Serious Judder 94 200Tdi

Hey all,
Picked up my L-reg 94 200Tdi yesterday and I must say I'm well chuffed with the motor. I've been browsing the forums for some time picking up hints and tips before purchase and I hope I've found a good-un. Anyhow, back to the shakes;

Was driving with 4 adults onboard about 60mph on a nice stretch of dual carriageway and went over a bump. The steering wheel/dashboard started vibrating violently up and down, really frightening for me and the passengers, so I slowed down and the vibration stopped at 40mph. Today with just me, the missus and the mutt onboard the problem seems to be less frequent.

Done a forum search and the things to look for seem to be wheel balance, steering damper, panhard rod bushes, swivel preloads? and shocks. I'm guessing I'm in the right area but this seems to cover most of the front end. Is there an order I should try replacement/testing? Not got my Haynes manual yet so n00by directions with ASCII art would be good

Thanks in advance

first off, get the wheel balance checked,it sounds very much like this is yer problem

i second that!!

Cheers for the quick replies
I thought an unbalanced wheel would wobble the steering wheel from left to right and do this predictably at a certain resonant speed? Following your advice I will get this checked tomorrow but the judder seemed to be more random and was particularly violent. Is it the size of the wheel that makes it more apparent when it hits the resonant frequency? And why would the difference in load change the occurence?

Sorry for more questions but if I don't ask I don't get (so I was told as a whippersnapper)

if you got a juddder at certain speeds then wheel balance is usually a good place to start.. having said that, have you been under the thing to check for bits falling off or bushes that are clearly flucked?

heh, all seems to be in place. The bushes look old, some are slightly perished - others are distorted. Worth getting those swapped out when I'm under there?

I`ve got the same on my 300tdi at the moment...i know what it is,i just aint got round to it yet...worn ball joints on both ends of the steering drag link. I got a complete assembly to fit (when i can find an hour to spare!) A fair bet yours may be the same story.Let us know when you get to the bottom of it....mucky`un.

As with the rest of the guys, get the wheels rebalanced. One of the weights may of fell of the wheel when you hit the bump, also check the ball joints for play.

put me life on the wheels needing balenced mate

can we draw lots to see who pulls the trigger if yer wrong???

Shox are confirmed average, not new, not busted. Slight leak from the offside swivel inc some play - quoted about £130. Wheel balancing next up when I fix the headlight Also I hear different advice on the wheel balancing thing. Is it best to be done when located via the stud holes or by the center hole? (original alloys)

thx

i'd go for centre hole just cos it has got to be easier to centre the wheel

Just to let y'all know - wheel balance was ok - but the steering damper was shot. Replaced with a gas damper from OME and now drives a treat - also seems more accurate at low speed which is odd.
Thanks for the help

feenix said:

also seems more accurate at low speed which is odd.
Thanks for the help

Click to expand...

Not so odd, the higher the speed the greater the kingpin effect on steering, ie more forces trying to straighten the steering as you move faster, hence more force to overcome the worn steering damper and the less input effort from you needed.

L3on..