Help me chase down a wheel wobble! (1 Viewer)

[ianfotheringham]

so in the last few months i have replaced all the tie rod ends, gotten the alignment done, rebuilt the drag link with sor's kit...tightened the hub nuts - yet i still have a fair amount of wobble in the drivers side front wheel....what gives?!?! i'm pretty sure the center arm is good as i don't 'follow ruts' or anything...any thoughts? is there something in the hub i am overlooking??

should i get the alignment checked again after having installed the drag link kit? could that even explain wobble in one wheel??

i'm out of ideas...

 

[orangefj45]

sounds like the bearing might have worn into the spindle. instead of "throwing money at the problem", take the wheel hub assy apart and see what's causing the issue.
could be loose spindle bolts as well, possibly a bad trunion bearing.

 

[mudnyreye]

Have you checked your knuckles for play?

 

[albee]

Have you put a spring lift on? What did the alignment shop say your caster angle is? Have you ever replaced wheel bearings? Go have have your front tires balanced again, even if it has been done recently.
Search "death wobble" for all of the possible cures.

Good Luck

 

[ianfotheringham]

sorry - i should have mentioned that i have also recently put in the knuckle rebuild kit - and there is no play...the lift is just an OME heavy 2.5"...with 31's...so castor angle shouldnt be a problem - especially since its just one wheel that has the problem - i think ill follow orangefj45's advice and pull it all apart and check those two bearings...

thanks for the help team...

ian

 

[orangefj45]

have you tried switching that tire and rim combo to the rear on the same side? try to go thur a process of elimination. you might have a bent rim as well or a tire with tread seperation, a bubble,........

 

[orangefj45]

Have you put a spring lift on?

a lift should not cause a wheel wobble if only one wheel is displaying the problem.

 

[orangefj45]

i should have mentioned that i have also recently put in the knuckle rebuild kit - and there is no play...
ian

if you change the tire and rim, then check the knuckle/wheel bearings one more time before you remove the combo to switch it. make sure to check for a loose knuckle by grabbing the top and bottom of the tire. also, check for loose TREs by grabbing both sides. see if you get any play either way, that should help determine what's causing the issue.

 

[ianfotheringham]

hey - so i jacked it up - and with the front wheels off the ground - i jiggled the front drivers side wheel - and noticed a significant amount of play in the center arm...dang. thought it was fine - anyway - turns out the bushing is worn - and not just worn but actually an 'omani fabbed' bushing-esque insert...but i was under the impression that a worn or mis-functioning centerarm would show signs other than a wheel wobble....could fixing this be the cure to the wobble?? certainly woudn't hurt - jsut dont want to test it out after the fix only to continue the bad vibrations...

 

[CruiserStuff]

My bet is still on a bent rim or out-of-round tire.....

 

[ianfotheringham]

that would make sense - if i hadn't had them balanced like two weeks ago - should have also mentioned that...my bad.

 

[orangefj45]

well, you know the bushings is bad so fix that first and then go from there......

 

[ianfotheringham]

so....bushing and seal are now replaced in the center arm...and there is no longer any lateral play in it when the wheel is jiggled...however, the wobble at 80km/h remains...so lets summarize what has been done thus far...

new tie rod ends, new drag link, new center arm, new stabilizer, new rag joint, gear box rebuild, castor angle and alignment checked, spring and shackle bolts torqued, hubs rebuilt, new bearings, and tires balanced....yet there is still the wobble....


any thoughts on where to look next? i was told by my mechanic that they had tested the drive shafts for balance - but perhaps that was only the rear?...maybe i could check that again...what about the diff?

rather frustrating...

 

[fj404life]

I have had tires balanced 3 times and still had a wobble...you will get it sorted. Do you have a different set of tires to try?

 

[orangefj45]

did you move the suspect tire/rim to the rear?!


also, you could have an egg-shaped tire or an issue with tread seperation......

 

[ianfotheringham]

hey - so just for fun i will be swaping both front tires to the rear - but i highly doubt this will make any difference as they are all pretty much brand new [2000km] bfg a/t's...ill also be balancing the front drive shaft and checking the torque on the pinion nut...but im less than optomistic that these things will change the evil vibrations....we shall see....

 

[orangefj45]

the front driveline should not matter. i would definetly check the rear pinion nut, all the driveline bolts, make sure the front hubs are ot locked ( or packed with too much grease ),..........

 

[ianfotheringham]

i suppose the axle shaft could be slightly bent no?...that could also cause this...right?...would be pain to have to tear it all apart to check....

 

[nov74fj40]

A thought

How do those shackle bushings and U bolts look?

 

[ianfotheringham]

they're all new and torqued up....the drive shaft is fine btw...and wheels switched to the rear indicated its not the wheels...next step is to replace all the wheel bolts as i noticed that the problem wheels' studs were not welded to the hub...and could have theoretically caused the wobble at speed being that they could have been torqued with the wheel on at a slight angle - making the wheel seem to be firmly attached - only not...and becoming loose at speed....could be grasping at straws here...