Just got done with timing belt, water pump, head gasket, radiator, and full width intercooler on my 300tdi. First test drive i go up a steep hill on the freeway a little disappointed in the power but whatever. going down the same hill about 60mph and i hit the double bumps to change lane and oh my god i now know death wobble. I thought for sure if i didn't roll i was going to slam into the jersey barrier. Very aggravated but happy nothing happened to the truck.

Ive been chasing a slight shimmy at highway speeds so heres what I've done so far.

Swivel Pin complete rebuild all new parts and preloaded.
new wheel bearings, front calipers and rotors
Steering shaft bolts are tight
Terrafirma HD Steering Rods with new ball joints
RTE Adjustable Panhard bar.
RTE Castor Corrected swivels

I have a few concerns.

I have no idea if i installed this adjustable pan hard bar correctly. the bar looks to be angled back after the death wobble. Also right behind that it looks like the axle smacked into the pan hard bolt .

Does it matter if the damper is angled downward? i thought it was straight before the Terrafirma Steering rods.

The steering box is leaking a lot more after the death wobble. Is this a good indication that i need to replace this?

I know i need new shocks and springs but can bad shocks and steering box cause this?





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as always thanks for any help!

 

Hmm, a lot going on here. I'm no genius, but since nobody else posted yet here is my opinion.

For starters, if you wanted power you should have stuck with the gasser; diesels make great torque but crappy power.

Let me just give you the results of my own death wobble experience, I'm no expert, this is what worked for me. Long story short - I did a lot of things before I found my answer - bushings. Terrible death wobble, replaced ALL of them with poly, good to go.

Now, I few things I see.

-I'd be damn sure I got the panhard rod in right before I went on any high speed highway cruises. You just threw it in there without learning what it was for and how to adjust it?

-for that matter, judging by the angle of the radius arm in the picture and the rubber band tires it looks to be unlifted. Why the adjustable panhard and castor corrected swivels? Panhard keeps your front axle housing from being pulled to the passenger side and corrected swivels improve highway handling with a tall lift. If it is lifted high enough to need these, did you address third member angle (a more pressing problem) as well?

-that heim joint doesn't look right, might be just a bad picture or oil.

-check the box for slop before you go replacing it. If it leaks changing the bottom seal is easy and cheap. if it is sloppy then a new one is in order. On mine, I found (after replacing the seal) that the low pressure return boss on the power steering pump was cracked and the fluid was running down the line onto the top of the box. hoses apparently go bad often as well.

-damper angle doesn't matter. (btw, thats not the stock mounting, as long as you have that you might as well look at the tech section and complete the standard relocation)

-if the axle hit the bolt, that means there is a LOT of slop somewhere, and it should be easy to find. Get the front end up in the air, grab a spud and start prying on stuff, most likely you'll find it quick.

My money would be on the big jammy bushings at the back end of the radius arms.

 

My plan is a 3" Lift, it currently has a very old 2" lift. the only parts i can identify are the koni shocks. There are no instructions or what to measure on fitting the adjustable panhard bar. I was told make sure the frame is square with it on. I installed the bar months ago and it did help with some of the freeway shimmies. I dont understand how the heim joint works in place of a bushing, not questioning just dont get how it works.

The castor corrected swivels fixed the self centering after turning. Also just replaced the power steering pump and all hoses and they are dry. Its definitely the box. The box doesnt feel loose at all. I keep reading a lot about how its not worth trying to save

My next step was cranked radius arms from rte and ome 3" suspension. Which means I also Probably need a new Tom Woods driveshaft.(Which from what ive read makes for a good third member angle?)

Maybe i just need to close my eyes and hit the place order button.

BTW Ill never go back to 12mpg! I was just expecting a bigger power increase with all the maintenance and full length intercooler, thats all.

Thanks for the reply!

 

You adjust the panhard till the axle is centered. As you lift the truck the axle swings driver side. The adjustable panhard is to push it back towards the passenger side till its centered.

Since your swivels were freshly rebuilt lets go with the assumption that those aren't the culprit. Here's what I would check/replace.
- That Heim. Get rid of that heim. I went through 3 heims on my RTE panhard. Finally I reamed out the chassis panhard mount to accept a 5/8" bolt and I used a bushed rod end from Speedway Motors for like $13. Much better.

- Shocks and shock bushings. Pull your shocks and make sure they are still good. If they are look into replacing the shock bushings. Could be the shocks are fine but the bushings are all shriveled.

- All other bushings. Buy a polyurethane bushing kit and replace everything at once. It will tighten everything up nicely.

- Could be your steering box.

- That steering damper. Move it to the drag link. It will get smashed to bits hanging down there.

 

Speedway Forged Steel 4-Bar Rod Ends, 5/8-18 RH Thread Is this it?? I like that much better anyways! Which shank do i pick? 7/11/Straight. I'm assuming straight?

I haven't looked at the tech section for relocating the damper yet but is RTE's kit good? Anything ill have to replace on it as soon as i get it? Ill order it with the new radius arms. ill also order new shocks with new bushings

Other then the anti roll bar, theres no other bushings up front to replace is there?

As far as the steering box goes i think i will just put some stop leak in there and if I'm still having a problems after everything has been replaced ill look into changing it. I really don't want to mess with the seals on that.

 

Re: the bushings, as fisheh said switch to poly. And looking at the steering damper it's way over tight.... the bushing looks like mush. Certainly not the answer to all the death wobble problem, but if you are over tightening the old rubber bushings(shocks, damper) it's not going to help.

 

This is the one you want. Rod End Supply FBE12 3/4 Inch Four-Bar End
The other bushings are radius arm at the axle and chassis.
You can use the ateering damper bracket currently on your track rod. Then make a flat piece and bolt it to your frame like this.
Steering damper relocation kits for Discovery 1 or Range Rover Classic

 

Damn I need to give up. I just found loose bolts that hold the swivel ball to the axle. How the hell did they loosen up. I did that job like 8 months ago. also found the bushing end of the pan hard bar has come loose inside its bracket. the bolt itself is tight but it wobbles a little in the bracket.

I ordered that rod end. I am also ordering OME shocks, springs, and damper along with offset radius arms from RTE. Ill relocate the new damper and see what happens after all that.

then i can move onto the massive oil leak with a possible coolant leak. This is what i get for getting the head gasket, water pump, and timing belt done correctly! haha

 

So the Panhard bar is loose on the axle side. Can i put shims between the bushing and the bracket so it doesn't have any room to wobble? or is this a sign that the bushing was ruined?

 

So the shimmy was finally fixed by replacing everything. Just about everything RTE sells (3") and some bilstein shocks. However i never drilled out the panhard bolt hole to get rid of the heim joint and my truck has just destroyed another panhard bush on the other end. I am hoping that RTE used a cheap bushing and this wont happen again. I have the bushing to replace the heim joint or should i just order a terrafirma adjustable panhard bar?

basically i dont want really want to make the RTE bar work when i can order the terrafirma and be done with it. Or should i avoid Terrafirma?