car shakes at 90ish KMPH

[ckh]

at different speeds and if there was a bend in the highway the steering or the front end would shake like hell.. They said this was a Nissan problem.. Called several different places who one wanted to bite me 200 just to diagnose the problem... Found a guy at tyrepower Rocklea who said he had fixed hundreds of Nissans, and even Nissan bought cars to him to fix. He had it for the better part of the day and only cost $250, I don’t know if it’s my imagination of not but there is still a slight shaking. Shudder in the car, have called him back he said it could be drive train or a number of other things but he said he was happy with the before and after, the only faults he could find was one bush had a slight crack in it, which he said I could get another 6-12 months out of.

he did his secret fix, made no difference in my opion, he said it had to be the crash in the bush, and if I put a 2 inch suspension lift if, it would solve my problems, so paid out, got the bush fixed, suspension lifted, and to me the sake is still there, it comes and goes, today when it was real bad, put it into neutral to make sure it wasnt engine ralated etc, it has standard 31's on it, a mate with an almost identical car has 285 75 R16's on his and it drives perfect, another guy I spoke to today said his handled bad with 31's so he upsized to 33's and the problem was gone.. The trye power guy is pulling his hair out he cant understand whats going wrong, he even shouted me a new set of engine mounts to see if that would fix the problem, anyone else here can confirm that going to 33's would help?

Once i get my engine miss problem sorted and this steering/suspension shaking sorted, I'll have a perfect car..

[Rustyboner81]

I cant confirm but almost everyone i know with a GQ has some wobble at speed including myself.
Im going up to 33,s soon i'll let you know.

[Drewboyaus]

I've got 33" KM2's and mine has a steering wheel shake at about 90-ish....
It's not dreadful but I could do without it.
When I had the factory size tyres the shake was at about 80km/h. I'm living with it at the moment and I find it's worse on crappy surfaced freeways and if I increase my speed to 100 plus it is smooth as a baby's backside.....

[Drewboyaus]

The moral....when in doubt, power out! :-)

[Clunk]

Mine still wobbles with 33s on...... Have yet to take a look at bushes but I'm in no hurry and very rarely travel at the speed it starts to wobble at, which is anywhere between 70-90 depending on which day of the week it is, the lunar cycle and what I've had for breakfast. :D:D

Don't stroke it, TAP it!!!!.....

[happygu]

Hey Ckh...is it the whole car shaking, or just a wobble in the steering wheel? ....

Mic

[ckh]

Hey Ckh...is it the whole car shaking, or just a wobble in the steering wheel? ....

Mic

Feels like the whole car but more the front end

[ckh]

When driving on a falt section of highway today, it felt like I was driving on a coragated dirt road, car shaking like hell..going to a mates place tomorrow and trying a completely different set of rims and tyres, it that solves or improves things, I'll know my tyres or wheels are out of round.. Today when driving on a perfectly flat bit of freeway it felt like i was on a coragated dirt road,, my Mate is also going to have a look to see if anything else stands out like a sore thumb, I'm so glad I met "scaredgq " Andrew on a forum, he's a top block and knows his stuff when it comes to gq's, I'm still in awe as to what he has done to his and its only running on gas, would make most V8's be imbarrased...

[ckh]

Swapped front and rear wheels over, no more shakes also got extractors installed turns out exhaust manifold was warped and leaking from number 1 and 6 cylinder, man it made a difference, more power and ecconomy has now consistantly around the 17-18L/100L

[DX grunt]

Mine's going to the mechanics soon, to finish off a few things - including that wobble.

I'm lost as to why my truck, with skinny tyres, does it too. I even swapped my 2 brand new, balanced spares and put them on the front.

All things aside, I really, honestly believe, with all my heart, that it the wobble is partly due to the condition of the road. I live in the wheatbelt where b doubles and road trains are a part of daily life.
The heat our here melts the bitumen, too. I'm reasonably confident to say that my skinny tyres get caught in the 'invisible' truck ruts on the bitumen.

