Steering wheel wobble

Hi All

I have a Defender 90 200tdi

Today after driving along all of a sudden the steering wheel starting wobberling to the point I was holding on for dear life, i pulled over and it then stopped but after 4min started again.

It happens at low speeds and can not drive through.
It now does it when I go to drive it and starts doing it all most straight away.

I got recoved home tonight as it could not been driven due to the wobble

Any suggestons?

Swivel preload??

or steering damper

mine is doing the same. it did it last year, i replaced all the ball joints, steering damper and steering uj`s and it cured it. it started to vibrate a couple of weeks ago and i thought it was a prop uj and found one with a little play so changed it prior to a wales laning trip.
on driving home it got much worse, i swaped a rear steering arm that bent a month ago for a used one i had complete with used ball joints, im suspecting that these could be my problem.
Check for play in any ball joints or steering uj`s and as perviously mentioned check the steering damper

I have been out there tonight and found out that the bush (drive side end) of the Panhard Rod is shot would this cause the wobberling?

phil1982uk said:

I have been out there tonight and found out that the bush (drive side end) of the Panhard Rod is shot would this cause the wobberling?

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Yep

I have quite a bit of steering wheel wobble too which starts at about 55-60 MPH. As a new Defender owner, I just assumed this was a normal handling charactoristic. Maybe I'll have to have a closer look at it.

mixture of experience and advice from people I would trust:

Wheel bearings

Power steering box (didnt notice WHICH VEHICLE IT WAS SO I INCLUDED THIS ONE IN CASE!) Sorry about the caps

swivels

Wheel balancing (especially if you had just been playing on mud)

Its the Panhard Rod...

A shot panhard rod bush give a terrifying wobble and can try to tear the wheel from your hands and usually lift off and pray is all you can do... think you have your problem

Cheers Steve

i came here to tell ya its the panhard rod, tip for those that dont know it, almost all wheel wobble problems are caused by the pnhard rod. damn things, i reccomend uprading it itll last longer.

RAGNAR BENSON said:

I have quite a bit of steering wheel wobble too which starts at about 55-60 MPH. As a new Defender owner, I just assumed this was a normal handling charactoristic. Maybe I'll have to have a closer look at it.

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check that panhard rod, if it seems ok then tighten it , as much as you can. if that cures it then save pennies to replace the bushes or the whole rod by christmas

mine's a disco but reading everythin on wheel wobble..

checked everythin in suspension and runnin gear, springs, dampers, track rod ends, drag links, bushes.... etc

well tonite i measured the front axle in relation to the chassis... the front axle on mine has the mounting point for the panhard rod on both near and off side.. i put a metal ruler on side of chassis noting where it met the axle which was nearly almost exactly where the two panhard mounts are on the axle and it showed that the front axle is off to one side by bout 7mm..

so i'll be gettin an adjustable panhard rod later this week...

nick2303 said:

the front axle is off to one side by bout 7mm.....

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LOL, thats inside Landrover tolerences I reckon??

I had a mate that measured his wheelbase on his 110 of 1989 vintage, it was a whole inch shorter one side, but the vehicle tracked true and straight with no adverse handleing and no uneven tyre wear!!

yea that in loads given that land rover tolerances vary between 1 inch to 3 foot : D

I totally agree with orange bandit, the death wobble came to me with my 90. Did a bit of research and Pan hard rod seemed easiest thing to start with. replaced the bushes and rod problem solved!! took me a while to get the rusted bolts off though

oh and thanks to busters guide, made everything a lot easier to see

As already been said pan hard rod. Also check drop arm ball joint