Death wobble

[jonfromhamilton]

Get death wobble when hitting dpeed bumps and similar at low speed (havent been over 60 with bumps) got a wheel alignment and hasnt helped

[jono165]

What’s your kingpin bearing preload like?

[Mike57]

Death wobble is a common Jimny issue. Most common cause is worn king pins or bearings or insufficient king pin pre-load. You also need to check for any other causes of movement like steering joints and panhard rod bushes, wheel bearings etc. I think with the Sierra you remove shims to increase pre-load on the king pins which is opposite to the Jimny where you add shims. There will be a procedure where you use a fishing scale to measure the pre-load. I have done it myself on the Jimny but not sure of the specs for a Sierra.

[porter.8.luke]

Some one told me you just through the biggest steering damper at that will fit! Fix it right up

[stevend34]

Hey John

I've also got this problem at the moment. Mine happens at 40 and is quite bad

I've checked wheel bearings are tight, swapped tires, put in caster correction wedges

My next steps is new Bushes and back to stock shackles.

[jonfromhamilton]

Ive got a damper in the mail.
I greased the ball on the knuckle eith a teflon based grease which made total sense to me but on further reading the friction on that rubber wiper seal deters wobble so i fucked that up

[stevend34]

did the damper fix it?

Greg; you able to tell us more about what fixed yours?

[Greg]

I'm not sure if mine is fixed as yet Steve.

My Work So Far:
1. Replace Tie Rod and Drag Link to (worn rod ends)
2. Fish scale load testing for king pins (stock is 2-4kg. i am at closer to 8kg)
3. Replace steering shaft (had worn uni)
4. go back to stock shackles
5. go back to poly bushings instead of flexi rubber
6. caster plates (though it's hard to really tell where to measure this stuff)
7. remove toe in or get close to it (stock is 6mm, i am am 0 or 1ish)

All of that - and i still get the death wobbles. Typically between 40 and 50km.

Last weekend I retrofitted a steering stabiliser onto my Vitara power steer setup. Drove great on little tyres. Pending big tyre test.

There is a chance that the big tyres are the problem - but i need a known good car to fit them to for proving that.

[jonfromhamilton]

The more i drive the better it gets and the faster i go the less likely it is so... thats something.
Have some tailshaft balance issues

[6eoffrey]

That's plenty of progress you've got.