vibration while driving
 

Greetings to all!

I have a '97 Rangie and since I got it about a year ago, I've had a vibration in the front end. Stealership told me it was the steering tube / drag link gone bad. Of course, I ignored it and had no problems for 10 months. The vibration got worse, so I went to my buddy's garage and balanced the tires. That helped, but something else was wrong. Driving to work, the vibration suddenly got *very bad*. Back to my buddy's garage.

Here's where the fun begins. I ask if he can lift it by the axles. He tells me it would be tricky, but don't worry about it. Oh, I forgot to mention, my Rover is in hard EAS fault. We lift it and one of the front bags pops off the top. I haven't replaced those yet (you can read my replacing the rear air shocks in an earlier post). He is surprised, but we continue. There's oil and trans fluid everywhere because this weeps fluids better than my wife watching "Life as a House". We spray it down with some degreaser, let it sit, and rinse it off with water. I go to start it and there are Gearbox, ABS, brake light, etc faults! Car won't start. Mechanic just shakes his head. We let it dry for about two hours and it starts.

Get back under there and notice a lot of oil from above the oil filter. I remove the hose above it and take out the o-ring. Replace it with one a little thicker, and it hasn't leaked since! We then notice the front propeller shaft (shaft from xfer case to front diff) u-joint at the diff is *destroyed*. We get it and all related pieces of it. Oh, yea, for the part, if you go to Atlantic-British it is listed for $60. The part is the same as Precision #344. You can get that at any parts store for under $25. Put that in, reattach the prop shaft. Test drive the Rangie and the vibration is gone!!!

SteveO

RE: vibration while driving
 

You are a genius and miracle worker combined. It is inspiring when someone is able to fix their RR them self. As a genius and miracle worker, perhaps you have an intuition why '03 and newer RR are blowing front differentials at about 20k miles. Any ideas?

RE: vibration while driving
 

what do you mean by blowing? What exactly gets trashed?
Hard to say what's wrong at this time ...

SteveOPA

RE: vibration while driving
 

"Blowing" as in total and complete front differential failure. No warning whatsoever, just bang, and it's over. See http://rangerovers.net/rrmkiiiremedies.html#diff for a description of a problem that seems to be growing in scope (see http://rangerovers.net/forum/viewtop...415d72e311e1bf for the forum thread.)

RE: vibration while driving
 

Hmm, sounds like a very dangerous problem. I've read that the wearing out of my u-joint was due to the severe angle of the shaft when I'm in the highest mode. Also, since the differential pumpkin is offset, maybe that's what's causing the problem.

Oh, yea, forgot to mention, after getting my Rangie off the lift (carefully fitting the front air bag as the car was being lowered, my buddy told me he was glad I bought my RR to him. Why? He told me now he knows he will *never* work on one again. :(

SteveO

RE: vibration while driving
 

I don't know if I'm having the same problem you had. It never happens when I'm under 45mph, but if I am, and I hit a bump, sometimes not even a severe bump just a slight bump, my whole car (96 disco) starts to shake/vibrate and it's almost hard to control it. If I slow down enough, It will stop. Just driving around town, it squeels quite a bit, sounds like the driveshaft. Bad U-Joint? Somebody said that it could be my shocks, but I'm lost. Please let me know what you think.

RE: vibration while driving
 

Hello compton4x4,

I sold my RR shortly after my post. I couldn't stand that thing any more.
You might want to check your front stabilizer shock. When they go bad, they act like what you describe.

SteveO