Thread: P38 Shake, Rattle and Roll Advise

Mine had that problem when I bought it. Got a wheel balance and is now all good. Must have thrown a weight before I got it!

It's called "death rattle" on other fora Seems to be multi-causal... ball joints (especially); front bushes; wheel balance and alignment, and even the health of the front/rear universal joints...they can all add to the problem. At 260k km ... seems about right time, depending on how the vehicle's been used/maintained. Others will claim a zillion miles on the clock with no such effects...etc . Not helpful! Strongly suggest you take a methodical approach and go through and check all of the above....
There are detailed instructions with pictures re. ball joint replacement on RANGEROVERS.NET HOME . Use the specialised google search facility on this forum and rr.net as above. for more details

Check your panhard rod bushes on the front .have a look when under car and someone moves the steering wheel side to side. It will be pretty obvious where the problem is if they are worn . Had death wobble in mine a while back when car was high 200 k kms. Not hard to replace.

can anyone recommend a good front end specialist in the western suburbs of Melbourne

I now have this happening as well

It only happens at a around 90Ks and if I hit a small bump I can feel a little vibration which builds to a very bad shake

Thing is it only started AFTER a wheel alignment was done

I then took it back and had a wheel balance done, which seemed to improve things slightly but now I have a different vibration at around 100ks

Ball Joints look and are pretty newish, all front end bushes are new, track rod and drag link fairly new.

I can feel a little movement there and am wondering about the ball joint on the drop arm as suggested below

I found this list on another forum and am not marking these items off

1) tyre pressures correct.
2) no play in wheel bearings or ball joints special attention to the drop arm ball joint.
3) wheels are tight! on the old tyres were there any uneven wear?
4) have the props been greased?
5) are the engine mounting all ok and the transmission mountings
6) Are the bushes ok are the fixing bolts ok

I can answer yes to 1, most of 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Any further suggestions welcome!

Steve

where is the shake ? is it in the steering wheel or body ? is it coming from the front or rear ? does it change if you backoff or accelerate ? does it decrease if you go faster ? what makes the shake stop ?
you could try changing your tyres front to rear.
Has the alignment been rechecked ?
Have you put a jack under the lower wishbone and checked the wheel for movement ?

Mine started doing this with the 18s I had on for the LR Expo. The front tyres were about 2/3 worn but even as they were the rears on our other P38.


If it was in a RRC or D1, you'd swear blind it was preload shimmy.


It was perfect with the wheels/tyres the car came with but they're not very nice wheels. With another set of 16s with decent tyres, I'm getting a slight vibration but I can feel it's on the verge of shimmy.




I didn't crank up the panhard rod bolts as tightly as they were done originally so I'll start there.

Originally Posted by ian4002000

where is the shake ? is it in the steering wheel or body ? is it coming from the front or rear ? does it change if you backoff or accelerate ? does it decrease if you go faster ? what makes the shake stop ?
you could try changing your tyres front to rear.
Has the alignment been rechecked ?
Have you put a jack under the lower wishbone and checked the wheel for movement ?

Hi Mate

It started in the front when I hit a small bump at any speed over about 80K

I fixed the death rattle by adjusting the freeplay in my steering box with the locknut and setscrew on the top of the box. There was a small amount of play there which allowed the vibration to amplify out of control.

The vibration is still there but it no longer goes into a death rattle.

A Jax tyre place has done a very weird looking wheel balance with up to 130 gms on some wheels! I am taking it to Pedders tomorrow morning for a report I suspect I will be asking Jax for my money back

Steve