving adaptive cruise control!

    Overall I'm pleased. Biggest downs are the acceleration downgrade and gruff sound off the mark. Compensated by lack of turbo lag that I had decided I wouldn't tolerate any longer after the DS. It had become a show stopper for me. My recent temporary replacement Ingenium wasn't any better. The ups are a more solid feel and gravel road ride and of course a feeling that it can cope with gravel roads and has real off road ability. I'm thinking of it more as a D2 replacement.

    So Mr Land Rover .. I haven't deserted you, you've deserted me.

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Search AULRO.com ONLY!
Search All the Web!