Offroad-Express

Had something that scared the shite outta me, driving home and steering wheel started to shake uncontrollably. There is normally a slight shimmy with the wheels as I drive but this time it felt as if there was a direct line from the steering wheel to the shimmy. Not the most weakest out there but could NOT hold the steering wheel steady, had to pull over, stuck in in neutral and coasted but had no effect. Felt as if even the motor would vibrate out. Stopped, then tentatively drove off and it had stopped. Am intending to change steering damper and tie ends in a couple of weeks so any other advice would be appreciated. Have new tyres (2 weeks old) and have no mud on internal rims.
(Thought I'd cover most questions I'd ask )
Bryan

Try a wheel alingment, my 11 tonner had the same issues as the lad had screwed the steering wheel round when it was bogged on a job and rooted the alingment.
Worth a try.

Thought of that but thought that it would not be an intermittent issue (of it shaking like shagging as if there's no tomorrow). As soon as I'd stopped and drove off the shaking had stopped.

Yep that's the same as our tipper, it would be fine sometimes but others it would shake like a sh!t. We used to call it the death wobble as it was f@cken uncontrolable. Hey it might not be the same issue as yours but it has the same symptons.

Has someone played with the suspension because it sounds like too much negative caster

Cheers Richard

Buggered if I know, will be playing with it in a couple of weeks while I'm on leave..oh, new into this thing so in for a steep learning curve..so what's a caster?? We had "spanners" to fix what we flucked up in the military

Unless ive missed something What is it?
If its a pootrol check your panhard rod bushes, front suspension bushes in general an are your front wheel nuts tight after the new tyres were fitted

aussie_male1au wrote: Have new tyres (2 weeks old) and have no mud on internal rims.

What sort and size tyres are they mate, sounds a lot like a ballance issue, all my trucks have always had death shakes at around 50kph (cruise speed ) with big tyres?

Hey dude I'm with Fakey what are you driving first, is it beam axle or IFS

Has standard tyres 30 10.5 on 15inch rims. Did have larger muds on but they're on trade-me as need the money to do what I want to do to build her up.

and the vehicle is?

Now that IS bizzare, posted what it was after Fakey asked,
It's a Nissan MK (a TRUE 4x4) Patrol.

aussie_male1au wrote:Now that IS bizzare, posted what it was after Fakey asked,
It's a Nissan MK (a TRUE 4x4) Patrol.

the site often has hickups like that, if you write a big post save it to your clipboard before sending incase it dissapears into the unknowen never to be seen again

If you posted after saddam posted another comment yours would have been blocked, not sure why it happens

Solid axle, id start by checking the U-bolts. Make sure theyre nice an tight, but if its gotten worse all of a sudden one might have broken.
Failing that Id check for play in your tie rod ends, kingpin bearings, wheel bearings, steering box play, are all the wheel weights still on your wheels

separated tyre

run hands round the tyres feeling for bulges

but beware of steel belts sticking out

Also check for a damaged or buckled rim and wheel balance
Just because it stopped and didnt start again doesnt mean it not a simple wheel balance problem just needs the same speed over the same ground conditions to start if off the the only way to stop it is stop driving
I had the same issue with my Nissan years ago and it was a buckled rim that had been balanced to counteract the problem moved the wheels to the back and no more problem

okay, gunna have to bring everyone down a notch. Only have just got the MK (from TAZ01) for off-road hi-jinks so am on a HUGE learning curve. In the military, when we broke something, "spanners" were called in to fix it. I'm mechanically minded but don't know what most things are called. If it's not that wiggly thing with a bolt in it, the rubber thingie on the rod thingie will have no idea what you're on about. Have just got a Gregory's so will get the lingo down pat soon. Bottom line, you're dealing with an Aussie who was a grunt in the military so best to keep the words small and the tech gumpf to a minimum
Know the basics such as bleeding diesel, changing tyres, disconnecting rear diff if it blows, basic servicing/lubes but thats' about it. Have had a couple of members PM me that are local that are willing to teach/show.
Never had this happen before and wanted to know if it was a common thing with trolls. Have written down the tips but until I decipher wtf is being said, may take me a bit to get back to you to discount/agree with the tips.
Have ordered a set of tie ends, just got a steering damper and will be replacing those when I'm on hols in a couple of weeks. A panhard bush was mentioned but can't find what that is in the Gregory's
Phew, need another beer now

redz driver wrote:Also check for a damaged or buckled rim and wheel balance
Just because it stopped and didnt start again doesnt mean it not a simple wheel balance problem just needs the same speed over the same ground conditions to start if off the the only way to stop it is stop driving
I had the same issue with my Nissan years ago and it was a buckled rim that had been balanced to counteract the problem moved the wheels to the back and no more problem

May "borrow" the wheels from the GQ (yes, own two trolls) and hope like hell the wife doesn't notice

Heya, I had something similar on my Surf. I know its not a patrol but the symptoms you describe match it to a T.

