The Dreaded Steering Wheel Wobble.

Hi all,

2012 3.0 Litre. At about 80kph I get the all too common wobble on the steering. I know many have had it and there are more than one cause. But I was hoping those that have solved the issue can post here and let me know what worked for you. I have done a wheel balance with no change.

I have noticed that it seems to be worse when driving in a straight line. When I go around a bend it seems to sort itself out. To me that might mean Pan hard bushings?

Any advise greatly appreciated.

Cheers all, Brian.

Get the Patrol on a hoist or a jack with stands, and check the wheel bearings for movement at the 9 and 12 o'clock positions. Check that the swivel hubs aren't too loose. If all good, inspect the panhard and other bushes. Use a good, long crow bar to lever all the bushes to see if there is excess movement. Check that the steering damper isn't worn out, by taking one end off and push it in and out.

had this with a 2013 3.0 .. the coils had sagged along with not having an adjustable drag link for proper alignment. It was chewing out the front tyres as a result and giving the wobbles at 80 kph. Replaced the coils (which also gave it the 2inch lift). That then created an issue with caster .. ended up with a 2 degree correction kit installed. So check all the ins and outs if you start going down that path. How many km's are on the clock and has it seen any heavy work eg long term heavy loads .. mine was an ex Police forensics wagon. It had done no work at all but carried a shed load of gear in the back 24 hours a day .. hence the sagged suspension

New front wheel bearings fixed my wobbles / wheel shimmy.
Prior to that I've tried the following and none worked:
-Full wheel balance and alignment
-New front panhard bushes
-New draglink
-Bearings greased and tightened a number of times

This was several months ago, but now have slightly returned to a minor shimmy circa 95km/h. Bearings possibly need tightening.

Going through this now. Have tried two sets of wheels on the front, both gave wobbles. Balanced 1 set of front wheels twice, wobbles remained. All front bushes are less than 12 month old.

Just replaced the steering dampener and this seems to have made a difference, but I'm going to wait a week or 2 before I call it fixed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 10G

Going through this now. Have tried two sets of wheels on the front, both gave wobbles. Balanced 1 set of front wheels twice, wobbles remained. All front bushes are less than 12 month old.

Just replaced the steering dampener and this seems to have made a difference, but I'm going to wait a week or 2 before I call it fixed.

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I had the boss at my local Tyrepower rebalance my brand new tyres which were hideously off. He ended up having to move one tyre 180 degrees on the rim to achieve a good result.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mudnut

I had the boss at my local Tyrepower rebalance my brand new tyres which were hideously off. He ended up having to move one tyre 180 degrees on the rim to achieve a good result.

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Not uncommon.

I was told years ago, when getting new tyres fitted tell them if there's alot of weight to balance it, rotate as your local tyre shop did. Best to have less weight than more.

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk

Just heard from the workshop that are looking into this. The bloke that runs the place has a 3.0 patrol and has gone thru the same process. So far on mine he has found loose front wheel bearings. He will remove and re-grease them if they are still serviceable. Also a loose steering arm. Probably not tightened properly after the ARB suspension install. He has also found the main radiator belt tension idler at its life end. I'll update if there is anything else. It will be good to have this sorted.

I'm a new patrol owner. I'm learning there's more to a "solid-front-end" than meets common perception. Mine wobbles a bit between 80 & 100. I had all the wheels balanced which partially helped. It doesn't worry me too much but I'm going to progressively "fix" everything anyway.

Wobble be gone!! Success. New wheel bearings and a re-torqued steering rod arm and the wobble is gone. I'm also glad that the fan belt idler was replaced. He showed my the old one. The amount of slop in it was scary. It would be a good thing for everyone to have a look at.