Steering Wheel Violent Wobble at speed

Mike22 · Sep 14, 2012

Hi Guys

I need some urgent advice, in that I have been experiencing a violent steering wheel wobble between 60 mph - 70 - mph when I hit a bump or rut on the motorway.

The steering wheel wobbles violently forcing me to slow down to 50 mph to stop it, it is more noticeable at speed, this has started happening since I had the springs and shocks replaced all around the vehicle, including the steering damper.

Obviously this is a worrying development, when it first started happening I took it to the garage and asked the lad who carries out my yearly MOTs to check everything as he would conduct an MOT, however he couldnt find anything obvious that would lead to this happening or would fail an MOT.

So I am here to ask if an experienced Land Rover Mechanic can shed some light on what is causing the steering wheel to violently wobble?

Thanks for any replies.

Mike22
Landrover Discovery 1 V8i ES LPG.

classic kev · Sep 14, 2012

Do a search FFS. Look for death wobble,lots of posts.

You said

"The steering wheel wobbles violently forcing me to slow down to 50 mph to stop it, it is more noticeable at speed, this has started happening since I had the springs and shocks replaced all around the vehicle, including the steering damper."

Perhaps that's the clue - have you lifted it?

Mike22 · Sep 14, 2012

Hi Kev

No I have not lifted it, I requested the springs to be replaced were standard and Monro shocks all around the vehicle?

Mike22
Landrover Discovery 1 V8i ES LPG.

PembsLandy · Sep 14, 2012

Swivel preload at a guess

Mike22 · Sep 14, 2012

Hi

Thanks for the post, swivel preload, sorry I'm not mechanically minded, what causes that and how can the problem be fixed, I suppose a land rover technician could diagnose the fault and fix it, I know of an ex land rover tech but I have never had him fix anything to date.

Regards.

Mike22
Landrover Discovery 1 V8i ES LPG.

Mark L · Sep 14, 2012

My 'death wobble' was terrible before I diagnosed it - to the point it was undrivable.
Turned out to be a mixture of swivel pre-load and loose panhard rod.

Drives like new now.

Freediscoranger · Sep 14, 2012

mine was swivel pre load ( but replaced the swivel bearings anyway) and radius arm bushes. now polybushed. with a hint of front wheel bearing play. all adds to a stressful drive

thebiglad · Sep 15, 2012

Mike22 said:
Hi

Thanks for the post, swivel preload, sorry I'm not mechanically minded, what causes that and how can the problem be fixed, I suppose a land rover technician could diagnose the fault and fix it, I know of an ex land rover tech but I have never had him fix anything to date.

Regards.

Mike22
Landrover Discovery 1 V8i ES LPG.

Hi Mike just to give you a little background, the 'swivels' are the items that the front wheels bolts onto and it is them that pivot back and forth so you can steer the vehicle.

The swivels have bearings in them top and bottom and for the car to handle correctly, these bearings need to be adjusted/calibrated correctly so they don't jump about too much. This adjusting process is called pre-loading.

Please forgive me if my 'baby-talk' offends, but I'm just trying to give you simple pictures.

David

noiseboymart · Sep 15, 2012

thebiglad said:
Hi Mike just to give you a little background, the 'swivels' are the items that the front wheels bolts onto and it is them that pivot back and forth so you can steer the vehicle.

The swivels have bearings in them top and bottom and for the car to handle correctly, these bearings need to be adjusted/calibrated correctly so they don't jump about too much. This adjusting process is called pre-loading.

Please forgive me if my 'baby-talk' offends, but I'm just trying to give you simple pictures.

David

No simple terms are good.
Seen much about this problem on here my question is can you tell if you need to adjust the preload by jacking the wheel clear of the ground and wobbling it like you do for wheel bearings

thebiglad · Sep 15, 2012

noiseboymart said:
No simple terms are good.
Seen much about this problem on here my question is can you tell if you need to adjust the preload by jacking the wheel clear of the ground and wobbling it like you do for wheel bearings

OK two-part answer:

1. To check for wear in the swivel bearings, jack up each front wheel and grab it at 12 and 6 'o clock and rock between the two. If there is play, it automatically means the pre-load is out of spec as well as worn bearings and the two are linked.

2. To check for pre-load on it's own, you need to remove the large black seal scraper on the ball (situated on the inner side of each front hub), remove the track rod from both front hubs; then measure the "stiction" or degree of difficulty it takes to swing the wheel. This is usually done with a fishing-style spring balance.

It should register approx 5lbs or 2kgs of force to move it. Any less and you move towards insufficient pre-loads and 'wobble of death'.

The pre-load is adjusted by means of a series of 'shims' used in the assembly of the top swivel bearing - more shims, less pre-load.

Sometimes all it takes is to remove a shim or two to increase the pre-load, but to be honest for the costs of the bearings (£3-4 apiece) you are just as well putting new ones in.

Easy, huh?

Dave

Dippypud · Sep 15, 2012

PembsLandy said:
Swivel preload at a guess

Freediscoranger said:
mine was swivel pre load ( but replaced the swivel bearings anyway) and radius arm bushes. now polybushed. with a hint of front wheel bearing play. all adds to a stressful drive

Mark L said:
My 'death wobble' was terrible before I diagnosed it - to the point it was undrivable.
Turned out to be a mixture of swivel pre-load and loose panhard rod.

Drives like new now.

If you're doing / paying for the front wheel hubs to be sorted, do the bearings and swivels as a whole job, squirt of one-shot grease and jobs a good 'un.

and I found this for those who like their porn greasy...

Land Rover 90 - SWIVEL JOINT KIT - YouTube

Jim W. · Sep 16, 2012

@ Dippypud, good find on that video mate

@ Mike22, in the video at 2:52 that is most probably where your problem lies mate and that is what all the peeps here are talking about "swivel bearings/points" & "pre-load" etc.

Always check the obvious/easiest stuff first/too. Links, panhard etc. But since the MOT guy found nothing in that area my bet are the swivel-bearings.

good luck mate

Steering Wheel Violent Wobble at speed

Mike22

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classic kev

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Mike22

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PembsLandy

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Mike22

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Mark L

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Freediscoranger

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thebiglad

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noiseboymart

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thebiglad

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Dippypud

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