If a Land Rover steering system is in good shape you won't have death wobble. One in good shape can be driven without a damper at all.

 

I have seen somewhere that the Steering Damper is really there to prevent it from snapping your arms off at the shoulders if you should suddenly lunge to the side when off-roading.

Like the experienced guys are saying, the Steering Damper ain't causing the Death Wobble, putting a new one in would only mask it for a while I believe, so I would suggest rebuild those swivel pin things first.

 

have you ever seen in car NASCAR cameras, the first thing the drivers learn is to let go of the wheel during a crash, those wheels jerk back and forth so quick and if they don't remove there hands they will break bones!

 

OK I am now at a loss once again, I popped the front wheels off the truck today to mess with the shims but oddly enough I found that the wheels were both tight with no play in any direction at all, I yanked on them pretty good and all it did was shake the truck (I even heard the jack stand wobble at one point so I stopped). so now I am stuck again and don't know where to look next. I went ahead and rotated the wheels front to back to see if that might help. so does anyone have a method for determining if bushings are bad or if a worn out suspension may be the culprit? my mechanic said the tie rod ends were all good.

 

Is the steering box tight to the frame?? Ive heard of other vehicles getting death wabble from a loose steering box. Sounds like youve tried just about everything else I can think of. Is there much play in the steering? Turn the key on to the second position to unlock the wheel can you turn the wheel very far before your tire starts to turn.

 

Too light swivel preload doesn't show up by trying to shake things until it's so far gone you're risking your life to drive.
Before then, the only way to tell is by checking the preload.
See section 60.15.43 in the D1 manual.

 

I am not sure what part of what manual you are referring to, but I read the whole section of the rave manual about adjusting the swivel pin preload with the spring balance and also the tech posting (I think you posted about it at some point) so I have a decent idea of how the system works.

Now what you are saying (so I understand you for sure) is just because I have no play in my wheels does not mean that my swivel pins are good? meaning I can have a violent wobble going over bumps, have no play in the wheels while the truck is jacked up, and still have to light of a load on the swivel pins (shims need to be removed, but ultimately a rebuild kit is the way to go).

so here is where my little bit of confusion is coming to play so I will explain my thoughts and you can tell me if I am right, the swivel pin and bearing can wear out, light wear will allow less restriction while turning the wheels (movement from the 3 and 9 o'clock positions will be easier to achieve) causing the truck to want to steer based on the condition of the road, and in my case cause the wobble. Now heavier wear will allow a little bit of play from the 6 and 12 o'clock positions (meaning the pin is basically slack in the hole) and when a little imbalance in the wheel occurs from anything such as a bump in the road it will not only cause the steering system to wobble but theoretically could do more dangerous things like allow the entire axle to jolt around (not sure if I am real accurate in that but definitely cause enough jerking to tear up other components). so to summarize the swivel pin preload is what controls the amount of force that is required by the steering system to turn the wheels, or looking at it from the other way it is what restricts the steering system from allowing bumps in the road to jerk the steering system around.

so short of actually putting a spring balance on the hole of the steering knuckle where the tie rod connects and seeing how many pounds it requires to move it there is no way of testing to see if this is my problem? and the brits did this because it is actually easier to adjust then conventional steering knuckles or something along the lines of that?

 

Yes, technically speaking, you would have to check the pre-load to determine 100% it is the the swivel pin/bearing. The method you describe is for non-abs disco's. For abs discos(that have the sensor through the upper swivel pin), you have to affix a special tool to a torque wrench, and measure the resistance to turn the spindle on the pin and bearings.

But it gets better: the correct reading(according to rave) can only be acchieved with the swivel ball seal, axleshaft and drag link all disconnected.

Check and adjust preload on bearings
52. The preload on bearings to be 0,25 to 0,30 mm,
without swivel housing oil seal and axle fitted,
and reading from centre of swivel pin. The
torque required to turn swivel assembly from
lock to lock to be 2.0 to 2.8 Nm. Adjust by
removing or adding shims as necessary.
53. To take a reading use special tool LRT-57-024
torque test adaptor, with a torque wrench and
extension as shown.


That is why when mine went bad, I diagnosed it by removing shims to see if it improved. If it does improve it, that's the problem. If not, put shims back and look elsewhere.

 

Hey man, im with you on the design. I'll say im no land rover pro. The PO of my 95 replaced the trackbar ends before he passed it on and messed the alignment up badly. My steering wheel was pointing at 10 and it would wobble its *** off the road at 60 if i hit a bump. I monkeyed with the alignment tonight set the wheels with a little toe out and i got 3 full turns on the steering box to frame bolts. I checked it out and i can't be sure if its gone for a while but its not wobbling on the same bumps it was. Just some more **** to check.

 

The the design is really the only way to have the steering set up if you have your front axle u-joints in swivel housings protected by all that steel.
DII's have "normal" steering upper/lower ball joints, but the CV's are "protected" by rubber boots.
Personally I prefer the steel.