GU steering wobble

Sharky

New Member
Hi all, it's been a while.

Anyway, ever since we've had our GU it's had a slight intermittant vibration thru the steering wheel at 70-80kph which I put down to a warped rotor as you could feel the pedal pulsate under brakes, but it was barely noticeable so we ignored it. Several months ago I lifted it 4" & put 33 BFG muds on it & nothing changed. But recently the wobble has got worse & is really under brakes. The thing is, it's not constantly there however is occurring more often. I've just put new rotors on it & done the wheel bearings which made no difference. It usually starts after a bump in the road. I've checked for anything loose or worn & so far the only suspicions I have are the tie rod ends or the steering nuckles. The car has done nearly 330,000km but there's no excessive play in the tie rod ends. Interestingly my lancruiser has identical symptoms & I've noticed for some time that the camber has been out. I recently noticed the camber out on 1 wheel on the patrol but not all the time. At 1st I thought it may have been coz I've turned the wheel whilst parking but now I let the vehicle run straight before I check it (just by eye). When it plays up you REALLY feel the brake pedal pulsate but when it's behaving you barely feel anything. You can hear 1 of the tyres is out of balance (constantly) but I just had a 4 wheel balance & steering alignment which only seemed to make it worse. I noticed when it plays up the steering wheel isn't centered & the car pulls to 1 side (can go either way) & if you turn the wheel very slightly to center the wheel the wobble severely lessens but the car turns slightly, yet when it's behaving the wheel is centered. There's no play in the steering that I can tell, at least no more than there was when we bought the car. Higher tyre pressure makes a very small difference but I've always regularly ckecked it with my own guage & I keep 42psi them.

Here is what the car has had done:

Months ago...
King spring SP4's
Tough Dog 45's adj
Noltec adj panhard rods
Raw steering damper
Extended link pins
BFG 33" Muds still with 95% tread.

Recently...
New Protec rotors
New wheel bearings
Balance & alignment

Any help appreciated as I'm going nuts over it. I'm just short of taking into Wilkinsons Suspension & telling them to do what it takes to make it go away. My guess is that it's a steering issue. There are no pwr steering leaks visible & the fluid is clean but not fresh. I can't see anything bent. It's really doing my head in. The only common denominator between the Cruza & the Patrol is the camber. Could that be it? Why would be intermittant?

Thanks, Sharky.
 

Grumpy

Moderator
I'm certainly no expert but could it be a faulty or broken shocker, hence a bump in the road cold set it off.
 

Sharky

New Member
That's what I thought too but I checked them & they seem ok. I changed the settings & everything worked as normal. It also doesn't explain the steering wheel position thing. I might put my stock ones back in just to see if there's a difference. Any other ideas?
 
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WILDTI

4x4 Earth Contributer
Hi Sharky,
With the 4 inch lift did you put drop boxes in your rig? It was a problem with quite a few lifts that high. We did the full Tough Dog kit with snake disconnects and locally made drop boxes to help the wobble. It seems to be quite common with the GU's. Some get a wobble some don't. Go figure.
 

Sharky

New Member
Didn't need to. I have 5deg castor plates instead which according to the various engineers & patrol owners I spoke to was ample. But that would moreso affect the back end. This is a front end issue in 2wd. The prob existed before I lifted it & only just recently (kinda suddenly) got really bad.

I know many patrols get these sorta probs due to a 0-tolerance chassis but usually it's a warped rotor. The other thing is my cruza ute also does the exact same thing & that only has a 1" susp lift.
 

Croozer

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
Hmmm! Thats strange Sharky! I spose the only thing to do now is step by step and eliminate each part it could be. Thats gotta be a real pain in the butt.
 

Sharky

New Member
Hmmm! Thats strange Sharky! I spose the only thing to do now is step by step and eliminate each part it could be. Thats gotta be a real pain in the butt.

Oh man it's really doin my head in. I did my 3rd yr mech apprenticeship yrs ago so I'm usually on the ball but this is givin me the poops.

I appreciate the input guys & keep it coming. I got a gut feeling it's got to do with either camber, shocks or both.

Oh, no sh1t!!!! I just rememberd. Shortly before I lifted it my wife hit a fairly large rock (about 400mm round) at around 60kph with the left front wheel whilst camping. It was after that that I really started to notice it getting a little worse. Our shockies were worn & I think that killed the left 1 so when I replaced the shocks I disregarded it & forgot about it as it seemed to be a bit better. But after a few weeks it got worse to a point then remained that way until now. I'm wondering if she cracked or fractured somthing inside the steering knuckle or something that has finally gone. Coz it is the front left wheel that the camber has been out on.
 

Croozer

5th Annual Victorian Gathering member
Oh the things that jog our memory. That would do it for sure Sharky.
 

Sharky

New Member
What would it be do you reckon? My workshop manual points to the damper, susp bushes, tie rod ends & wheel alignment mostly.

I also have been suspect of the steering damper too. It was new with the lift kit but I trust Tough Dog more than Raw.

I think if I can find out why it doesn't do it all the time I will find the fault. Bushes would be constant. Tie rod ends or Damper could be intermittant & depending on what's broken & where so could alignment. I'm seriosly leaning toward alignment cos of the steering wheel changing position when it occurs.
 

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
I'de be stripping front left wheel including axle out. See what loose bits fall out?? Changing camber suggests steering knuckle somewhere. Possibly outer axle damage from or including C.V.????
 

Sharky

New Member
How do you adjust the camber on something like this? It doesn't look like you can. So if camber is out, what could it be? Broken or worn swivel hub bearing?

I might just replace the tie rod ends to start with, then look at those swivel hub bearings.
 

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
Tie rod ends wil only control your toe in and out. Have you replaced the bearings?? Maybe the bearing retainers are worn unevenly so depending on where the wheel sits, as to it's angle.
 

Sharky

New Member
Frosty, I thought as much. It's good to have a second opinion along the same lines. The CV has never given me reason to suspect it. It's actually a very quiet & smooth front end even when in 4wd but stranger things have happened eh?
 

Sharky

New Member
If you mean wheel bearings then yes they're new. But I couldn't tell you if the swivel hub bearings have ever been done.

Thats true about the rod ends but if they're worn that would explain the steering wheel position change & the wobble. My Cruzer had an intermittant prob once that turned out to be a tir rod end. On the car it seemed to be tight but 2 weeks later it fell apart (in a car park luckily).
 
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frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
I'de be looking at the bearings and it's surroundings first. If the CV was flogged or busted, you'de REALLY KNOW ABOUT IT. Bearings are cheaper too!!
 

Sharky

New Member
That's what I thought. Usually CV's get noisy before they cause this much drama.

What about those shims? Are they something that gets replaced with stock thickness items or do they need to be measured & altered to correct the allignment somehow?
 

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
Eventually the shims wear, apparantly. Never seen them worn but now come to think, I have heard of them being replaced!!!!!

THAT'S WWHERE I WOULD START, WITH NEW BEARINGS!!

I'll put a Corona on it!
 

Sharky

New Member
Thanks frosty, you've been really helpful. I'll look at those bearings at the 1st chance I get. I may as well do both sides but I'll start with the left.

Chances are that it would be something that I haven't yet replaced. Steering issue dianosis isn't my forte, it's the 1 thing I'm still learning about.

I'll keep you posted on this.
 

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
Well make sure ya keep us posted on how ya go!!

Yobbo's gunna need all the help he can get soon!!!
 
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