Vibration or shaking of the steering wheel

[Disco_Momma]

I have been experiencing a vibration or shaking of the steering wheel for some time now. I thought that it was related to the tires (being out of alignment, needing to be balanced). I got the tires balanced and aligned, it was still happening, so I ruled those out.

It is still happening so I looked in my holy bible of Land Rover Discovery Shop Manual and came to the conclusion that it could be one of three things.

A. The fixings that reside at the differential case bracket and the track rod bracket are worn and old.

B. The steering damper is going bad or already there.

C. Both A and B

Now.....if the answer is C, are these the particular parts (mentioned on answer A and B) that are included in a steering damper kit (that is mentioned here and there on this website and others for sale under parts).

And.....is this a good theory......opinions anyone?

And....if it is a good theory......is it an easy fix?

K thanks guys!

 

[DiscoJen]

Hey Alice! When do you get the vibrations? Is it all the time, or when you hit a bump your wheel shakes violently?

My shake was the swivel pin preload and described as a violent shake after hitting a bump, or the wheel jerking out of my hand when hitting a bump. The more off my preload became, the worse my shaking was. It turned into the famous "death wobble" before I finally figured it all out.

But more specific to your questions, the steering damper is very easy to replace and fairly inexpensive. I also replaced the tie rods ends which were a bit more work. It's a DYI job, but the ends can be pretty difficult to get off. I had to use a torch, a vise, and a big azz plumbers wrench. Several companies sell a tie rod rebuild kit which includes all 4 tie rods ends. There was a thread earlier this week regarding tie rods ends - check it out and it may answer some more of your questions.

Much luck,
Jen

 

[peter]

naybe you need new u-joints in your front driveshaft.

 

[01001010]

hmm...im experiencing the same thing...usually happens on highway curves, when there are bumps in'em, my wheel will vibrate like crazy until i straighten out again...i think it happened a couple times while goin straight and goin over a bump on the road...same symptoms you had Jen??

 

[Disco_Momma]

Hey Alice! When do you get the vibrations? Is it all the time, or when you hit a bump your wheel shakes violently?

My shake was the swivel pin preload and described as a violent shake after hitting a bump, or the wheel jerking out of my hand when hitting a bump. The more off my preload became, the worse my shaking was. It turned into the famous "death wobble" before I finally figured it all out.

But more specific to your questions, the steering damper is very easy to replace and fairly inexpensive. I also replaced the tie rods ends which were a bit more work. It's a DYI job, but the ends can be pretty difficult to get off. I had to use a torch, a vise, and a big azz plumbers wrench. Several companies sell a tie rod rebuild kit which includes all 4 tie rods ends. There was a thread earlier this week regarding tie rods ends - check it out and it may answer some more of your questions.

Much luck,
Jen

I forgot to tell you that, it shakes violently when I go over a bump. I will look more into your theory I think. The situations seem to much of the same. Thanks so much Jen for the tip.

 

[ptschram]

Ah, the search for the source of the elusive Death Wobbles.

Solving this requires a holistic approach to front end work. Yes, balancing the tires is the right place to start, but depending upon the mileage of your truck, you might also wish to consider replacing the front suspension bushings and shock absorbers, in addition to tie rods ends, steering stabilizer and swivel preload.

All of these components are interdependent upon one another to give us the road feel we deserve.

With regard to the tie rod ends, be aware that the tie rod ends can and often do seize up pretty tightly into their respective control arms. I have begun to quote replacement of the rods with each job given the likelihood the rods will be damaged in disassembly. Be prepared to have to replace the rods as well as the ends.

 

[Disco_Momma]

JEN

Where is the swivel pin preload located? Or do they refer to it as something different than that in most manuals?



I guess I am just going to have explore and check out all of these suggestions.

 

[DiscoJen]

Preload

Hmm, let's see if I can explain this properly.

On your front end, you'll find swivel balls at each end of the axle. This ball sits in a housing that is attached to the axle. There are pins at the top and the bottom of this ball that help hold it onto this housing while allowing it to "swivel". The top pin contains shims that maintain the preload (tightness in essence). Once the pin and it's bearing start to wear, you will lose this tightness and your steering gets wobbly - especially noticable over bumps.

The cure is usually to remove the top swivel pin, take out a thin shim or two, measure/set the correct preload and put it back together again hopefully with improvement.

I have some diagrams and a procedure that I can forward you if ya like.

Jen

p.s. someone please correct me if I'm not explaining it correctly

 

[Leigh]

Most likely with the violent shake over bumps it is your steering stabalizer expecially if it is original. The tie rods also go bad and can be difficult to change but do not need to be I did mine with a rented picle fork from autozone (Which is free if you return it) and used pb blaster. All four came out with too much trouble. Neither of these jobs are too tough you should be able to save yourslef a bundle by doing them. Make sure you get your alingnment done agian after the tie rods.

 

[Disco_Momma]

Jen,


That would be great if you could forward them to me. abreaux@tecmasters.com I somewhat understand what you are saying although my intimidation of working on my own truck again and not being able to find this on my diagrams in my manual are keeping me from fully understanding. I am a visual person. Thank you so much.

 

[Tedlou]

I went through this with my RRC. I did the swivel pin preload adjustments as per the manual, even put in new pin's and shimes. My truck still rattled my teeth loose after hitting a bump over 50 MPH. I replaced all 4 tie rod ends, same thing. I was ready to put the old girl out to pasture when I decided to replace the steering damper and the front shocks. This fixed the shakes. That was 4500 miles ago, and she still driver great. I did replace the rear shocks at the same time. I hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[apg]

Death wobbles

In my situation, I'd get the shakes after hitting a hole or bump, but only over 40 mph.

