Wheel wobble

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
not necessarily.

if you ask them to change a brake light bulb, do you expect them to check wheel bearings, brake pad thickness etc?

Totally not related. If a garage was to rebuild a gearbox due to a damaged sincro I would expect them to not only fix the problem but also advise on any other problems that they may have found. Whether you choose to act upon the finings is a different matter. It's called good customer practice.
 
Surely as part of a bearing replacement you would check wheel play post fitment??? No???
I would be inclined to check pre-fitment.... but then the OP said.....
Having done some pre MOT checks myself I had identified that both front wheels had excessive play (gripping tyre top and bottom and at both sides and rocking). So i decided to put my Landy in to a reputable specialist for new wheel bearings

I am sure lots of businesses are ****ed off with customers coming in for one fault and then blaming the business for other faults which show up immediately afterwards, some of which have no link to the original fault!

the OP stated that he had checked and then "put my Landy in to a reputable specialist for new wheel bearings".. maybe they thought he was going to do the swivel bearings, maybe not.
I would suggest he has a polite discussion with them and see what they say. Not shout at them and blame them for not fixing faults that they might be unaware of. He could always ask the Q you posted.
 
you dont know how they did it, so you cannot know they would have seen it.

There is only one way you can change a wheel bearing, fair enough with the wheel off play wont be easy to spot but when I was on the tools if a motor came in needing a wheel bearing the first thing I would do is make sure it is actually a wheel bearing it needs, its common practice, during this procedure of checking for play in a wheel bearing any play in a tractor joint would be immediately noticeable, any mechanic worth his salt will do this check and relay his findings to his boss. I cant see them thinking the customer would be doing the swivel, that means the customer would be partly stripping down the hub anyway to check the pre load.

This is one of two things as far as I can see, lack of communication or the garage is needing the return work.
 
Just to add, I know a few ''reputable specialists'' that are as crooked as a 7 pound note, and to be honest most garages are, they have to pay their wages somehow and when things are slow things get slippery.
 
There is only one way you can change a wheel bearing, fair enough with the wheel off play wont be easy to spot but when I was on the tools if a motor came in needing a wheel bearing the first thing I would do is make sure it is actually a wheel bearing it needs, its common practice, during this procedure of checking for play in a wheel bearing any play in a tractor joint would be immediately noticeable, any mechanic worth his salt will do this check and relay his findings to his boss. I cant see them thinking the customer would be doing the swivel, that means the customer would be partly stripping down the hub anyway to check the pre load.

This is one of two things as far as I can see, lack of communication or the garage is needing the return work.

I agree that the garage should have noticed it and informed the customer prior to any work, but I wouldnt be surprised if they say " we did what you asked". If so, I suggests he finds a better garage.
 
I agree that the garage should have noticed it and informed the customer prior to any work, but I wouldnt be surprised if they say " we did what you asked". If so, I suggests he finds a better garage.

Exactamundo, if its the swivels he cant really do much about it, if on the other hand it is the bearings then they need to put it right. They probably wouldnt inform the customer prior to any work, doing them selves out of a couple of hours labour and 20 percent or what ever they charge on parts but they should have said something, or perhaps they just couldn't be arsed to do the checks in the first place. They might have thought the customer was doing preventative maintenance or basically wan*ing his motor with money by doing both bearings, most people only do one, so there was no need to check.
 
Morale of this story is dont tell the garage what the remedy is, tell them the symptoms and ask them to diagnose the problem for you and a remedy for you to agree the work.
They carried out the work you requested.
You would not self diagnose and go to your doctor and tell him you need your appendix removed because you have a tummy ache then complain that you still have a tummy ache because it was not your appendix.
You explain the sympoms and hope he can diagnose the problem and provide treatment.
 
Morale of this story is dont tell the garage what the remedy is, tell them the symptoms and ask them to diagnose the problem for you and a remedy for you to agree the work.
They carried out the work you requested.
You would not self diagnose and go to your doctor and tell him you need your appendix removed because you have a tummy ache then complain that you still have a tummy ache because it was not your appendix.
You explain the sympoms and hope he can diagnose the problem and provide treatment.
+1 for that advice.
 
Just checked and its definitely top to bottom albeit both wheels were not of the ground if that makes any difference.
My OneTen recently failed her MoT on excessive play in swivel bush, this is the wobble at top and bottom ( 12 o/c & 6 o/c ). This was remedied by removing 1 shim ( Railko bush top ) and resetting swivel preload. Wobble gone, MoT passed.
 
I've now had new stub axles, wheel bearings and uprated steering bars and track rod ends. I'm having a new steering box fitted this Friday followed by new swivels. So given that the Landy is 23yrs old I'm not going to get too upset as she will then have a completely overhauled steering setup that should then last me a good few more years - 'touch wood'. I suppose there are lessons to be learnt but at the end of the day the old girl will be sorted.
 
I replaced the bearings initially as the offside was shot and when I noticed the bearing shells were damaged i then checked the wheel play and hence put it down solely to the bearings when in actual fact it was probably a little bit of both the bearings and the swivels. The steering box is being replaced as it has had a small leak for quite some time. It will be nice when it will be all done as the whole steering setup will have had a complete overhaul. I've still got polybushes to fit on my front radius arms but the rears have already been done. Galvanised chassis next year and some underbody protection and I'll be done. She will definitely be a keeper then!
 
I replaced the bearings initially as the offside was shot and when I noticed the bearing shells were damaged i then checked the wheel play and hence put it down solely to the bearings when in actual fact it was probably a little bit of both the bearings and the swivels. The steering box is being replaced as it has had a small leak for quite some time. It will be nice when it will be all done as the whole steering setup will have had a complete overhaul. I've still got polybushes to fit on my front radius arms but the rears have already been done. Galvanised chassis next year and some underbody protection and I'll be done. She will definitely be a keeper then!
Just a heads up. Leaking steering boxes are pretty normal. And a 90 will never be a sports car. Not trying to put you off. But if you are part of the new age blinged up Defender owners, then you may get feb up chasing things on such a vehicle.
 
lol I've owned my Defender for 7 years. Have been around Defenders all my life what with my father having owned them during my childhood and my brother also having owned one for over 10years. I appreciate it isn't likely to be a new age blinded up vehicle and that why I have a 500BHP sports car as my summer drive/track car. However, there is nothing wrong with treating the Landy to some TLC and trying to preserve the vehicle for as long as possible to the best of my abilities. It had all new steel doors last year and a full respray so it only seems fitting that it gets the chassis it deserves. The leaking steering box is a known issue but also an MOT failure so in order to keep the vehicle on the road it is a necessity rather that a nice to have.

Also having been around Defenders all my life it will take more than wobbly wheels to put me off! ;)
 
Back
Top