Wheel Balance

[nicr1]

About 6 months ago i had a set of GoodYear Wranglers fitted to my 200tdi at a nearby tyre fitting place. On way my home on the motorway i felt  some quite bad shaking/wobbling from the steering...the first thing that came to mind was, the fitter has'nt balaced the front wheels properly. When i arrived home i had a quick look around both front wheels. the first thing that i saw was what looked like an unusually large amount of wheel balancing weights....As soon as i could, i rang them to let them know that the wheels were probably out of balance and i would be coming back over to get  them checked. I did'nt make an issue out of it because i thought it would be an easy fix for them.....all they did was put the wheel with all the weights on and still unbalanced (i now presume) on the rear of the vehicle, they said it would be ok and i would'nt feel the shaking anymore..how stupid do i feel now...:(.....approx 6 thousand miles on from that tyre change i happened to be underneath the disco getting ready for some routine maintainance when i happened to notice that the inside of the nearside rear wheel was covered in oil!!!!!!....:o i slipped a finger in behind the brake disc cover and touched the disc which also seems to be covered in oil.(at least the backside).i immiediately checked the front side of the wheel and noticed that conincidentally(or not) it just so happened to be the one with all the wheel balancing weights on (180 grams of weights)the one that was difficult to balance..a seal somewhere and maybe a bearing or two looks to have been brought to a premature end due to me driving with an unbalanced wheel on the rear of the disco.....:(....the car had no vibration problems before i had the tyre fitted, so my guess is a a manufacturing fault with that particular tyre.that was why he could'nt balance it......if anybody thinks that they might know which bit is broken behind the disc.i'm all ears...can't find the receipt for the tyres and fitting anywhere, although it's been lying around for ages, now that i want it, it's nowhere to be seen. should i complain? i don't thnk i can drive with that tyre after i fix it anyway. :? [/img]

[chris9119]

Ummmmm, trying to balance a mud terrain pattern is like trying to get the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (bloody impossible)....

Re the leak..., probably just a seal on the stub axle...., and being 6000 miles on from tyre change, would suggest you check your motor a little more frequently :idea:  :idea:

[nicr1]

i did'nt say that i had'nt checked it in the last six thousand miles..although i hav'nt had the wheels off it.it probably has'nt helped that i've been doing a 135 mile journey every saturday morning on motorways and A roads and then 135 miles back...plus using it for work too, which also involves a motorway run.i think that maybe the out of balance wheel vibrating through the bearing on the motorway for prolonged periods of a few hours at a time has helped it on it's way...after giving the wheel a bit of a shake, i could feel a small amount of play, so it looks like the bearing and seal..i wanted to change the oil anyway..... :roll:.is it a straight forward job...? any tips much appreciated..thx in advance.nick.

[Ralph]

That did seem to be a bit of a harsh reply.
I would suggest tightening the bearing up and checking the axle breather isnt blocked both could be causing seal to weep and it may not need replacing.
As for the tyre that does seem to be an abnormal amount of weights regardless of tread pattern. If tyre cannot be balanced i would dump it or just keep it as a spare.

[nicr1]

thx..as soon as i find out where it is i'll check to see if it's blocked :roll: .....i'll get the wheel off tomorrow and have a proper look,.....would it be possible to cause a blockage by poking rust out of my boot floor.?.....loads of corroded bits were falling all over the axle when i was poking about the other day...did'nt notice the leak at the time.but thats not to say it was'nt there.

[J B]

i had a set of 5 general AT2's less than a year old i changed the wheels ans they could balance 3 of em, wheels were fine  

[chris9119]

thx..as soon as i find out where it is i'll check to see if it's blocked :roll: .....i'll get the wheel off tomorrow and have a proper look,.....would it be possible to cause a blockage by poking rust out of my boot floor.?.....loads of corroded bits were falling all over the axle when i was poking about the other day...did'nt notice the leak at the time.but thats not to say it was'nt there.

The West Midlands crew are always around and on hand for any assistance needed. Just pop along to the next meeting and say hello...., we maybe having a maintenance day in the not to distant future where you'd be more than welcome to come along and learn about your LR.

All we ask is that you put in a little bit to the Group.

