Axle/hub wobble

For some time i have had a weird wheel/axle/hub wobble on the front left side of my D90 (1994) TDi 300. I'll be travelling along about 30mph and suddenly it will start wobbling in a lateral way as if something is loose. Whenever i check the hub locking nuts and washer are all tight, the bearings seem fine, i have even removed the stub axle and cv inner axle drive shaft and all seems fine, and yet that wobble feels like the wheel is about to come off. I have no idea what is causing this but it's driving me nuts and feels unsafe. Another problem is that despite a new steering damper the steering feels really sloppy, sort of out of control.

One more thing, in the process of diagnosing this i removed the long inner axle drive shaft and i can't get it back in. is there a knack, or do i have to take the diff apart.

Appreciate anything as i'm stumped.

Remove the hub and check the wheel bearing... even if it feels ok remove and check.... track rod ends... all the ball joints and bushes.... steering damper.... but first!

Get the wheel banacing checked.... bad wheel balancing can cause serious headaches.

your mention of the steering would make me wonder about the PAS box... Are you losing fuid form input or output seal? How much play is there in the steering wheel when stationary?

I am not mechanic... and someone will correct me if I have made bum suggestions... but those are the things I would check first.

Ryder said:

Remove the hub and check the wheel bearing... even if it feels ok remove and check.... track rod ends... all the ball joints and bushes.... steering damper.... but first!

I've taken the bearings out and as i've never done this before i am not sure how tight they should be. if i put two fingers in the middle race, hold it, then rotate the outer race, there us no resistance, and i can pull the inner race back and forth maybe about 2mm. All ball joints are near to new, as are track rod ends. Pan hard bush on driver side needs replacing for sure.

Get the wheel balancing checked.... bad wheel balancing can cause serious headaches.

Wheel balancing has not been checked, i have mud BFG and i can't find a place that will do them in Sheffield.

your mention of the steering would make me wonder about the PAS box... Are you losing fluid form input or output seal? How much play is there in the steering wheel when stationary?

No fluid loss at all. Lots of play when stationary.

I am not mechanic... and someone will correct me if I have made bum suggestions... but those are the things I would check first.

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Thanks

The "lots of play" suggests to me that your problem lies with the PAS box. I would consider changing it out as being excessively worn.

It is not a difficult job, mine was done by my 11 year old.

The torque settings for all the wheel bearing bits n pieces are available on Rave

Just looked at the PAS overhaul section of the manual. Your son must be in MENSA, not sure i can do that. is there an overhaul kit for these?

ball joints steering box can be adjusted depending on where play is

Money is on drop arm ball joint/track rod ends

Drop arm ball joint replaced about 2 years ago, track rod ends replaced last January

could be replaced last week if it has play you will soon know

Could it be swivel pins?

yes mre than likley if you have a leak...................if there is oil or one shot in them. if there is n leak then maybe you need to check there is oil/grease in there.

Both sides have amounts of one shot which oozes out onto the chrome swivel ball, not much. The left side is removed now with the whole axle out i did notice that it has a lot of shims of different sizes on - which i didn't know what they were for until i just did some reading on it. if that is the problem then do i need new bearings. I could really do with knowing what bad bearings are like and what good bearings are like.

The shims allow for wear to be adjusted out of the swivel I believe. Mine had an advisory for play in the swivel, but last week while giving it a Waxoyl, my very learned father in law showed me that it was a wheel bearing issue and not the swivel. With the wheel jacked off the ground, the wheel could be wiggled a few mm when gripped at the top and bottom. When looking at the inside of the wheel, I could see the brake disc moving relative to the brake shield - if it had been the swivel, then the whole hub assembly would move relative to the chrome ball on the end of the axle casing. I'm told that replacing a wheel bearing is significantly easier than doing the swivel so have that to look forward to.

plook said:

Just looked at the PAS overhaul section of the manual. Your son must be in MENSA, not sure i can do that. is there an overhaul kit for these?

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To be honest... Kai went the route of changing the entire PAS system including the box. It is possible to get a repair kit but when we read up on it most people thought the repair kit to be a repair that would fail pretty quickly.

Someone (I think it was jai_landrover) once told Kai... "Whatever the job is... it's still only nuts and bolts)

Kai's not mensa... he is just not frightened to get it wrong... screw it up... and then call Jai for some advice!

Had a couple of days of work on the landy and the judder-wobble has gone. The bearings were fine, but the nuts were both loose. Took a shim out of both swivel housing and it's brilliant now. Steering still has play and after looking at oil on drop arm it must be the power steering box, so i need to look into servicing or replacing that.

Plook: glad you got your steering sorted: I would reiterate what I mentioned earlier about the repair kits for the pAS box. Everyone I spoke to said that the job could be done, but it never lasted very long. We swapped out the whole power steering system including the pipes, reservoir and so on. Took kai a couple of hours to get sorted but there were no headaches as such.

That's good enough for me, i'll swap out the box. Thanks. Now then, where can i get a box at a good price, used but no play will do me.

plook said:

That's good enough for me, i'll swap out the box. Thanks. Now then, where can i get a box at a good price, used but no play will do me.

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loads of discos being broken.... I am pretty sure that the disco and the 'fender ones are interchangeable but don't take my word for it as I don't know for sure.

If you are getting one from a breaker... then get the whole system... all the pipes, reservoir and so on.... that way you have no reseating to worry about where the pipes meet the pump!