GU is drifting left and right, and "clunking" when applying brakes

[Sights]

So, I will do my best to describe a very frustrating problem that suddenly appeared after replacing front inner and outer wheel bearings.

After doing the bearings and taking my first trip into town, I noticed that the GU was drifting from the centre of the lane towards the shoulder or centre line.
Not a wheel wobble/shudder, but just veering L & R as I was trying to stay in the middle of the lane.
I'm not sure if it's related, but sometimes, not consistently, when applying the brakes, I have heard a metal scraping sound or clunking noise. These noises are not heard at the same time, and not every time I brake - it's intermittent!
I did replaced brake pads on all wheels around December/January, and all seemed to be working well until recently. The brake noise did start about a week of two before changing the bearings.
A "kind of a metallic rattle" started today, and got louder over about 4klm until pedestrians started to look at the car, obviously hearing the noise. I parked at the kerb, checked all the wheels for movement, looked under the front and back for - anything!
Finding nothing, I took off again and the noise had just disappeared! The only thing I had done it to use the brakes to pull to the kerb.

Have rechecked the bearing install and had a mechanic friend check at the same time - all good.
Have replaced the driver side tie rod end, as it wouldn't have passed rego, and had a wheel alignment done - this gave a minor improvement to the drifting, but it is still there.

Today, went back to the mechanic friends workshop and did some testing. Put the front on stands and looked at everything that moves and/or has rubber.
Noticed some knocking when moving the steering wheel left to right and adjusted the steering box as much as practicable.
Also noticed that when on full lock (left and right) and rocking either wheel, there is a much noisier "knock" then when wheels are cantered, which, try as we might, we could not find the source.
After using a stethoscope, it was decided that the pitman arm/steering rod [can't remember the right proper name for it :( ] connection was the most likely culprit, but outwardly at least, it seemed to be in good condition.

So, two mechanics, one is a 4 wheeler himself, have driven the GU, felt the drift, heard the noises and can't find the cause...........HELP!!!
I am open to any suggestions as it is quite unnerving driving under these conditions and wondering if a something disastrous is going to happen at 80kph (ain't going over that speed till I find the solution).

[MB]

G’day Sights Mate,
Almost too much information conflicting for my nuffy nogin to comprehend.
Initially thought you’ve simply got a dodgey disc brake caliper locking on but then……. [emoji848]
Keen to learn too and hear more Brother [emoji120][emoji106][emoji106]


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[BrazilianY60]

Almost sound like a broken king pin for me based on the wandering around and clunking noise when steering left and right to full lock.

[Sights]

So Yeh MB, it does that to the brain after thinking about it for more than 20mins.
Thanks for the response anyhow. Maybe we will both learn something.

[Sights]

Hey Brazilian (the mind boggles). :cool: That is one of the few areas left to check.
Am going to get a kit and replace the pins and bearings, and would be absolutely stoked if that is the end of it.
I'm a very active pensioner and just waiting to save enough to buy the kit.
Of course, there's still the break noise. :confused:

[mudski]

Check the drag link ends and King pin bearings before you replace them, no need to replace them if they are ok. Throwing $$$ at it for no reason then. The wandering cold be a dud steering dampener, doubt it but its easy to check. Make sure the tie rod isn't bent and the toe in/out is adjusted right and also the camber angle. All this can affect the wandering dramatically.

Also check the front and second row body mounts. My GU had a bad clunk in the front end and it ended up being the front and second row mounts.

Metallic rattle, hmm. Sway bar links/ mounts loose. disc brake back plate loosing or rubbing. Brake pads clips missing or broken. when you here the rattle, engage in Hi 4, drive a short distance and see if it changes or goes? If it does, atleast it may give you and area to look at, like a dodgy auto hub, broken axle shaft circlip,which can pop off if not fitted back on correctly.

[Sights]

Check the drag link ends and King pin bearings before you replace them, no need to replace them if they are ok. Throwing $$$ at it for no reason then. The wandering cold be a dud steering dampener, doubt it but its easy to check. Make sure the tie rod isn't bent and the toe in/out is adjusted right and also the camber angle. All this can affect the wandering dramatically.

Also check the front and second row body mounts. My GU had a bad clunk in the front end and it ended up being the front and second row mounts.

Metallic rattle, hmm. Sway bar links/ mounts loose. disc brake back plate loosing or rubbing. Brake pads clips missing or broken. when you here the rattle, engage in Hi 4, drive a short distance and see if it changes or goes? If it does, atleast it may give you and area to look at, like a dodgy auto hub, broken axle shaft circlip,which can pop off if not fitted back on correctly.



Thanks heaps Mudski, have now checked about everything and nothing seems to be working out.

Was coincidentally talking to a friend from Queensland on Saturday, and he stated that he had the same issue which turned out to be new tyres. Changing them to the back and vice versa. Sold his problem.
Did I forget to mention I put a pair of muddies on the back of the GU last week and had 50% ATs on the front? :oops:

So, yesterday I put the car on a mate’s hoist, tyre rotation and back to front swap for the muddies.
Drove to town this morning, and got a third of the way before realising that the car was driving smoothly – No more drifting.

Steering problem solved!

I don’t understand geometry of steering and how matching muddies on the back with ATs caused his problem. I’m sure someone out there is more able to explain it, which would be appreciated. it’s probably something to do with the LSD.

Still have that metallic noise, hasn’t occurred for a few days, so we’ll just wait and see.

Thanks to everyone who helped, it’s really good to know we have such a resource available as these forums, and that there are people who will take the time to help others. It’s very much appreciated.

[Lionel84]

I've got a metallic noise. I also have a box of parts to fix the noise, when I get around to it!
It's the uni joints. Constant grinding, a little bit of clunking accelerating and decelerating.

[MB]

So, the problem was wheel balance?
I understand that many Folk complain about ‘Patrols - Death Wobbles’ ?
Have driven hard I believe work & play quite a few Patrol variants over the last few decades and only ever experienced the dreaded 80kmph slight wobbles once, tops twice, on lumpy lug missing MT tyres just out of gnarly weekend adventures. I cannot suspect any more from my nuffy experiences that there is anything wrong in design, surely poor maintenance on each and every hairy bush throughout [emoji3590][emoji3590]


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