Death wobble...?!

[LtFuzz]

Okay, invoice in hand now... Panhard rod in parts column, torsion bar in labor portion. Alignment and tire rotation as well.

Did a twenty mile test ride at 80mph and she floats along like a butterfly. Steering box is much tighter and more responsive than I'm accustomed to. I'm happy.

 

[05LR3AZ]

Okay, invoice in hand now... Panhard rod in parts column, torsion bar in labor portion. Alignment and tire rotation as well.

Did a twenty mile test ride at 80mph and she floats along like a butterfly. Steering box is much tighter and more responsive than I'm accustomed to. I'm happy.

Glad you got it all worked out...I had the same issue twice this past year and Ian gave me that same laundry list of things to check. First time it was Radius Arms bushings (Obvious to me) and second time I couldn't for the life of me figure it out as everything checked out. Then I took out the panhard rod and replaced it with a spare (and new bushing) and figured out the old panhard rod had a bad bushing even though I couldn't tell that it budged.

 

[66rover99]

Sorry to jump in after the problem's been successfully solved, but I had a similar problem and discovered it was worn tie rod ends. The death wobble I had came on at 50 then went away around 60, and on the way back down it was like re-entering the atmosphere in the space shuttle. Not a lot of fun!

Dave

 

[usmcxd]

Thank God for this thread! I just bought a 97 D1, when i hit 60+mph it started to shutter..... little did i know how common the problem was until i looked at the forums...... to emphasize on the steering dampener covering up the problem, i have TWO, yes 2... one where the stock dampener is and one on the front that was put on by one of the previous owners (probably with the OME lift).

 

[The Rover Shop]

I have seen alot of disco 1's that have this problem and it is usually the panhard bushings or the upper and lower shock mounts seem to turn to jelly causing excessive play in the shock and allows a little vibration to gain momentum...

 

[Antichrist]

Just be systematic in the diagnosis.
With the wheels on the ground have someone move the steering wheel back and forth.
While they are doing that start with the steering wheel to steering gearbox shaft and find where there is movement on the steering wheel side of a connection and none, or less, on the road wheel side of the connection.

It could be (probably is) any combination of:

Steering shaft u-joint loose on shaft or steering gearbox (least likely)
Internal play in steering gearbox (adjusting nut on top)
Loose pitman arm
Loose steering box mounting bolts (or any other loose bolts in the steering system)
Ball joints
Panhard rod fixings/bushings (Not directly connected to steering, but centralizes axle with chassis to prevent relative side to side movement)
Loose wheel bearings
Swivel pin preload

Other worn suspension bushings will contribute, as will worn tires.
Check everything in the list and make sure they are all up to par.
If the problem persists then you need to adjust the swivel pin preload. Consider a rebuild rather than just removing shims which is nearly always only a short term fix.

 

[aka rover]

Antichrist

Great suggestions on your way to diagnose front end problems, And I agree on the steering dampner never being the problem and never part of the fix. I even take them off my series rigs, the added resisitance of a cold stab shock in the winter makes turning with manual steering no fun for the lady driver in the house. Its threads like these that make me chuckle, half of the post where unrelated to helping the OP. "well kinda like this post" anyways thought id say nice work and you made me chuckle over coffee.

Ed

 

[DividingCreek]

Agreed. I have run without a steering stabilizer on my 130 since pretzling it on a rock/bolder last July, have a new one just no pressing need to install. Running 33's. If anything, I think removing the stabilizer would be prefered to better pin point the problem.

 

[t42beal13t]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I'm experiencing a death wobble as well. However, I'm afraid it's related to the jerking my front end sustained from being pulled out of some really sticky mud today. Are there any other recommendations to the ones already mentioned in this thread? I had zero wobble before today.

 

[Antichrist]

If you've gone through the steps in post #51 then I get the alignment checked.
I've never seen out of balance wheels cause a wobble, but you could also looked for wheel weights that may have been knocked off.

 

[t42beal13t]

Got it straightened out (literally). There was a ton of sticky mud in the wheel throwing it off balance.

 

[rtkraken]

Quick self check for worn panhard bushings is to hang your head out the window, vehicle sitting at rest with engine running, and turn the steering wheel back and forth. By eyeing the front quarter panel with the tire you will see the body move in reference to the tire before the tire begins to turn. It's surprisingly perceptable with worn panhard bushes.

 

[jeffzx9]

There is no confusing the real Death Wobble of bad bushings. Everything else is seemingly just something "out of balance."

 

[Antichrist]

"Death Wobble" is a quick back and forth movement of the steering wheel. As if your hands are at 9 & 6 and you're whipping the steering wheel back and forth so your hands go from 10 & 4 to 8 & 2. This can be caused by a number of things on a coiler (but never a worn steering stabilizer). On Series Rovers it's most commonly worn swivel pins. It most typically occurs when hitting a bump or rough pavement.

 

[t42beal13t]

And if it occurs after a muddy excursion, always cleans the wheels and tires before freaking out!