My 95 Disco developed a new eccentricity. I have had a slight shimmy in my steering. The shimmy (when it occurs) is always between about 58-75 MPH. It does not appear to be RPM related, as it occurs at different engine speeds. Like most Landrover problems, it doesn't happen every time. When it does occur, it is almost like everything hits a harmonic frequency. Then my steering wheel starts rocking in my hands. It's not enough to throw the car off its course, but it is annoying. I thought it was the road (Illinois tollway) and my tires needing balancing.

I just recently replaced brake pads and rotors on all four wheels. As part of this, I also repacked the hubs and did the CV's. I also rotated the tires, and (coincidentally) noticed a slow leak in one of them (Right Front tire). Turned out to be a corroded rim and bad seal to the tire. Had this fixed. Became obvious that the shop hadn't rebalanced the tire after remounting it. Went back to the shop and had it rebalanced. Lessened shimmy some. However, about three days later, the front end started jumping and vibrating. Found the other front (Left Front) tire lugs loose, and one actually missing. I was very close to losing the other four lugs, so you can imaging the play in the wheel. I re-tightened lugs and went on my way. I suspect the person who rebalanced the tire caught hell from his boss for not doing it right the first time and did it in retaliation. I obviously won't be going back there.

I still have a slight shimmy, so do not think it is the tires, as none of them are in their original positions. I have checked the pan-hard rods, and they appear to have no play, which makes me think it is not the bushings. Car tracks well when hands off wheel (and not at harmonic frequency) so do not think it is alignment. Plus, tires do not show uneven wear patterns.

Couple of questions:

1. Could the loose tire have caused any damage I need to keep an eye out for? The lugs (fortunately) did not appear stripped in the process.
2. Any thoughts on what could be causing the vibration? I thought of the steering damper, but don't know of any functional tests to prove/disprove it.
3. Could the shimmy be due to me repacking/re-tightening hubs incorrectly?

Thanks in advance.

 

sounds like loose wheel bearings.does the shimmy get worse over bumps?if it does that could be a good indication they are loose.those nuts on the stub axles get torqued to 35 ft' lbs.

 

The behavior your describing is similar to what I have. Definitely more noticable on rough bumps, but really only in the 58-75 MPH speed range.

When I removed the hubs, the outer nut "broke" at around 50Nm, and the inner at about 5 Nm. Which appears consistent with what I would have expected based on the book.

I torqued the inner down to 4 Nm (using the toruque to 61Nm and back off 90 degrees, and then retighten procedure outlined in the book), and folded the lock-washer over. This was about equivalent to finger tight. I then torqued the outer to 61Nm as the book recommended and then bent the other part of the washer. Converting measurements, I think that is about the equivalent of 3 ft-lbs (4N-m) and 45 ft-lbs (61Nm). Does that sound right?

I am not sure how it could have loosened up, but I guess I may pull it apart and look again if I don't get any other good suggestions. Any other possibles you can think of?

I appreciate the feedback.

 

Your symptom is common with Classic and DI's. The cause is the swivel bearing preload.

 

Thanks,

I think I have the procedure in my book. I had been thinking about checking the preload and adjusting the shims as recommended.