big wobble in stearing wheel

[matyota80]

ok guys this is hard to explain but i stuck my lift kit in its a 6 inch spring i have all the castor plates panhard rods bigger shocks extened brake hoses everythink ok i hit a rut and get like huge speed wobbles in the stearing wheel i have to break to stop it from wobbling or it just gets worse can any one tell me the problem??

[SIMMO84]

Steering dampener? how big are your wheels? wheel bearings tight?

[80's_delirious]

What car?? assuming 80series from your user name.
almost 100% guarantee its not enough castor correction.

Also check things like wheel bearings, king pin bearings, steering tie rod ends for wear, check bolts in panhards are tight.

A steering damper WILL NOT fix your problem.

[DGS4WD]

I had the exact problem a few weeks after I fitted my 6inch dobinson coils, uncontrollable violent steering wheel death wobbles. A VERY LONG STORY SHORT, all i had to do was replace my tie rod ends and all was fixed.

[taps]

put your new steering dampener on and dial it up to 5 or so and it will help

[taps]

I also beleive it would be castor that will be the main problem

[matyota80]

thank you guys 4 the support ill try checkng my berings and tight everythink up i just bought brand new tie arm rod end kit it has fixed the shutter but it still gets the wobble up i got a brand new tough dog adjustable damper like top of the rang one i hope that fixes it and if it s my castor what do i have to get or do to fix it other than get smaller springs

[Sic Lux]

Drop arms maybe or could flip the arms to on top of the diff

[+dj_hansen+]

thank you guys 4 the support ill try checkng my berings and tight everythink up i just bought brand new tie arm rod end kit it has fixed the shutter but it still gets the wobble up i got a brand new tough dog adjustable damper like top of the rang one i hope that fixes it and if it s my castor what do i have to get or do to fix it other than get smaller springs

A steering dampener will not fix problems with bad castor... it will only 'mask' it for a short while.

You would be best to get a full alignment done and get them to report on the castor.

To fix castor you can:
- cut and rotate knuckles
- castor plates
- redrill mounts
- drop arms
- flip arm
- rotate mounts
- use offset kingpin bearings

Drop arms are probably the quickest way, ~1200 doll-hairs from snake, superior, 2dextreme and 6 bolts.

Factory is 1deg neg IIRC, if your running big tyres (35"+) you could probably afford to get 1.5 - 2deg negative to assist with self centering. Dont take this as gospel tho, see a good 4wd workshop who deal with cars similar to yours.

[cut 80]

same problem

fixed in 10mins by replacing all my bushes.

but all trucks are different. happy wheeling

[jwa]

i had this problem with only a 4 " lift , checked everything but still had the wobbles at random times , put a second steering damper on and never had the problem again

[oldmate]

had a wheel alignment? (toe) that fixed the death wobbles on my 4 inch lift. I have castor plates, which if anything give too much castor correction. (probably just as bad). still have the steering shimmy and tendancy to wander on certain bumpy roads, but it's manageable with a decent steering damper.

[80's_delirious]

thank you guys 4 the support ill try checkng my berings and tight everythink up i just bought brand new tie arm rod end kit it has fixed the shutter but it still gets the wobble up i got a brand new tough dog adjustable damper like top of the rang one i hope that fixes it and if it s my castor what do i have to get or do to fix it other than get smaller springs

A steering dampener will not fix problems with bad castor... it will only 'mask' it for a short while.
100% agree. steering damper will cover up the problem for a while, but probably not in all conditions

You would be best to get a full alignment done and get them to report on the castor.
Every 1"lift you lose approx 1.7degrees caster. 6"lift your caster would have changed by about 10degrees, even with caster plates, you probably have 2-3 degrees negative caster

To fix castor you can:
- cut and rotate knuckles I did this on my 80, and would not reccommend it coz it causes other problems. had to have a special modified tie rod with rose joints made because tierod was hitting radius arms

- castor plates Caster plates usually only give 5degrees caster correction, you need approx 10degrees for 6"lift(plates are bodgey as!)
- redrill mountsthis will get a few degrees extra caster, probably not enough
- drop arms bolt in solution to a point. you will probably have driveline vibrations and need part time transfer kit or double cardan joint on front prop shaft
- flip arm I would go for this option in combination with rotating the knuckles, flipping the arms eliminates tierod clearance problems
- rotate mounts may as well flip the arms while your at it
- use offset kingpin bearingsthis can cause other problems. like leaking seals

Drop arms are probably the quickest way, ~1200 doll-hairs from snake, superior, 2dextreme and 6 bolts. from what I have seen I would go superior or 2dextreme over snakes

Factory is 1deg neg IIRC, if your running big tyres (35"+) you could probably afford to get 1.5 - 2deg negative to assist with self centering. Dont take this as gospel tho, see a good 4wd workshop who deal with cars similar to yours.Factory spec is 3degrees positive + or - 1 degree. with large tyres and lift it is better to go for more positive caster. I have 4 degrees positive with 4' lift and 35s and it steers sweet (1 finger on the wheel in any conditions)

cheers dj for the list

[rezpkt]

Hi

I also had severe death wobbles (4" lift) and after replacing the entire front end tie rod ends where the main culprit.

Having worn bushes will add to the cause but if you are experiencing scary, rip steering wheel out of your hands and shake violently until almost stationary, I would be replacing tie-rod ends first and getting a wheel alignment.

Seems as though you have only just fitted your 6" lift a number of things will be contributing to your wheel wobbles.
If your drag link is scraping on your radius arms or grinding on full lock it is a fair call to say tie rod ends will be your main problem. Don't expect it to drive perfect a lot more $ to be spent for this outcome. Consider that you have just offset the position of your steering components.
Everything out of spec adds up - bad toe in/out, shagged wheel bearings, unbalanced large tyres, crap steering dampener, worn bushes, negative castor.

If you are experiencing what DGS4WD and I both had, remove your steering dampner and I'm sure it will have little effect.
Have someone drive behind you and they will probably see your tyres flicking out sideways, along with your whole front end pivoting side to side.

Good luck.

[matyota80]

i found that my stearing damper where it mounts on the chassis it only had 1 bolt on it and it swileled when i steared right or left so it was like i diddent even have one on also my panhard rod had come loose but i have tightened it up real tight i put my damper on sv adjuustable tough dog and put it on 5 if any one wants a damper go to tjm give mest service and are great people that stearing damper retails at 200 i got it for 170 so ya great people thank you taps 4 hooking me up and i got a wheel allignment and my car drives like a dream if it dose it now i no its got to be castor and ill have to do that thank you dj u are an expert i followed all the steaps u said and it is great

[+dj_hansen+]

Factory is 1deg neg IIRC, if your running big tyres (35"+) you could probably afford to get 1.5 - 2deg negative to assist with self centering. Dont take this as gospel tho, see a good 4wd workshop who deal with cars similar to yours.Factory spec is 3degrees positive + or - 1 degree. with large tyres and lift it is better to go for more positive caster. I have 4 degrees positive with 4' lift and 35s and it steers sweet (1 finger on the wheel in any conditions)

cheers dj for the list

There you go... i had a stab in the dark

thank you dj u are an expert i followed all the steaps u said and it is great

No worries mate, im no expert, just recycling what i have learnt/read from this board. Good to see you found the loose bolts tho. Be careful tightening up your panhard uber tight tho, you may risk crushing the bush, try and get a torque wrench and torque to factory spec.