99% of the wobbles happen when I'm braking.

Mine's not the only vehicle that way that has gone to the mechanic for the wobbles.

Rossco

[Bloodyaussie]

I have a mate at a tyre centre and I get him to balance my wheels on a semi regular basis and there is always at least one that has throne a weight and is out of balance.... never mind all the other problems that come with 4wding??

[ckh]

Mine's going to the mechanics soon, to finish off a few things - including that wobble.

I'm lost as to why my truck, with skinny tyres, does it too. I even swapped my 2 brand new, balanced spares and put them on the front.

All things aside, I really, honestly believe, with all my heart, that it the wobble is partly due to the condition of the road. I live in the wheatbelt where b doubles and road trains are a part of daily life.
The heat our here melts the bitumen, too. I'm reasonably confident to say that my skinny tyres get caught in the 'invisible' truck ruts on the bitumen.

99% of the wobbles happen when I'm braking.

Mine's not the only vehicle that way that has gone to the mechanic for the wobbles.

Rossco

If 99% of your wobbles happen when braking could it be a warped or stuffed disc rotor?

[Tank]

When I got my GQ it was on 31's and had a fairly nasty woble at 80 - 90km, had the wheels rebalanced and the problem went away. Then I went to 33's and it came back after a while so got the wheels rebalanced and the problem was solved.

[DX grunt]

If 99% of your wobbles happen when braking could it be a warped or stuffed disc rotor?

I'll tell the mechanic, although, he should already know this, if it is the case. I've had it serviced a couple of times and no mechanic has picked it up, yet.

I guess my question to them is.....Do they do road tests at 50k's or 90k's, or do they road test it at all, given the pressure they're under.

The wobble doesn't always happen , in fact reasonably rare, but when it does, it concerns me (to say the least).

I'm still of the firm belief that a lot of my problems is the actual road itself. But we'll see.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it on the back burner.

Rossco

[xamrab]

My GQ also vibrates between 80 and 90 kph and that is on the freeway. If I make sure I have even tyre pressures and up to spec then the intensity of the vibration lessens but doesn't go away. Also, making sure each tyre is balanced helps. I never used to get front end vibration whilst I had narrow tyres but ever since I went to a wider tyre the problem appeared.

[93patrol]

silly question but are do have slight turn pressure on the steering wheel to hold the car on a straight line or slight bend because it could be movement through your steering box if it is.. mine has the same wobble and tries to pitch me off the road under heavy breaking but i know that my bushes are worn and needs a wheel bearing repackand probably a new brake system(its done 300k on original discs and master cylinder).
that another thing it could be wheel bearing slackness but i am just guessing at that.

[ckh]

Shakes are gone now after swapping wheels around, they were balanced but must be out of round as if I pushed it to 110 the shakes disappeared, after all the work I done to her in the past few weeks wanted to show my mate who last time he was in her said she was a gutless piece of shit, "he has just bought a FJ Cruiser" took it out on nice long stretch of highway and at 100 stomped the pedal to the metal, and man did she pull, pulled hard to 110 then 120 then 130 then 140 then at about 145 got bad shakes but she was still wanting to pull beyond that, so that was a once off to shut my mate up, fuel consumption today probably will ruin my recordings this week, have been averaging 17l/100 K's with the air con on nearly all the time....

[the evil twin]

It's an inherent Patrol thing. If they want to do it they do and if they don't then they don't. The harmonic causing the shakes seems to be approx 85 KPH and then when a vehicle starts it usually get progressively worse over time.

What I mean by that is the Patrol geometry is such that the any one of many issues will cause exactly the same symptoms. Wheel balance, Steering damper, Panhard bushes, Drag link, dodgy tyre, Steering box IE pretty much anything that isn't quite right on the front end will cause it.

