Steering wobble on new GU?

Hi All,

I have checked a lot of threads (and youtube videos) about wheel/steering wobble at certain speed (usually around 80 to 100 kph), but they are mostly related to vehicles which are at least several years old.

My problem is that the GU9 I have (bought new) has only done 13,000km (build date late 2013) but it already has that symptom. I could not recall if this happened from new (as I rarely travel at that speed, mostly only up to around 80kph stretch of roads) but in the recent months I noticed slight wobble on the steering wheel. Never precise, sometimes at around 90-95kph, sometimes 100kph. Sometimes it appears but seems to be affected by uneven roads, and as the road becomes smooth, the wobble just disappears again (no change in speed). The wobble may come back when the tyres hit small bumps on the road.

All tyres had been recently rotated and balanced, and I rebalanced the front tyres, still the same effect. The vehicle still runs on standard suspension, rim and tyres. My wheel alignment specialist (also a 4WDriver) is adamant it shouldn't be, but after 2 wheel balancing effort, it pretty much still shows the exact same symptoms (haven't tried swapping tyres around yet though).

So, is that the characteristics of this vehicle i.e. I just need to live with this and not to worry (unless it gets worse)? Any comments from fellow owners of GUs with low kms?

Thanks in advance and regards,

Hi mate there are tyre shops and there are tyre shops that know what they are doing, I would take it to someone else and get them rebalanced, has it only started since tyre rotation?

If it is still factory rims and original rubber then the car is still under warranty so "High Ho, High Ho it's off to Nissan I would Go"
Don't forget to take your sense of humour, it could be a loooooooooooooooong process

Its ur tyres budd... hopefully pick up my rig tomorrow 04 gu... does same thing arnd 80kms.. vibration/death wobble.. speed up to 100km nudda... he had it all checked over and wheels balanced.. running 33 micky t's.. swappd to 31s all good..

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Originally Posted by mullet_hunter

Its ur tyres budd... hopefully pick up my rig tomorrow 04 gu... does same thing arnd 80kms.. vibration/death wobble.. speed up to 100km nudda... he had it all checked over and wheels balanced.. running 33 micky t's.. swappd to 31s all good..

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There are a lot of things that could contribute to the wheel wobble.
Just because you had one problem with a similar symptom does not make all wheel wobbles the same problem. The 80kph wobble is fairly common in Patrols and there are many things it could be...

Fair enuff... He asked... I answered.. Just trying to help him out.. Can be an expensive exercise trying to diagnose problems... Wheels balanced... Replacing parts and still no improvement.. Just letting him know what worked for me firsthand...

If it is tyres then it is usually a constant issue at whatever speed, doesn't come and go and more noticeable on smooth bitumen.
I'd be suprised if it is tyres seeing as he is running standard rims and 31's that have been rotated and rebalanced.
It could be... but... you have to take his post on face value that he trusts his tyre guy

When you get a wobble that needs something to set it off and is more prevelant on bumpy stuff it is usually suspension related thru the bushes and ball joints.
Most common cause across the board is Panhard Bushes but it could be any of a multitude of things.

well said..

My wheel wobble was aslightly loose wheel bearing which was worse under brakes causing a shudder.
Tightened up the wheel bearing and all good, and I rotate tyres every 5K

Mines got bad shakes ATM as my bushes are shot so I've been running 30 psi in my tyres on the blacktop(cheap AT duealers).
if I was to have 40+ psi I would have the shakes every time I hit a bump but at 30 psi I never get the shakes.
I don't want to replace the bushes yet as I plan on getting super flex arm so I'm putting it off a bit while running sh!t tyres

I took mine to Pro Axle with the same issue also for a wheel alignment. They got me to drive onto their ramp and sit there and turn the steering wheel left to right while they were under there having a look. They found that the panhard bush on the diff end had too much movement, albeit a six month old adjustable rod. Wheels balanced up good, alignment and camber was spot on, I know my wheel bearing are spot on too so I can only point the finger at this bush. Haven't fixed it yet though. Lol

But hard to say whats up with a new Patrol though.

Good luck.

easy enough to check your wheel bearings , just jack it up
and holding the tyre top and bottom feel for any play.
My OE bearing were replaced at 100K

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Originally Posted by threedogs

easy enough to check your wheel bearings , just jack it up
and holding the tyre top and bottom feel for any play.
My OE bearing were replaced at 100K

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If you do end up checking the bearings in this manner, check the steering. To check the steering hold the tyre left and right or at 3 and 9 o'clock and pull and push.

Being a new car I would expect it to be all sweet but it takes 30 seconds to check whilst your already there

I have a similar slight wobble on mine, but it seems to go once the tyres are warmed up.

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Originally Posted by Cuppa

I have a similar slight wobble on mine, but it seems to go once the tyres are warmed up.

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A question, What tyre pressure do you run?

As for the original question I have no definitive answer, I do know all the steering bits have to be in good order and adjusted correctly.

My wobbles are violent if my tyres are 40+ and non existent at 30psi, 35psi you can feel it start to wobble for a second then balances out fast.

