I went off road and broke my steering damper. Fitted a new heavy duty one. Drove for first time last night and coming down dual carrage way my steering/front end started to vibrate and judder really bad opened one side of my bonnet. Slowed right down and stopped then continued my journey it didnt do it again for about 6 miles then it happened again happens more over 65/70mph and its more stiffer/shakey over bumps any ideas?
Bromsgrove Defender
Well-Known Member
Soooo tempted to say go and film it and post it on here BUT FFS
Sumat else is broken I'd say
disco300tdidom
New Member
Does it have big tyres? Sounds daft but I had the same problem on my old disco
disco300tdidom
New Member
Jack the car up and check the swivel bearings
disco300tdidom
New Member
Yes jack the car up, get a firm grit on the top amd bottom of the wheel and give it a good shake there shouldn't be any play
Mr Noisy
Coming in your ears.
It's called death wobble and is very common.
Tighten your swivel balls, that's the best solution.
LR steering dampers are probably tuned to the correct frequency whereas aftermarkets may not be.
Mine does it completely randomly and has done for years throughout numerous setups.
Tight swivels works best
Tighten your swivel balls, that's the best solution.
LR steering dampers are probably tuned to the correct frequency whereas aftermarkets may not be.
Mine does it completely randomly and has done for years throughout numerous setups.
Tight swivels works best
West Slope Rover
Well-Known Member
Death wobble is one of the many joys of coil sprung Landys. Most often it is due to bad panhard rod bushings and improper swivel pin tension, but can be the result of a combination of things like worn dampers, weird tyre wear, a worn out steering box and bad ball joints. When mine went south, it turned out to be a combo of problems.
Check the panhard bushes for play. There should be none. Give your cross rod and drag link a shake to see if there is any slop in any of the ball joints, or have somebody give the wheel some back and forth action while you are under the beast and and look and listen for play. With the front of the car on stands, check for play in your wheel bearings and swivel. Grab the tyre at 9 oclock and 3 oclock and see if you can feel play when you give it a back and forth. Then grab it at 12 and 6 and give it a shake. If you feel slop in both positions then you have wheel bearing issues, but if you feel slop at the top and bottom the you most likely have swivel pin issues. To fix that you need to remove some shims on the upper swivel pins (if there are any left).
A steering damper replacement alone will not solve the problem if you have the other problems.
Check the panhard bushes for play. There should be none. Give your cross rod and drag link a shake to see if there is any slop in any of the ball joints, or have somebody give the wheel some back and forth action while you are under the beast and and look and listen for play. With the front of the car on stands, check for play in your wheel bearings and swivel. Grab the tyre at 9 oclock and 3 oclock and see if you can feel play when you give it a back and forth. Then grab it at 12 and 6 and give it a shake. If you feel slop in both positions then you have wheel bearing issues, but if you feel slop at the top and bottom the you most likely have swivel pin issues. To fix that you need to remove some shims on the upper swivel pins (if there are any left).
A steering damper replacement alone will not solve the problem if you have the other problems.
blue beasty
Leaks an prone to bits dropping off
Welcome back WSR, thought the spooks had got ya
West Slope Rover
Well-Known Member
Thanks BB.
West Slope Rover
Well-Known Member
When swivel pins are loose they can allow stuff to dribble out. In fact, when and if you increase the tension on the pins by removing shims, put a container under the ball because as the tension is released on the pin, it oozes.
Mr Noisy
Coming in your ears.
Hey WSR
Mostly mine is fine and in fact drove to wales just great last weekend with no trouble.
Pretty much immediately after a couple of easy lanes it developed wobble at 40-45mph
this lasted all day!
I am meticulous with my car and it has no play because on -50mm offset wheels the wobble has always been prevalent and powerful.
It had some new balls joints just months ago, the others are perfect, new adjustable panhard rod with rose joint last year, steering damper has done around 1000 miles (mainly offroad) etc etc and yet i was still having trouble
finally narrowed it down to panhard rod bolts that were worn and giving slop so i fitted new ones and this improved things generally.
when the death wobble returned last weekend i was surprised but overall just thought 'meh' and will deal with it, no doubt it will go away as suddenly as it arrived!
Mostly mine is fine and in fact drove to wales just great last weekend with no trouble.
Pretty much immediately after a couple of easy lanes it developed wobble at 40-45mph
this lasted all day!
I am meticulous with my car and it has no play because on -50mm offset wheels the wobble has always been prevalent and powerful.
It had some new balls joints just months ago, the others are perfect, new adjustable panhard rod with rose joint last year, steering damper has done around 1000 miles (mainly offroad) etc etc and yet i was still having trouble
finally narrowed it down to panhard rod bolts that were worn and giving slop so i fitted new ones and this improved things generally.
when the death wobble returned last weekend i was surprised but overall just thought 'meh' and will deal with it, no doubt it will go away as suddenly as it arrived!
right everything looks good but i think i have found a mixturre of 2 things 1: drivers side i have play in the swivel and passenger side the swivel has no play but the wheel and brake disc have play so could it be swivel bearings drivers side and wheel bearing passenger side perhaps here is a crap vid of swivel and wheel bearing??
classic kev
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you need to be stripping down both front hubs and checking the bearings and swivels ASAP. There is nothing good about sloppy brake discs - this indicates a shot wheel bearing, fix immediately!
disco300tdidom
New Member
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s2id4_VcJ54
Its simple enough just hope your bearings aren't as bad as the ones I changed on my old 300tdi. I had to attack them with a grinder!
Its simple enough just hope your bearings aren't as bad as the ones I changed on my old 300tdi. I had to attack them with a grinder!
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