Just thought I’d share the nightmare of fixing my death wobble, so it might help others
I have an old 90, I’ve been driving for years and one I’ve just completely rebuilt the chassis on
The new rebuild with all new springs, steering and bushes would not drive over 40 without the wheels suddenly feeling like they are going to fall off all at once from violent vibration (death wobble).
Done lots of searching on here, Jeep forums and other truck forums and the summary seems to be:
When a slight ripple/bump in the road is taking the load off the front wheels a little it lets them start flapping about a bit due to any looseness in what’s holding them straight.
Not the same as wheel vibration due to wheel out-of balance, as this tends to be at a very consistent speed of resonance, generally higher speeds and goes if you change speed.
- Out of balance wheels might make the issue worse, but they are not the route cause
- It looks likely that if steering trackrods are worn they will let the wheels flap so definitely check these first and replace (they’re the cheap to replace if in any doubt).
- Loose hub bearings are certainly a common cause (possibly the number one?). If the judder goes when you brake, then it is not the wheel bearing, but the swivel bearings.
- steering dampers only hide the problem to some extent
- play in the steering box or UJs has been sited as a cause, though I struggle to see how this would let the wheels flap independently to get the wobble, and my old steering was as loose as hell without wobble?
My issue was the swivel bearings
I tried 3 sets of wheels with the same results, to a greater or lesser scale.
I found there to be play in the swivels (clunk of the wheel when rocking them top-to-bottom).
I have old style shimmed top swivel bearing, and couldn’t get rid of the play completely even with all shims removed.
As I wanted to be sure it was set-up perfectly, I had a very reputable specialist replace the swivel balls completely for me……and they made it worse!
They told me to replace the already renewed hockey bushes as supposedly they could see some play in them on the axle mounts
I replaced the bushes again - no difference.
I then found that my older Landrover had completely knackered hockey bushes with loads of play (that has no wobble at all driving at upto 70).
I fitted the proven wheels off the old Landrover (though I know they aren’t balanced as they are galvanised) onto the new-build, in the exact same orientation and the wobble was still the same
Then I found that the new swivel bearings were looser than the old ones had been!
I had the specialist re-check the swivels, though they insisted the swivels would make no difference to the wobble.
The specialist reset the swivels but said the wobble was still there and blamed my out of balance wheels as fitting brand new wheels apparently cured it completely, and despite me explaining that my wheels drove perfectly on the other Landrover.
I took the Landrover home and found it actually to be a lot better, but still trying to wobble.
I checked and the swivels were better but still possibly a tiny bit of play.
I got another well time served specialist to check the swivels, who found them still to be too loose, so they re-set the swivels.
The Landrover now drives perfect with the unbalanced wheels at any speed up to 70 without any wobble.
in conclusion I’d say if in any doubt I’d say always check and re-check the swivels and if you think you’ve exhausted all possibilities and all else fails I’d be inclined to risk nipping the swivels up slightly tighter than spec to see if this cures your problem.
Alternatively, if you can live with swapping to standard road tyres on pristine balanced wheels and changing them for new tyres after any significant wear…..maybe that might cover up your problem and might work for you?
Hope this is of help to others out there
I have an old 90, I’ve been driving for years and one I’ve just completely rebuilt the chassis on
The new rebuild with all new springs, steering and bushes would not drive over 40 without the wheels suddenly feeling like they are going to fall off all at once from violent vibration (death wobble).
Done lots of searching on here, Jeep forums and other truck forums and the summary seems to be:
When a slight ripple/bump in the road is taking the load off the front wheels a little it lets them start flapping about a bit due to any looseness in what’s holding them straight.
Not the same as wheel vibration due to wheel out-of balance, as this tends to be at a very consistent speed of resonance, generally higher speeds and goes if you change speed.
- Out of balance wheels might make the issue worse, but they are not the route cause
- It looks likely that if steering trackrods are worn they will let the wheels flap so definitely check these first and replace (they’re the cheap to replace if in any doubt).
- Loose hub bearings are certainly a common cause (possibly the number one?). If the judder goes when you brake, then it is not the wheel bearing, but the swivel bearings.
- steering dampers only hide the problem to some extent
- play in the steering box or UJs has been sited as a cause, though I struggle to see how this would let the wheels flap independently to get the wobble, and my old steering was as loose as hell without wobble?
My issue was the swivel bearings
I tried 3 sets of wheels with the same results, to a greater or lesser scale.
I found there to be play in the swivels (clunk of the wheel when rocking them top-to-bottom).
I have old style shimmed top swivel bearing, and couldn’t get rid of the play completely even with all shims removed.
As I wanted to be sure it was set-up perfectly, I had a very reputable specialist replace the swivel balls completely for me……and they made it worse!
They told me to replace the already renewed hockey bushes as supposedly they could see some play in them on the axle mounts
I replaced the bushes again - no difference.
I then found that my older Landrover had completely knackered hockey bushes with loads of play (that has no wobble at all driving at upto 70).
I fitted the proven wheels off the old Landrover (though I know they aren’t balanced as they are galvanised) onto the new-build, in the exact same orientation and the wobble was still the same
Then I found that the new swivel bearings were looser than the old ones had been!
I had the specialist re-check the swivels, though they insisted the swivels would make no difference to the wobble.
The specialist reset the swivels but said the wobble was still there and blamed my out of balance wheels as fitting brand new wheels apparently cured it completely, and despite me explaining that my wheels drove perfectly on the other Landrover.
I took the Landrover home and found it actually to be a lot better, but still trying to wobble.
I checked and the swivels were better but still possibly a tiny bit of play.
I got another well time served specialist to check the swivels, who found them still to be too loose, so they re-set the swivels.
The Landrover now drives perfect with the unbalanced wheels at any speed up to 70 without any wobble.
in conclusion I’d say if in any doubt I’d say always check and re-check the swivels and if you think you’ve exhausted all possibilities and all else fails I’d be inclined to risk nipping the swivels up slightly tighter than spec to see if this cures your problem.
Alternatively, if you can live with swapping to standard road tyres on pristine balanced wheels and changing them for new tyres after any significant wear…..maybe that might cover up your problem and might work for you?
Hope this is of help to others out there