[nicr1]

major dillema as i need a car for work on wednesday which is 35 miles away....so..do i:-
 A). spend tomorrow stripping down the disco in the hope  that i can diagnose the problem and hopefully make it over to Rimmer bros Land Rover in lincolnshire(75 miles away) New years eve to get the parts, because they seem to be the only people open and then spend new years day bolting it all back together ready for work  the 2nd of Jan.
or
B.)Spend tomorrow trying to find a cheap runaround.

i think that guy who said i should check the disco over more often might not have been too far off the mark...all my own fault i know... :?

[chris9119]

i think that guy who said i should check the disco over more often might not have been too far off the mark...all my own fault i know... :?

nicr1

Where are you in the Midlands? and what model is your Disco.

I maybe able to assist, but no promise's at this time.

I do have a stock of 200 & 300 tdi axle sets (wheel bearings and seals).

[nicr1]

chris...thx a lot.first of all, i'd deffinately be interested in the workshop day.and secondly i'm  in coventry....plan B is to use my ktm620 (on knobblies)  if all else fails, so i have got transport to pick up parts if you manage to find any.

I really don't want to rely on having to ride it 35 miles to work each way until i sort something out, but i will/have to if need be.
thx, nick.

disco is a 200 tdi, on a K plate.

[chris9119]

chris...thx a lot.first of all, i'd deffinately be interested in the workshop day.and secondly i'm  in coventry....plan B is to use my ktm620 (on knobblies)  if all else fails, so i have got transport to pick up parts if you manage to find any.

I really don't want to rely on having to ride it 35 miles to work each way until i sort something out, but i will/have to if need be.
thx, nick.

disco is a 200 tdi, on a K plate.

Nick

Have an axle set if required and you are able to collect. Can't assist Sun/Mon to help you fit them and defo not on Tuesday..., but maybe able to assist next weekend if you could cope till then.

[nicr1]

i can collect first thing tomorrow morning if thats ok...or whenever it's convenient. the earlier the better.....thanks again.

[Range Rover Blues]

MT should still be popssible to get balanced if the guy doing it knows his job!

I have a set of Machos fitted by Buxton 4x4 and they are perfectly balanced.

I also have a set of GoodYear GT4s that are a total pain.  I've had them balanced 3 times and ended up going somehwere else, they took one tyre back off the rim and turned it round, instant improvement.

I would advise you also that the Disco steel rims were withdrawn due to balancing problems with tyres wider than 205/16s.

[nicr1]

I would advise you also that the Disco steel rims were withdrawn due to balancing problems with tyres wider than 205/16s.

 i did'nt know that..... :o

[nicr1]

big thanks to chris for coming up with a wheel bearing kit...:)

all i have to do now is fit it... :roll:

will report back on the progress later....nick.

[nicr1]

fixed..i think....but not before i made things really difficult for myself. when removing the brake caliper i undid the wrong 2 bolts.... ::).....effectively splitting the caliper and leaking the fluid out..:(.i immiediately, nipped them back up again.(just to stop the flow of brake fluid).and consulted mr haynes, who says...do NOT split the caliper!.....thats all i need......either way, i could'nt a get a new one, so it had to come off and be taken apart for cleaning and reassembly....finally got it all back together. no signs yet of oil or brake fluid on the drive, so fingers crossed it's all still inside the disco when i wake up tomorrow. thx again....nick

edit, 31.12.07-7:00pm
i was just sitting down reading through the haynes and looking at the axle cross section diagrams..when suddenly...a very nasty thought dawned on me...........all the work i have just done has been for nothing...:(     the seal protecting the bearings from the axle oil is'nt the one that comes with the bearing kit.........i did'nt realise there is another seal behind the stub axle....once oil gets past this stub axle seall it contamiinates the bearing grease and then finds it's way out again..past the dust seal.and all over the wheel and brakes.....going back to my original problem of oil all over the wheel and brakes. i now know to be the stub axle seal..and the small amount of play i was feeling was the end float.......i expect the oil to be finding it's way out as i type......:(...

edit, 01.01.08-6:45pm
ok.now i'm totally confused..some people are saying to discard the stub axle seal and rely on the  outer bearing seal that sits in the hub and allow the axle oil to lube the bearing.... :doh:

[lurch_917]

i had a set of insa special track ( the big knobbly ones ) fitted by nean 4x4 tyres near me now bearing in mind there a remould they balanced up perfectly some people know how to balance mud tyres and some dont just dont go to a high street dealer as they are only used to doing standard cars