Thought I'd post my final solution after 3 months of chasing down a nasty steering wheel shake.

I bought a 2003 Disco 2 with 105K miles and a blown head gasket for $800. It had been sitting for a year. After fixing the engine, a test drive produced a shake at 45 mph so bad that I couldn't hold on to the steering wheel.

Lying under it with wife sawing on steering wheel showed a drag link end with play in it. I replaced the drag link and had the tires balanced. Now the steering shake was better, but not gone and now at 55-65 mph. I had it aligned. No improvement.

Re-inspected tie rod ends, stabilizer, ball joints, steering box play, shocks, brake rotors, CV joints, and driveshaft. Driveshaft showed missing balance weights. I didn't think a prop shaft could cause the steering wheel to shake, but just in case, I had the shaft balanced.

No improvement. Replaced stabilizer just in case. No improvement. More research suggested a tire might be out of round, or pressure spotted. So I bought a set of very good looking used Michelin's with nearly full tread, and had them mounted and balanced. Still no improvement.

Nearly at my wits end, I spent more time researching. Everything pointed to a rotational balance problem, because the shake was only in the steering wheel, not in the rest of the truck.

I finally bought a dial indicator, and improvised a mount to a heavy jack stand to measure the radial and lateral run-out on the tires and wheels. Lateral run-out on the tires and rims was less than .005" on both fronts. However, radial run-out on the front left was .120", and on the front right it was .080".

Spec is supposed to be less than .060", and hearsay suggested that solid axle fronts like the Disco need more like less than .040" radial run-out.

I got a good deal on a set of new take off Yokohama YK580 tires. Had them mounted and balanced, and viola! No more shake. The Yokohamas are quiet and grippy. Good rain traction too. Dunno about off road or snow yet.

The moral of the story? You can buy used tires for your Chevy, but don't buy used tires for your Discovery 2. It will only lead to more pain and frustration.

 

Great write up.

And yes...used tires can sometimes only aspirate the problem. Especially, if they didn't mark the location of the "take-off". Old tires don't like to sit in one place for any length of time, side walls become very stiff over time. So maybe your original tires were old to begin with...and the year worth of rest ruined them.

Nice catch on that missing driveshaft weight. This would have lead to serious problems eventually. Most folks never consider it, when looking for a vibration, but that little weight is paramount to the life of that assembly. Normally, folks will check the joints by giving it a good twisting or shake...and overlook the weight.

Glad you found the issue with your Discovery and thank you for sharing.

Brian.

 

Also when buying new tires don't buy potential seconds off Ebay or better still buy from a reputable tire fitting shop and be sure to check the dates on the tires which are a coded date. If they are more than 6 months old tell them to stick 'em where the sun don't shine. New tires means new tires NOT new old stock as tires harden with age and also heat cycles.