Offroad-Express

Hi fella's
Little help if ya could, my 89 surf on 33"s has got a real shake/ wobble on the steering especially bad at about 80 kms.

Have lifted the front wheels off the ground as thought maybe a tyre was out of shape but they seem ok, looked at cv's but they seem ok, wheels look to be still balanced as weights still intact.

Any idea's

wheel alignment maybe

bazablue wrote:... wheels look to be still balanced as weights still intact.

Take the wheels in to get balanced. It is the most likely problem and easiest fix.

Driveshaft perhaps lost a weight.

You have to go through a process of elimination.
Start with checking that you don't have a big lump of shit stuck to one of the rims, then wheel balance or buckle, then look into suspension bushes, ball joint failure, drive shaft balance etc

could be wheel bearings or loose wheel nuts. wheel alignment generally doesnt cause vehicle to shake

check your c arm link rod has preload .. i had issues with that already ....threw it all away have crossover now

solid front end ?

Could also be kingpin bearings. If you have free-wheeling hubs, you can eliminate the Driveshaft from the problem. Check your U-bolts are tight as well...

Cheers guys, yeah agree I wouldn't think it's gonna be wheel alignment, I know wheel nuts are all tight, so I'll check wheels are all balanced, it's just had new wheel bearings put on about 2-3 months ago so they should be ok.

I'll look at the other suggestions as well and cross my fingers

thanks again

bazablue wrote:Cheers guys, yeah agree I wouldn't think it's gonna be wheel alignment, I know wheel nuts are all tight, so I'll check wheels are all balanced, it's just had new wheel bearings put on about 2-3 months ago so they should be ok.

I'll look at the other suggestions as well and cross my fingers

thanks again

Let us know if you want anyone to have a look at it, we have a bit of knowledge tucked away about them in the welly crew.

Tyre pressures????

Wheel bearing do come loose...especially with larger tyres, jack up the front wheels and wobble the front ones top to bottom....if theres lots of movement they need looking at, my previous prado ones came loose often with the 33" tyres....

Check the outside edge of the rims for damage

check your kingpin bearings and front steering etc for loose bolts, check any front suspension bushes too, or for play in the steering box......

May be worth going to Rob at naenae tyres, he can check them and do a balance, some of the other places eg tonys etc may not know what to look for or do a balance properly....

Could also be wheel alignment etc

bazablue wrote: wobble on the steering especially bad at about 80 kms.

99% sure it will be a wheel balance issue

go see rob at Naenae Tyres, he is experienced in balancing 4wd tyres

but don't expect miracles

sometimes they can be balanced and sometimnes they can't

and if you bought your white spokes in the last year or so, then you may have some of the slightly out of round ones

Had the same issue years ago with an old Daihatsu and it turned out to be the steering damper (shocky) that was shot. Once i changed this all was good. It had the same symptoms, ie shaking at speed (70+ kph) but ok at lower speed.
Cheers T

Could also be as simple as dirt on the rim somewhere.

Sawdoc wrote:Had the same issue years ago with an old Daihatsu and it turned out to be the steering damper (shocky) that was shot. Once i changed this all was good. It had the same symptoms, ie shaking at speed (70+ kph) but ok at lower speed.
Cheers T

I agree, I have a 80 series Cruiser running 35s and just put an EFS damper from 4wdbits on and it sorted out my shake at around 70-80km. Maybe worth a try??

on my 85 solid front surf i get the shacks as well at about 90-95 kms if my tyre pressure is not perfect. happens after it sits and doesnt get the love it needs ie driven. am told a wheel balance would make it less tempermental but cant be bothered atm so i just do my pressure and it goes 95% away.
chris

Has it been gradually getting Worse or has it suddenly appeared ?

Wheel alignment doesn't go out suddenly unless the wheel has had quite a knock.

Wheel Balance is also gradual unless you have mud stuck to the wheel or have had lead knocked off

Another thing is a bent rim if it has been off road.

I have a surf for work and have had the same trouble and it has been the steel plys packing up in a tyre and to start with it is not very noticeable to the eye but then a bulge shows on the tyre.


Cheers Richard