Death Wobble at 65mph...???

hello all,
i took my 1996 300tdi on the motorway for the first time on sunday,
when i got to 65 mph the front of the car started shaking left to right very
much, scary i can tell you!
before i had noticed that when i went over potholes in the road doing 30-40mph the front would shake left and right but just briefly.
can anyone give me any ideas on what to look for underneath the car which might be causing this? many thanks.

steering damper

front bushes all of em especially the radius arm bushes and panard rod

Drop arm ball joint track rod ends check for wear
Check play in wheel bearings too.
Jai

wheel balance can cause the

have had this on 3 vehicles. probably a combination of steering damper (try first its cheaper, but get a good one, de-carbon, bilstien etc) and swivel bearings which probably require a shim taking out to tighten them up.

steering damper would be my first guess. Followed by a wheel bearing needing tightening up.

worth checking the A-frame joint as an easy to check possibility. It seems to cause weird and alarming steering and control problems.

Had the same thing on mine on the M1 scared the crap out of the wife mine was an easy fix weights on the wheels had come off just have a look see if yours are missing maybe you only need wheels balanced to fix it.

yamaha said:

Had the same thing on mine on the M1 scared the crap out of the wife mine was an easy fix weights on the wheels had come off just have a look see if yours are missing maybe you only need wheels balanced to fix it.

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Mine did it after I bent the steering and fitted new bits from paddocks the dampers must be ****.

Hit a bump in the road and off it goes resonating and you have to brake it out, same on the motorway as you described fokin undrivable.

If you change the damper remember to prime it with a few operations before you fit it.

Assuming all ball joints and bushes are ok... (landrover claim that steering damper only has an effect offroad) try adjusting the steering box.

My disco has been like it for ages... adjusted the steering box at the weekend and it's great now.

Andy200TDi said:

Assuming all ball joints and bushes are ok... (landrover claim that steering damper only has an effect offroad) try

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Have you ever driven a landy minus a steering damper? I bet you **** yourself before you get to 30mph! Not saying iup defo that but on the info we have got it would be a good bet! But we need info facts or we will be guessing all day long giving this poor chap the run around Jai

If every component in the steering system is in good condition then it should drive fine regardless of whether a damper is fitted or not. quite often a new damper will disguise the actual problem. i have found this out personally a few times.

i will plump for wheel bearings followed by swivel pins

i had a bit of movement from my front end once i found someone had previously used mastic sealant for the top bushes on front shocks :doh:

I am experiencing exactly the same problem albeit it only happens periodically on certain road surfaces and is then fine. Please see my post at the bottom of the page "shopping Trolley Syndrome." Your title is so much more exciting than mine.

Courage mon ami

Regards

Large amounts of lift (4") no castor correction= **** handling

Just a quick thing you havent been offroad latley in it ave you? Got any mud on the inside of the rim I know it sounds silly but mine last night when we were coming back from towing out Andy109 (he was propper stuck even a unimog gave up after breaking a suposed 10 ton shackle and sinking a fair bit) My mota was almost undrivable above 50 Mph due to the unbalanced wheels. Its a simple thing to overlook. Jai

Jack front wheels of the ground, check for movement most likely top swivel bearings.

could be any of the things described here above. you need to check everything. if the wheels are balanced OK the steering damper likely will need replaced, along with whatever other part (or parts) are worn. last one i did was a track rod end causing it.

If the steering damper is ok .
Adjust the swivel bearings. To test remove both front wheels then remove track rod ends check the resistance to turn the swivels, there will be little or no resistance so the bearings will require adjusting .
Remove shims until resistance is felt, refit ends and wheels
Note if you have ABS do not over adjust the swivel bearings!

have a look at the panhard rod bushes for wear and sloppiness as these do have a large load placed on them and do not last forever

like stated check everything and report back what you find i would leave swivel pins till last tho personally Jai