I know squat about the undercarriage but this is what was said to me by the mechanic - when that happens it is more then likely the front ball joints, they seem fine on the road most of the time, but hit a particular shaped bump and the vehicle goes into the shakes, but settles down once you stop, and then move off again.

Turns out he was right, had them checked, replaced and problem went away. Cost me about $400 to get the work done, including checking anything else that might be loose.

Good luck

Also spring shackle bushes. The steering damper will only hide the problem - not solve it. If everything is good, you don't even need one...

muddy wrote:Also spring shackle bushes. The steering damper will only hide the problem - not solve it. If everything is good, you don't even need one...

Damn, here I was thinking I'll I'd need to do is spray CRC everywhere
Seriously though, will be having a good dig under her when I take my holidays so will check out all the suggestions given (even if I don't know what some of those things suggested to check are ) Couple of local guys on here have offered to help out - more fun to have a few guys swearing like troopers than doing it by yourself.
Will also have a look a the ball joints while I'm there

if you don't know what your looking for it helps to jack the truck up or find a hoist to borrow and get a good sized crow bar and see if you can find the component that has excess slop, even if you find it and don't know if its normal you can take a pic chuck it on here and you'll get advice coming out ya ass..

usually the easiest way to do it, otherwise you end up changing 10 things from everyones opinion when it was only one thing shagged from the start.

good luck

hey dude .......... the death shakes starts at about 60-70k right?
first off pump grease into all the linkages including the centre idler stupid thing normally we toss these away and go same as the gq setup then test it
no difference?.......check all the tie rods for excessive movement if needed replace em and test...
no difference?........ take the shims out of the kingpins 4 bolts on top of the swivel hubs same underneath should be 2 on each and test again.......
no diff? suggest a swivel hub kit from repco cost around 280 odd

sure everyones gunna tell ya to balance the wheels replace the steering damper tighten ya wheel bearings but after having 5 or 6 of these ive always ended up doing a swivel kit in em now if the gq does it replace the panhard bushes first

taz01

As I said earlier it sounds like a Caster problem.

For ones who don't know, the caster is the angle the king pins leans forward or backwards. For a steering wheel to self centre the king pin angle needs to lean back.If the angle is over 3-4 degrees uncontrollable shakes can occur. From memory a Nissan needs to be under 2 degrees

When people raise a truck the angle can change and with a Nissan people fit Caster correction bushes to the radius rods. These need to be fitted correctly

Worn bushes in the radius rods can also do this.

Cheers Richard

taz01 wrote:hey dude .......... the death shakes starts at about 60-70k right?
first off pump grease into all the linkages including the centre idler stupid thing normally we toss these away and go same as the gq setup then test it
no difference?.......check all the tie rods for excessive movement if needed replace em and test...
no difference?........ take the shims out of the kingpins 4 bolts on top of the swivel hubs same underneath should be 2 on each and test again.......
no diff? suggest a swivel hub kit from repco cost around 280 odd

sure everyones gunna tell ya to balance the wheels replace the steering damper tighten ya wheel bearings but after having 5 or 6 of these ive always ended up doing a swivel kit in em now if the gq does it replace the panhard bushes first

taz01

Thanks mate, on the look out for a swivel kit as we speak, apparently.. I have a REALLY RARE CAR.. as was told "there's no such thing as a MK " Don't want to sound like TOO much of a noob (ask your sons, they'll tell you what that means if you're as old as me) but..WTF is are panhard bushes as can't find anything in the gregory's.
Don't worry, after enough "percussion persuasion" will pick things up.

Bryan

I tend to agree with the caster giving it the 'shimmies' which is what you describe, but i'd say the MK is leaf sprung.....

So, no radius arms and no panhard bushes to wear out.

NJV6 wrote:I tend to agree with the caster giving it the 'shimmies' which is what you describe, but i'd say the MK is leaf sprung.....

So, no radius arms and no panhard bushes to wear out.

Yup, leaf sprung so am now totally confused
SO, if you've read the earlier posts, you'll understand my question..
WTF is a "caster".
Only have a Gregs so am struggling finding these things.
On a positive note, as I live in the Hawkes bay, and the weather here is ALMOST like Perth, going to start with the damper (have one so may as well put it in)
Oh, those that don't live in the HB...weather here is shite so DON'T MOVE HERE

B

let me know if you need a hand dude and if you want to drive down i can put it up on the hoist and go over it

Ok in regards to caster problem, the main question is have you lifted or altered the suspension since you bought it from Taz01?? My guess is no, so go back to the steering joints u-bolts shackle bushes etc an start there

If it is leal spring. Has the rear shackles been extended down to give lift because this also increases negative caster and can have the same effect.

Cheers Richard