THE DEATH WOBBLE THREAD

So I'm not sure I have death wobble or not. It doesn't seem to be very deathly, generally I don't get anything on the road but I wouldn't want to go over 40mph in mine anyway.

It only when your off road on bumps and ruts the steering goes very wobbley. If your going in straight line over lots of tree roots for example the steering starts wobbling left to right almost knocking left and right by 2" either side of straight ?! Is this death wobble? Could it be play in the steering box or another steering component? Cheers

also i forgot to mention i do already have a steering damper which improved it by 50% which is what led me to think its steering related

As im only on a apprenticeship taking the car to the garage comes at a cost, any forums showing how to install the 'wobble kit' yourself?

Thanks, Luke.

Hi all.

Was just wondering if wheel spacers, like these ones

www.jimnybits.co.uk/shop/wheel-spacers/s...spacers/prod_47.html

With the right tyres reduce the death wobble at all

riccko wrote: Hi all.

Was just wondering if wheel spacers, like these ones

www.jimnybits.co.uk/shop/wheel-spacers/s...spacers/prod_47.html

With the right tyres reduce the death wobble at all

Got these on mine think they are the bets your gonna get but didn't help mine but every car is different



Vinnie

Well I read somewhere that having spacers could put stress on the bearings.
I was thinking of using all weather tyres, just normal size ones. The spacers give the jimny
a better look and stability..... I think.

riccko wrote: Well I read somewhere that having spacers could put stress on the bearings.
I was thinking of using all weather tyres, just normal size ones. The spacers give the jimny
a better look and stability..... I think.

If they do for how much they cost it isn't worth worrying about,30mm brings my 2006 alloys about level with arches maybe 5mm past on 195 tyres looks much better.



Vinnie

is the 195's the standard size for the jimny

riccko wrote: is the 195's the standard size for the jimny

No, it's smaller but I'm buggered if I can remember what size it is! It's a long time since I had a JimJam with standard tyres on!

Nip on one of the major sites like Kwik Fit and they have search facilities where you put your reg in and it tells you what size tyres you need.

Kirkynut

Right then - I have made a bit more or a break through in my quest to quell Death Wobble.

Last week I took my front wheels off to play about with my brakes, as you do.

I put my wheels back on and went for a drive. Bam - Death Wobble!

I couldn't think why this would be as nothing had been changed apart from the wheels had been off and back on.

Now I've driven it a bit over the last week or so since and it has not improved.

Last year I fitted all the new suspension with new bushes and at the MOT I was the steering wheel turning man for my MOT tester to check the bushes/steering and he mentioned that there was movement in the panhard rod bush on the front driver's side, but it only showed up as I had moved the steering quite heavily and quickly, so giving it a good old workout.

He passed it without an advisory on this as it was only because of how violent I had been wobbling the wheel side to side that had caused it.

I left it as I was largely without wobble, just a slightest hint at the dreaded 45 mph.

This years MOT is went through without a mention. I was a bit less violent in my steering wheel wobbling job!

Now I did not want to remove the wheels this time the wobble came as I know my discs are mounted fine with nothing behind them and all bushes are still effectively new as it's done very little road miles and no off road miles. Therefore I know the issue is not with the fitting of the wheels etc.

I have balancing beads in the wheels, so I know they are always in balance.

It has always been in the back of my mind what my MOT man said about that Panhard Rod bush. So last week I ordered up Panhard Rod bushes from the Big Jimny Shop to replace the Super Pro Panhard Rod bushes I fitted with the suspension - www.4x4liftkits.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=product&product_id=28

Now I can only assume that they are made of a harder grade of nylon as I have fitted them today and been for a drive and the steering feels noticeably better.

It feels positive and far less woolly and most importantly - NO WOBBLE whatsoever!

I know that the old ones were bolted up nice and tight - I don't do loose! Ask my mates!

So even if you have fitted brand new Panhard Bushes, as I had with the Super Pro, they can still cause you wobble and my recommended Panhard Bushes are the orange ones currently for sale in the Big Jimny Shop!

I think it's important to note that on this occasion of death wobble it came on after I jacked it up and had the front wheels off. To change the Panhard Rod I did not jack it up or remove the wheels, thus eliminating it being anything else.

Kirkynut

Hi Guys,

This forum's been amazing in helping out with my latest problems so thought I'd register and make a post.

My girlfriend's Jimny failed an MOT last week due to "excessive play in the offside front axle swivel joint" and "near side shock absorber leaking".

They were going to charge 330 quid for parts (70 for the shock and 260 for Kingpin, bearings and seals), then 100 quid labour, meant about 430 quid. So I decided to change it myself (with a bit of help from a mate with tools!), besides, it's not due for an MOT retest until the 27th, so thought we'd make the most of it.

Ordered a new shock, and kingpin replacement kit from the store here (ended up less than 100 quid), followed the bigjimny tutorial on how to do it and worked a treat!

The shock absorber was pretty easy, although had a bit of trouble unbolting and rebolting the bottom end, I think the rubber insert on the new shock was slightly wide for the joint, but still fitted eventually! Also managed to do it without removing the wheel so we didn't need a spring compressor (bit of a cheat).

The kingpin assembly went in, no problem at all! A few bolts were a bit tricky but it all went in.

Got it home last night and then this morning on the way to work, the girlfriend rings me up from the side of the road complaining about the steering wheel wobbling around really badly when she gets over 40mph (an "oh shit, what have I done wrong" moment :S)

Came back to BigJimny and find this 6 page thread on everything that can be wrong, including an official suzuki service bulletin (good work getting hold of that!) regarding the DEATH WOBBLE!

Ordered the Kingpin shims today, hopefully they'll get here tomorrow and I can see if that helps, if not then I'll get the wheels realigned over the weekend!

Didn't replace the tie rod end on the side I replaced the kingpins so maybe that'd be contributing (there's no give in it at all and the tie rod joint at all), but I hope not because the BigJimny store is out of stock at the moment as well!

it's about 12 years old now, 100k miles and never had the death wobble before, so I'm pretty sure it's not the bushes on the front leading arm as described in that service bulletin.

Will let you guys know how it turns out

- Morgan

Hi Guys!

Got the pack of shims this morning and spent an hour or two figuring out which one's worked best to smooth out the play in the hub, 0.7mm on top, 0.5mm on the bottom seemed to work quite well. Put the brake calliper and the wheel back on, took it out, and not even the slightest hint of any death wobble, got it all the way up to 65, no problems at all!

It was quite a smooth road though so hopefully it won't come back on more bumpy roads.

Thanks for the update, not only did you save money but the satisfaction of knowing you did a great job.

Girlfriend also happy ..... ... :whistle: