Suspension

[Range Rover Blues]

I've got a problem with my car and I'm at a loss to find the cause.

It's a soft dash LSE with EAS.  When it hits a pothole the front end shakes, badly.  Sometimes it doesn't stop shaking.  It shakes from side to side.  The vibration kicks back into the steering making it pretty bad to drive.

I have

Fitted 4 new standard shocks and steering damper to no avail
Fitted new poly bushes which made things worse
tightened the swivel bearings which made only a tiny difference
swapped the tyres front to back whcih made it worse
balance the wheels twice now

Curiously I tried undoing the nuts on one set of bushes on the steering damper, softening the bushing.  Now the steering doesn't kick-back as much but the car still shakes.  On the motorway if has a slight vibration even though the wheels are balanced.

The car was parked up for a while untill about March.  I've had it since April.  When balance all 4 wheels ran true and the tyres looked ok they are 235/70r16

Could it be the tyres have a weak spot on them?
Do I fit ProComp dampers and sacrifice ride quality?  not that it's the magic carpet ride I expected on air springs.  Is it possible for air springs to be any harder than standard?

[Grunter]

had same on an older model and after changing everything found it was the intermediate steering shaft that had a small amount of play in the knuckle joints and the vibration joint wasnt up to much either, Only found it when extending the shaft for the body lift. dont know what the set up is on yours but worth checking,

HTH.

[Range Rover Blues]

Thanks, I will.  I remember when my mate had what is now Julies TDi he had all sorts of problems, including that shaft being loose.  Her car runs nicely now, just got to keep going with mine I suppose :roll:

[Range Rover Blues]

The steering shaft feels good and solid.  If it were worn I'd expect to feel a clicking as well as the vibration.  I'm fairly sure it's the suspension that's at fault and the steering is a casualty.  Anyone else got any ideas? I've done the obvious stuff and made it worse :roll:

[TimM]

If you think it's the tyres/wheels, I have my 4 BFG's on alloys(if they will fit in your arches) and 1 on a steel, or 3 spare steel wheels running regular road tyres if you'd like to try them.

I also have a steering damper still in it's box if that would be worth trying.

(but you know you can't ask me for advice - that's what your there for  :lol: )

[Grunter]

Only way to know for definate is to disconnect front shaft and have wheels balanced while fitted on the car, this balances the the hub and shafts as well, it will tell you if thats the problem but dont think there are many places which do it these days, we tend to take it for granted that the components are balanced these days...not always the case. also where did you get your wheels balanced? was it a garage you normally use? not all places have their machine set to zero within 5 grams, some are set to 20 so if your looking and its below that it will display zero, you part with your cash, have a little improvement but still the problem...

I was told to do this at a previous place of employment, especially for larger 4x4 tyres, and this was a national tyre fitting company!!

[Range Rover Blues]

Yes I'm surprised how many people tell me not to bother balancing 4x4 wheels at all and yet as little as 5g seems to make a difference.  Anyway I used alocal company that I've been to before, mainly because a lot take a look at my car and tell me they can't do 4x4.  Can't be a**sed more like!

Anyway, I think I'll try some other wheels, thanks for the offer Tim but I think your BFG will do a little damage to my standard car.  I've got my ATs sat around doing nothing for now though so I'll try those, they are brand new tyres.  I don't know if I said already but this car was parked up for a period before I bought it.  I don't now how long but it was out of tax last Christmad untill the end of March, it may well have been parked up for longer though.

[Budgie]

Maybe a silly question but... have you checked for play in the wheelbearings?  :?
Also, on my Disco I had a vibration (not like yours though) and it turned out to be the bearing on the rear of the front stub axle that the CV joint runs on. It had collapsed and was throwing the CV out of line.
I'm not sure these were fitted to the later Rangies or if they kept the bronze bush to do the job.  

Also what are the Panhard rod bushes like?

[Range Rover Blues]

I think the wheel bearings are ok and the Panhard rod bushes I did at the same time as the radius arms, that little lot made things worse

I hadn't thought about the CV bearings though so guess what I'm doing tomorrow.............