Worlds worst wheel wobble

**martinozcmax** · 31st July 2008, 06:59 PM

I have got a major problem with my 93 Disco 200 tdi. I only noticed this after buying four new Nexen tyres. Now I know they aren't great tyres but they are black, legal, round and work fine on the freeway and boat ramp. I know it's considered sacrilegous by some but she doesn't do offroad at the moment anyway. I now believe the tyres aren't the issue. Read on if you are interested why.

I get a really really bad wobble on the front end, not just on the steering wheel, the whole front shakes violently at 85 km/h plus. First things first I took it back for a balance and had a bit of a go at the Tyrepower guys. Rebalanced and no joy. went back again, they reckoned the front wheel bearings were looser than they should be. $45 later the bearings were tighter but the wobble remained.

Back to Tyrepower, more abuse (gently given) and they found wear in the steering arm bushes, replaced all four bushes and $616 later I retested it. you guessed still cream crackered.

By now I was getting a wee bit (pommie understatement) annoyed. To cut a long story short, 3 more Tyrepower visits, two new rear shocks and a new rear diff pinion seal, new tie rod end as well as four new alloys bought on fleabay and resold at a loss later I am over $1,500 out of pocket and still have exactly the same f#&**g issue. The good news is at this rate I will soon have a new rebuilt 93 Disco 1.

The Tyrepower guys to their credit did try hard and have now convinced me it isn't the wheels or tyres. At my last visit they replaced the wheels with different ones with different make tyres on it and I had the same issue at 85+. I now think changing the tyres made the symptoms more obvious.

Took it off to Nick my local friendly mechanic and he came out on a test drive with me. He then crawled all over the underside. His prognosis is maybe a universal joint. He also reckons someone has taken off the prop shaft and refitted it misaligned which could cause this issue. ?? BS meter anyone ??

I'm sorry to rabbit on but as you can guess this is really starting to give me the irrits. Any advice from the gurus on here very gratefully accepted. Even if you want to extract the urine go ahead I'm immune, swmbo has given me heaps.

You can't miss me on the freeway, I'm the old fart with the AULRO stickers on the back doing 84 kph on the freeway between Melbourne and Geelong every weekend. Having had all my fillings shaken out I reckon slow is good for me, the environment and fuel consumption till I get it fixed !

Martin

**rovercare** · 31st July 2008, 07:02 PM

Panhard rod bushes, radius arm bushes, wheels loose, swivel bearing preload

**PhilipA** · 31st July 2008, 07:08 PM

Seeing you have replaced the tie rod ends and several sets of tyres, its pretty certain that the problem is slack in the Pivot bearings. these are the bearings that the wheels turn left and right on, and if they are loose the wheels can vary on "toe in " toe out" ie they shake like hell independent of each other.
I once had a shake so bad it blew the steering shaft seal right out of the box. The "mechanic" in Riyadh forgot to tighten the top bearing cap on the LH..
If it is this bad it is unlikely that you will get away with just retensioning them, so its a total job of new bearings, and a new pivot seal. If you are DIY look at the manual, or any Rover specialist will be able to quote you.
Regards Philip A

ATLandy · 31st July 2008, 07:08 PM

Hi ,

Your described wobble sound alot like " death wobble " from the Jeep people . Usually triggered by hitting an undulating surface at speed .
The usual culprit is the track bar or the pan hard rod which center the axle to the body . Check the bushes on your pan hard rod or if your truck is lifted , check if your axle is center to the body . You may need adjustable pan hard rod if its lifted .

**justinc** · 31st July 2008, 07:09 PM

Martin,

I will suggest checking the following;

Steering damper.(Fit a Bilstein one, they are fantastic.)
Swivel bearing preloads, Your vehicle is old enough to have a swivel overhaul done by now...
Front radius rod bushes, DO NOT use nolathane etc, factory rubber ones are fine. You have been warned.
Panhard rod bushes.(See above)
Tie bracket between steering box and panhard rod bracket for tightness.
Wheel alignment MUST be 0 to 2mm of TOE OUT. It is quite possible Tyrepower got it wrong, as all wheel alignment machine databases seem to say TOE IN for LR's. This will cause poor tracking at the least.

Don't panic, this is a common issue with some of the higher mileage/ aged vehicles, and it can be resolved. It is usually caused by one or more of the above.

JC

(!!!In the time it took me to type this reply, everyone else jumped in, hence the repetition!! You sure can type fast Matt!!)

**martinozcmax** · 31st July 2008, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by ATLandy

Hi ,

Your described wobble sound alot like " death wobble " from the Jeep people . Usually triggered by hitting an undulating surface at speed .
The usual culprit is the track bar or the pan hard rod which center the axle to the body . Check the bushes on your pan hard rod or if your truck is lifted , check if your axle is center to the body . You may need adjustable pan hard rod if its lifted .

It does always start or get much worse after I hit a bump, if I cross a bridges expansion joints it gets much worse. Thanks I'll get it checked out.

**rovercare** · 31st July 2008, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by justinc

Steering damper.(Fit a Bilstein one, they are fantastic.)

JC

Have to ping you on that one JC

, they will drive fine on the road without one, but become nasty in the bush, wo which my mate can attest, with his VERY swollen hand............shouldn't have had his thumb there in the first place, but that's another thing

**martinozcmax** · 31st July 2008, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by justinc

Martin,

I will suggest checking the following;

Steering damper.(Fit a Bilstein one, they are fantastic.)
Swivel bearing preloads, Your vehicle is old enough to have a swivel overhaul done by now...
Front radius rod bushes, DO NOT use nolathane etc, factory rubber ones are fine. You have been warned.
Panhard rod bushes.(See above)
Tie bracket between steering box and panhard rod bracket for tightness.
Wheel alignment MUST be 0 to 2mm of TOE OUT. It is quite possible Tyrepower got it wrong, as all wheel alignment machine databases seem to say TOE IN for LR's. This will cause poor tracking at the least.

Don't panic, this is a common issue with some of the higher mileage/ aged vehicles, and it can be resolved. It is usually caused by one or more of the above.

JC

(!!!In the time it took me to type this reply, everyone else jumped in, hence the repetition!! You sure can type fast Matt!!)

Thanks JC, she has done 460,000 k's so it's safe to say she is "run in" showing my age again.

I'll check those issues out.

**PAT303** · 31st July 2008, 09:26 PM

Pop the right hand side tie rod end off.If the wheel swings without any force it is the swivel bearings.I would change the panhard bushes as well and buy the guys at tyrepower a carton. Pat

**awabbit6** · 31st July 2008, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by PAT303

Pop the right hand side tie rod end off.If the wheel swings without any force it is the swivel bearings.I would change the panhard bushes as well and buy the guys at tyrepower a carton. Pat

I agree, it will be one or both of these.

When I bought my Disco, it had a terrible shake in it. 80% of the problem was caused by a loose panhard rod (fixed in less than 3 mins). 19% was loose swivel bearings. I still feel the remaining 1% on occasions.

Paul

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