Thats why some people find going from 31 to 33 tyres stopped it while others see no difference, others again (esp older trucks) will find it to be panhard bushes. Sometimes a lift will stop it and at other times that will start the shakes. Some people will swear by a RTC steering damper then others will fit one and it will be the same or worse on their vehicle. Fitting GU steering boxes was an in vogue fix for a while but like the rest worked for some not for others

There is always a reason (or component if you like) but it is just not the same component that fixes one and all. Until you find what it is on a particular vehicle it can drive you nuts trying to sort it.

[WHITEGQ]

Hi All,
Like alot of others my GQ wagon has the shakes, was driving along one day and it was like somebody just flicked a switch, and bingo it started shaking. My GQ has 2" lift, 33" mud tires, so far I have put new adjustable draglink and new adjustable tie rod bar, new 2deg caster correction bushes in front radias arms and the rear radius bushes, have done new wheel bearings and had swivel hub bearings all romoved, repacked and set-up, new front disc rotors and pads. Havent checked front panhard bushes yet, but I only replaced them about 2-2.5 years ago. also yet to check and adjust steering box.

[NissanGQ4.2]

Look who just come out of the woodworks, good luck with finding why your trol now has the dreaded death wobbble

[DX grunt]

Hi All,
...... was driving along one day and it was like somebody just flicked a switch, and bingo it started shaking.

Exactly what happened to me!! I couldn't understand how all these trucks were shaking, then whammo, it hit mine. lol - not

Mine's a 2005 GU DX ute - Ex Telstra job with the pod on the back. I still think the road surface has a bit to do with it.

Rossco

[Rustyboner81]

i had it bad before too. got 33's freshly balanced all sweet. it doesnt take much to shift a weight, keep em balanced.

my muddies have a wobble under braking which is due to the nubs of the tyres gripping similar effect as front wheel drive torque steer

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk 2

[Astro]

I'm going through the same dramas at the moment.

Mine seemed to appear out of the blue.

I'm in the process of replacing the bushes in the front, and while I'm at it, replacing the 4 front ones in the radius arms with castor bushes to counter the affect of the 2" lift. Also did the rear steering bar (drag link??).

What other bushes should be replaced?

[Bulbous]

Not the Drag Link, that's the long one at the front - connected to the damper

[Astro]

Thanks Bulbous.

What's the one behind the diff called?

[the evil twin]

Thanks Bulbous.

What's the one behind the diff called?

That 'un is the Tie Rod

[BigRAWesty]

Panhard rod is chassis to axial (sideways). Drag rod is from steering box and tie rod connects your wheels.
Radius arms are the chassis to axials along the chassis.
All have bushes which flog out and cause shimmis. But then you also have wheel bearings, swivel hub bearings, tyres, steering box which all can contribute to the shakes..
Start with the cheapest and work threw it.


Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[y60patrol]

I ran a curb a few weeks ago damaged my right rear wheel I changed it and still wobbles over 60

[TJsGQ]

hey mate i had 31 n stock lift had bad wabbles anything above 90.. put a 2 inch lift in with just spring shocks n steering stabilizer n fixed the prob for me.. now ive just put 33inch cooper stt discoverys on it n its actually a bit worse.. dunno if it with the muddy or steering alignment.. b

[Rustyboner81]

I ran a curb a few weeks ago damaged my right rear wheel I changed it and still wobbles over 60

maybe squashed / damaged trailing arm bushes??

[Rustyboner81]

silly question but are do have slight turn pressure on the steering wheel to hold the car on a straight line or slight bend because it could be movement through your steering box if it is.. mine has the same wobble and tries to pitch me off the road under heavy breaking but i know that my bushes are worn and needs a wheel bearing repackand probably a new brake system(its done 300k on original discs and master cylinder).
that another thing it could be wheel bearing slackness but i am just guessing at that.

jack front wheels up off the ground. grab the top and bottom of the wheel and wiggle, if you got play replace kingpin bearings.
grab the left and right side of the wheel and wobble, if you have play tighten or replace wheel bearings