Unlikely to apply in your case but my wobbles were stuffed kingpin bearings. They should be changed every 100,000km or so.
My symptoms would come and go but always around the same speed.
Since changed said bearings and the wheel bearings, no more wobbles.....smooth as a gravy sandwich now.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

I would consider checking wheel bearings though. However I'm not convinced of Threedogs method. I followed that for both the wheel bearings and kingpin bearings and it indicated nothing was wrong......a completely different story when we pulled the front end apart.....rooted was one way to describe it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

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Originally Posted by macca

A question, What tyre pressure do you run?

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37psi & 46psi Both rise by between 4 & 6psi when hot.

Thanks for all who took their time commenting.

In particular I find the loose bearing and tyre pressure possibilities to be something I'll follow up for the time being. One thing for sure:
- from new to 10,000km I used to set 34 psi when cold on all tyres (and I couldn't recall the wobble problem then)
- since then I set 38 psi when cold (and I know for sure the problem was noticed after this)

If so, this may be consistent with one of the comments above i.e. the wobble only occurs at higher tyre presure.

The tyres are standard, so I presume 34 psi cold should be OK (not LT construction)?

I wonder if the wobble going away at lower pressures could indicate not enough preload on kingpins as the lower tyre pressure would create more drag?

Make sure all bushes are genuine

Hi All,

Just a quick update on this. I finally had some time to go around the stretch of M5 and further down to Hume Highway. But this time I set the tyre pressure to be 34 psi cold. And the wobble doesn't happen. Well it did happen once, at approx. 95kmh the tyre hit a small bump on the road and I can start feeling the steering wobble (as if the wheel started bouncing along lightly?), but then a hundred or two meters on, the wobble stopped. Of the the 80 odd km trip today, just that one time.

I sort of recall the tyres had been on that pressure (around 34 psi) since the car was new, and I only increased the pressure to 38 psi cold after the 10,000 km tyre rotation and rebalance (and started noticing the steering wobble at approx 100 kmh since).

Not sure if this explains something?

Cheers,

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Originally Posted by jm2004

Hi All,

Just a quick update on this. I finally had some time to go around the stretch of M5 and further down to Hume Highway. But this time I set the tyre pressure to be 34 psi cold. And the wobble doesn't happen. Well it did happen once, at approx. 95kmh the tyre hit a small bump on the road and I can start feeling the steering wobble (as if the wheel started bouncing along lightly?), but then a hundred or two meters on, the wobble stopped. Of the the 80 odd km trip today, just that one time.

I sort of recall the tyres had been on that pressure (around 34 psi) since the car was new, and I only increased the pressure to 38 psi cold after the 10,000 km tyre rotation and rebalance (and started noticing the steering wobble at approx 100 kmh since).

Not sure if this explains something?

Cheers,

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Changing psi on tyres only masks what is obviously a problem part, NOT a solution.

I would go first guess Panhard bushes (very common fault).

Otherwise we can sit here and go through the list of other things but going and getting them checked out is easy, shouldn't cost (to check them out) and about $120 -140 to replace with nolathane ones.

Regards Ed

This is a new vehicle, 13000 on the clock. Standard Nissan tyres (assume they are Bridgestone Desert Duellers) take it back to Nissan. Take it back to Nissan!
It's under warranty take it back to Nissan!
You start playing around with suggestions made here and you'll void your warranty.
All that aside, bought a brand new 2002 ST coilcab which was fitted with the above tyres, 118k kms later had another new set of the same fitted. 105k kms the third set fitted and still running although am not going to get as good mileage now a 2.5T van is hanging on the back, not a hint of a wobble.

Hey mate I had a similar issue with my 2014 GU had a bad steering wobble after its 15,000 km service where it had a wheel rotation I took it back to Nissan and they told me I had mud on the inside of the rims throwing the balance out they gave them a clean and it fixed the problem

Hi All, thanks very much for all the great ideas. And sorry for not having had the chance to respond earlier.
I'm yet to go back to the garage but when I have further news, I'll definitely update this thread.

Cheers :beer: :beer:

March 2012 Y61 GU8 WWh, 2in lift, 27000 kms. I had wobbles 60 to 100 km rebalanced wheels, realignment checked bushes, finally took it back to Nissan. They replaced the Panhard Rod nut and washer with a modified unit, (end of problem),

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Originally Posted by Drewboyaus

I would consider checking wheel bearings though. However I'm not convinced of Threedogs method. I followed that for both the wheel bearings and kingpin bearings and it indicated nothing was wrong......a completely different story when we pulled the front end apart.....rooted was one way to describe it. Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

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Did you jack up only one side, or both? I can find shagged rod ends and loose wheel bearings this way. But to find my shagged king pin bearings I needed to drop the drag and tie rods off and steer the knuckle left and right and could then feel the "looseness" in the bearing when pointed straight ahead. The pre load was also less than it should have been.
Like Drew said you can't find always find the problems with the steering together, axle had about 40,000 km on it.

Thanks all for the various suggestions and ideas, as such I felt I need to update that I got the wheels all rebalanced and rotated and the wobble (or I perhaps should have used the term "shimmy") pretty much disappeared for now.

Cheers :)

I have a 2011 patrol . I havent had this problem , but in april I had the panhard rod nut assembly replaced under a saftey recall notice . I don't know if the recall applys to your vehicle but I think it would be worth checking out .

hmm another thing that would be worth trying is while doing around 100km/h downhill going around a corner brake hard and see if you get a shudder/wobble through the steering