Wheel Wobble Final Fix Poll (Sometimes Known as Death Wobbles)
81 - 100 of 134 Posts
Wow that would be a fairly rare and serious issue
@Boundry Rider
Check the brakes mate. Once I did the brakes in combination with other things my wobble have gone. I did a full brake rebuild (calipers) and new rotors and pads all around. Now she stops like a beast and no more wobble
Check the brakes mate. Once I did the brakes in combination with other things my wobble have gone. I did a full brake rebuild (calipers) and new rotors and pads all around. Now she stops like a beast and no more wobble
Were your brake disks warped?
Yep. Just enough to throw it out
Was the brake pedal pulsing while braking?
No not noticably
I would say these are the most common culprits.
True, the loads on the road are much heavier than what can be exerted by hand.
So all of this is quite inconclusive with different people finding different causes for their vehicle shake....with a lean toward panhard bushes being the primary culprit. I have had my 2001 GU wagon for 14 years and have never had problems with bad wheel shake....always get the wheel balance issues when you get a bad balance but always managed to get that sorted out. Even after going to a 3 inch lift with superior hybrid arms and drop boxes, removing the front sway bar and going to 285/75s I had no wobbles. Now after all that time I had a wheel rotation and bang....head shakes going into violent shakes. So now it is my turn to try and track down the culprit.....I have ordered HD adjustable drag link and tie rod....and superflex sway bar kit, ordered complete bush kit for the rear sway bar. Panhard looks good....but having read this whole thread I am thinking I should pull the panhard and replace bushes as both ends just as cheap insurance before I start looking at swivel hub rebuilds etc. I will keep you posted.
Surely that suggests that the problem is primarily wheel balance?
Yes indeed mate, I think that is a fair and logical conclusion to arrive at.....however it always pays to check all the bases! I remember many years back after a wheel balance and rotation on my old GQ I had a similar thing happen, I had the car back there 3 times, was fuming and vocalised my displeasure only to find the next week that my driver side radius arm bushes had flogged out....got them replaced and hey presto all good. So with that in mind I got under the GU on Sunday morning with spanners and pry bar and started going over everything....what did I find??? Totally flogged out lower (diff side) panhard bush and the nut was also loose no doubt because the bush is flogged out and it has been slapping about. I picked up some replacement bushes yesterday and will replace them asap. I am happy that I ordered the adjustable drag link because that will finally fix the off centred steering wheel I have been living with.....and I am also happy this has pushed me to get the steering box rebuilt as I have been living with additional play in the steering wheel for the last couple of years as well. All of this should bring the old girl back to near new steering...….
I will let you know how the panhard bush replacement goes and then again after I replace the other stuff and get the sterering box overhauled.
Wheel balance was intentionally left out of the top 10 fix's, at the time there was a rash of 'death wobble' threads so this thread was started based on feedback, the reason for omitting balance was because it's expected that is the first port of call for elimination being very easy and a commonly known start point.
OK, so we now have an end to my little saga. Incrementally the biggest impact was changing the front panhard bushes, that took care of the severe steering wheel shake but still had an annoying wobble and sloppy feel to the car which you compensate for in your driving style. Next was steering box overhaul, didn't fix the annoying wobble but returned a level of responsiveness to the steering and removed the play in the steering. Then I replaced the Track Rod with a HD superior one and the drag link with a HD adjustable which returned my steering wheel to the centre, replaced the rear sway bar bushes and put in new adjustable Road Safe rear links, finally I whacked on a new Raw steering dampener. I also purchased a Superior HD superflex front sway bar but was unable to finish the fitment because the kit does not come with saddle clamps to attach the swaybar to the radius arms. Result? Zero wheel wobble, excellent road tracking, responsive steering so much so that for the first couple of days I was over steering and having to correct my self all the time. I will let you know how it all feels once I put the front swaybar in. Whats left for me to do? Replace the bushes in the rear lower control arms....they look stuffed.....I put HD adjustable uppers in when I did the 3 inch lift and they are still fine. Replace all the shock bushes....they look perished and they that should be it. Of all those steps I would say the least required in addressing the wheel shake would be the steering box rebuild so definitely leave that to last, but if you are keeping the vehicle long term and you still do big miles in it, then it is worth getting done.
On my 2012 GU Y61 Gen6. I had a ARB GVM upgrade to 3900kgs. After about a year, got the wobbles at around 85km and 105km. After replacing everything in the frontend and doing all of the wheel alignments (several times) still no luck.
The GVM upgrade stated that I had to retain the standard GU steel rims to keep compliance. I spoke with my engineer about upgrading the rims (last thing to try). He said that if they were better speced than the originals he had no problems with it and would certify it.
So I ordered CSA heavy duty mine spec rims and fitted new tyres (again). The problem went away and after 5000ks it has not come back.
So, while not on the voted list of fixes, rims are what ended up fixing my problems.
The GVM upgrade stated that I had to retain the standard GU steel rims to keep compliance. I spoke with my engineer about upgrading the rims (last thing to try). He said that if they were better speced than the originals he had no problems with it and would certify it.
So I ordered CSA heavy duty mine spec rims and fitted new tyres (again). The problem went away and after 5000ks it has not come back.
So, while not on the voted list of fixes, rims are what ended up fixing my problems.
If new rims fixed it then there would have to be something wrong with the old ones which I expect should have been picked up while balancing.
81 - 100 of 134 Posts
