so my recent fears have finally came to a head, and my steering wheel shake officially turned into a death wobble when I hit a bump on my way home today. So I feel very comfortable working on my truck but here are a handful of other problems that I need some good advice on, first off I can only guess what the problem is therefore unless I can for sure diagnose exactly what the problem is I will be throwing money at the problem until it is resolved and after my overheating escapade I can't afford that. Second, very limited on money so that only makes the first problem worse. Third, this truck is my daily driver so I need it on the road and safe for my kids ASAP. Fourth, I live in an apartment and although they let me do some work on my tuck anything more than about 4 hours or so is probably pushing my luck on "minor repairs" so what (of the possible things that could be wrong) would be considered minor repairs and what would be considered major repairs? also of what could be wrong, what would costs be? \

ok now for the issue, tires seem to be pretty good, brakes seem to be pretty good rotor maybe a bit warped but not real bad, just replaced the panhard rod bushings and it seems to have made the problem worse, doesn't feel like a wheel bearing issue. the problem is evident mainly going over bumps, the steering wheel shakes randomly while driving straight down the road (I guess is best way to say it) some days it shakes and sometimes it doesn't, oddly today it was smooth until I hit the right bump! I have (what looks like) grease splattered inside the wheel well, and sometimes with the wheel turned tight backing up I kind of notice an odd thumping.

well hope someone can help me out.

 

I would start by jacking the front of your truck up and grabing the tires and really see if there is any play up down or side to side. You mite have a swivel ball pin/bearing shot

 

x2 manhandle those things see if there is any play in any direction.

 

After messing with mine many times, I have found the shaking over bumps come from one of two things(mostly). A wheel bearing/stub axle problem, or swivel pin/bearing.

If you have grease splatter in the wheel, most likely one of the seals went, probably the hub bearing seal.

Jack the wheel that does it the worst off the ground. Try to wobble the tire at the 12 & 6 o'clock position. If it wobbles, have someone press and hold the brake pedal while you check for play again. If it is still there, it is the swivel bearing/pin. If pressing the brake takes the movement out, its a wheel bearing stub axle prob.

I got the death wobble a while back. Assumed it was the swivel pin/bearing. Spent $200 and some bucks on the rebuild kit, and it did not help a bit. Then some one told me about the brake trick. And sure enough, the play went away. Took the hub apart, and I had deep grooves worn in the stub axle.

When I rebuilt the swivel housing, it took all of 4 hrs to do one side. Once you do one, it goes quicker the next side. The biggest problem was I could tap the lower bearing race out, but had to have a shop press the upper bushing out(and new one in)

 

There is an article about this problem on the Rover's North Technical Article section.

If I remember right it is that your suspension bushings are shot. They reccommend against the polyurethane replacement ones. The replacement set is a few hundred or so and a bit of a chore to replace, especially in an apartment complex parking lot.

I remember reading the article in their quarterly catalog magazine about six months ago. Someone recently referred to the same article a few months ago in a thread on here.

 

I replaced all of my bushings, but I would go with the above and say swivel pins or wheel bearings. You should be able to tell by lifting the front end and checking for play.

 

I already took it into the shop, I hate paying for things I can do myself but I need it done quickly and I am not 100% sure on what it exactly is so I will leave it to my tech. he actually is going to check the tie rod ends first.

 

Is he a Rover Tech? If not you will need to point out the swivel pin bearings. They are a common reason for the shimmy...

 

he is 15 years LR master tech, that's the only reason I go there, well that and $90 an hour for an LR master tech probably isn't bad. Anyways he says wheel bearings so $466 total for all parts and labor and he should have it out the door. I figure after the 1 hour diagnostic charge and AB's $60 per side on wheel bearing rebuild kits that is almost half of it, well anyways I can try to justify it all I want but I am backed in a corner so it is what it is.

 

Unfortunately he completely neglects to mention swivel pin issues. I left a comment mentioning that, but they didn't seem to think it was worth posting. LOL