It was the panhard rod bushings. Indeed, the fixings on one end had come loose.

WRT replacing those bushings, the driver's side (at least on this side of the pond) has the bolt fitted bass ackwards. To remove the bloody bolt, you gotta pull off the whole bleedin' front end to get enough clearance. Or grab the angle grinder. Absolute idiocy to fit a bolt in that fashion.

Cheers

 

[kellymoe]

I strongly suggest you climb under the frontend and have someone move the wheel from side to side. Look at the panhard rod bushings. Is there movement? I chased down the wobbles for a year and was sure I checked the panhard from the get go. In the end I had bought all suspension, all new tie rod ends, rebuilt the steering swivel drop arm ball joint, adjusted the preload and had the wheels ballenced and aligned. Still I had the wobbles. Last week before leaving on a trip to Death Valley I had my 4 y/o son climb up and turn the wheel. It was a completley worn panhard bushing. When I took the rod off the inner sleeve and rubber fell right onto the ground Since I did not have time to purchase and replace it I stole the panhard off my wifes disco and put it on the 130. Problem solved. It is like a brand new car. I have to keep telling myself I needed to replace all that other stuff anyway, right? The panhard was somthing I thought I had checked from the begining but probably just did a visual without someone turning the wheel. Make sure you check it.

 

[96DiscoSE7]

hey alice

so in my rig i had the same issue, shakes violently when i hit a bump in the road, so i had a dealer look at it thinking that i was going to have to replace joints and dampener etc...... well after 5 minutes the service tech comes out and says all my components all in good working order...... the problem was there are two bolts that hold a braket on the passenger side / end of the dampener, well one was loose and the other was MISSING,
two new bolts and she is tracking and riding just perfectly..... so crawl under the truck and look for the two bolts at the bracket and see if they are worn/loose or missing.
i hope this helps -Andy

 

[antichrist]

Depending on how good the shop is that does it, having tires balanced might not fix an out of balance. Also, out of balance isn't the only tire issue that can cause steering shake. Badly worn tires can be balanced, but still cause shake, so can an out of round tire. A good check would be swap front to rear and see if that changes it.

Having said that, since your shake occurs when hitting a bump, the other steering components are probably at fault. Don't rely entirely on a new steering damper to solve the problem. With sound components, you should have few shakes even without a damper.

If you go to the FL rally, I'm sure Jen will be happy to fix your rover on site, she's become quite intimate with Disco front ends.

snip
With regard to the tie rod ends, be aware that the tie rod ends can and often do seize up pretty tightly into their respective control arms. I have begun to quote replacement of the rods with each job given the likelihood the rods will be damaged in disassembly. Be prepared to have to replace the rods as well as the ends.

Really? I've changed alot of tie rods, some on incredibly ancient Series rigs, and never had to replace the tube. Disco tie rod assemblies seem pretty much like the Series ones, except for the stupid two part track rod.

 

[DiscoJen]

Great idea Tom!

Yea Alice, get your butt down to North Florida April 22-24 for our annual Spring Rally. Check out www.floridalandroverclub.com for more information. On the front page of the site, there is schedule of events that you check out to see what you can make it down for. Kid and doggie friendly too. The adults are ok too, but please try to find a sitter if possible. I'll be happy to check it out too as I am a glutton for punishment.

Just like most everyone who has responded here, we've replaced just about everything on the front end of our trucks trying to figure out what has caused our steering problems. And we've all walked away with something different that actually fixed the problem. It never fails, it's always the last thing on my list of stuff to check that fixes mine...but I've learned (and cussed) a lot in the process.

I'll shoot you over the diagrams tonight, then you'll have a visual picture of the areas we've mentioned in here to check.

Jen

 

[Disco_Momma]

Well I guess that settles it I will have to just get under and check most of the front end. Thanks for the advice and theories guys and gals. Jen it would be great to see diagrams so I will be looking for them....thanks again.

I am always last minute on trips so who knows...I might be down there. I was also tossing up Tellico for that weeekend.

 

[ptschram]

Really? I've changed alot of tie rods, some on incredibly ancient Series rigs, and never had to replace the tube. Disco tie rod assemblies seem pretty much like the Series ones, except for the stupid two part track rod.

I have broken the threaded studs on the tie rod ends themselves. I've had the adjuster tube split. I even had a track rod pretzel on me when trying to disassemble it. When I got the smart idea to try to loosen one still attached to the truck, the tapered stud busted .

I now keep a pair in stock to reduce the time issue.

PT

 

[jsonova99]

I have this problem on my 2000 DII. Right around 50 mph the whell will wobble a bit, and if I hit the brakes, it wobbles considerably. At first I though it was a tire balance thing, but I had new tires put on and the problem never went away. The truck only has 57K miles on it, any thoughts?

 

[Disco_Momma]

I have this problem on my 2000 DII. Right around 50 mph the whell will wobble a bit, and if I hit the brakes, it wobbles considerably. At first I though it was a tire balance thing, but I had new tires put on and the problem never went away. The truck only has 57K miles on it, any thoughts?

I realized this morning (on the way to work) that the brakes play a major role in my truck. When I press the brakes the shaking only gets worse. I am not sure what it is. I thought for a little while that the ABS system was kicking in when it was not supposed to. Hopefully this weekend I will figure it all out.