[tzuukk]

I am looking for someone who has a set of Sierra wheels which i can use to test whether my wheels are the problem for my death wobble problem.

I believe i have buckled or damaged my wheels while 4wd'ing and want to make sure that if/when i buy new rims this problem will go away. I have taken the zook to SuziAuto springwood which i was referred to as they are very good with this 'death wobble' problem, they checked King Pin bearings and the whole kit and caboodle and everything was fine. When they swapped the front two wheels for the back two the problem seemed to have been fixed. I could drive at 110km/h again. A few weeks later i felt the wobble again. I believe that due to my rims being old that they have worn and have bent/buckled while i was 4wd'ing at moreton. The metallic paint on the rims has come off while i was washing it with the high pressure hose which shows me that they are fairly old..

Back to the point. I need a set of wheels i can swap with mine to test this theory before i buy new rims. I don't want to spend 400 on new wheels if it won't fix the problem. Even if you have wheels on your Sierra at the moment and you don't mind me coming, swapping and testing them one arvo.. I only need about 15 minutes driving on the wheels to test it..

I hope someone can help.

[Dec]

You'd be more than welcome to run mine if you're up Toowoomba way sometime.

[atari4x4]

where in brizzy are you mate?

there are plenty of az members up that way, someone should have a spare set kicking around.

[alien]

Why not drive down to a tyre shop and have them all re-balanced first? Shouldn't cost too much and you'll know 100% if there's a problem when they put it on the machine.

[petes 80]

Hi mate,

I was just typing what Alien said

cheers

Pete

[johnmath]

tzuukk wrote:

When they swapped the front two wheels for the back two the problem seemed to have been fixed. I could drive at 110km/h again. A few weeks later i felt the wobble again. I only need about 15 minutes driving on the wheels to test it..

I hope you can see the potential flaw in your test method ^^...

If you have drop shackles or lifted suspension, do you have caster correction shims? If not, your caster may be near zero and not the specified 3.5 degrees. (If you do need caster shims, you will probably need "pinion shims" to correct the differential/driveshaft alignment on the rear axle as well.)

Do you have correct toe-in of 2-6 mm? Because new IFS cars typically have zero toe in, wheel aligners seem to have forgotten that old live front axle cars like Sierras need some toe-in for directional stability, and they set the toe-in to 0 out of habit.

BTW toe-in is the only possible alignment adjustment that can be made on a Sierra (other than steering centring or repairing damaged components). It's pretty annoying to pay $50+ for a wheel alignment only to have the single possible adjustment done consistently incorrectly.

Also while you are having your wheels balanced, stand next to the operator and see if the wheel has any shimmy or is out of round. Pointless as it was, I have had what were obviously faulty wheels/tyres perfectly balanced and paid for the privilege retaining exactly the same problem.

[tzuukk]

atari4x4 wrote:

where in brizzy are you mate?

I am in Kenmore, close to Indooroopilly. I am more than happy to come drive any where in brisbane.

[tzuukk]

alien wrote:

Why not drive down to a tyre shop and have them all re-balanced first?

I have had them re-balanced and aligned three times now.

[tzuukk]

johnmath wrote:

I hope you can see the potential flaw in your test method ^^...

Sorry for the lack of mechanic understanding but could you explain the shims?

Also i do not have any lifted suspension or anything.

[johnmath]

Caster is the property of the front wheels having a swivel axis that is pointing slightly forward. It helps to keep the wheels straight when moving. Same as castor wheels on a trolley, except that on a car (or a bike) they lead rather than follow. When longer shackles are used to lift the car, the whole axle is rotated down at the front. A 2-inch lift is enough to reduce the caster to 0 degrees, so a wedge shaped shim should be inserted between the spring and the axle plate to correct the angle. See http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... shims.html & http://www.rocky-road.com/zukshim.html

Because the Sierra steering setup is very basic, any wear and tear or sloppiness in components can lead to directional instability. See also viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15499&hilit=death+wobbles

[petes 80]

tzuukk wrote:

johnmath wrote:

I hope you can see the potential flaw in your test method ^^...

Sorry for the lack of mechanic understanding but could you explain the shims?

Also i do not have any lifted suspension or anything.

Shim's are only for leaf suspension, from what I can make of it your's is a coily

[SierraDan]

Try a little toe out in a wheel alignment.

[tzuukk]

Yea it is a coily. I'd really like to test it as i have done everything trying to fix it and spent too much money as it is.

If anyone can help me out in or around brisbane, please let me know.

[Jezza86]

You allresady have all the wheels you need to test this.
Stick a rear upfront. See if it stops. Then put the other rear wheel up front if it doesn't.
What kind of wobble and at what speed?
The worst wobble by far is worn panhard bushes or loose panhard bolts. When yo get to the speed where you start to get your wobble turn left and right so you are continuously keeping the steering shaft under pressure. When you're driving in a streight line the panhard can move left and right which inturn send feedback through the steering and to the wheels. If this works its definitely a panhard issue

[lightly]

tzuukk wrote:

alien wrote:

Why not drive down to a tyre shop and have them all re-balanced first?

I have had them re-balanced and aligned three times now.

If you've had them balanced three times and the tyre fitters didn't notice a buckle, I doubt it's the wheels.
Could be a bubble in the tyres as well but doubt they wouldn't notice that as well

[suzijnr]

i had the same issue running the same wheels now and i replaced my steering damper along with bushings and it drives fine now

[tzuukk]

Jezza86 wrote:

Stick a rear upfront. See if it stops. Then put the other rear wheel up front if it doesn't.
What kind of wobble and at what speed?

That is what Suzi Auto did and the wobble went away. On the way to SuziAuto it was doing it at 60km/h. After i could drive home on the highway at 110km/h although i could still sort of feel little wobble in the steering wheel. Since they swapped the front two for the back two i believe i have damaged the front two on road imperfections or 4wd.. it now does it most often at 65km/h but only when i hit road imperfections. I drove at 95km/h the other day on a smooth highway and it didnt do the wobble. How could you explain the temporary fix to the problem after swapping the front two for the rear two, other than wheel/tyre damage??

[tzuukk]

suzijnr wrote:

i had the same issue running the same wheels now and i replaced my steering damper along with bushings and it drives fine now

My 1997 Sierra SJ413 Coily doesnt have a steering damper.

[johnmath]

tzuukk wrote:

I drove at 95km/h the other day on a smooth highway and it didnt do the wobble. How could you explain the temporary fix to the problem after swapping the front two for the rear two, other than wheel/tyre damage??

Sorry I didn't realise you had a doily EDIT: coily (mind you I think autocorrect might be right) when I was posting about shims and toe-in.

Tyre tread blocks "feather" (wear on the tread blocks in an uneven way) depending on their position on the vehicle. When you swap them around, it takes a few hundred kilometres for the old feathering to wear off and and the tyre to start to feather in response to its new position. That explains why moving the wheels around will change the way a vehicle drives temporarily.

[coily96]

I may be able to help you with the wheels, I have a full set of near new 215/75 Toyo AT's fitted to 15x7 sun raisers. I'm in Beenleigh and wont be home until Sunday.

[Jezza86]

wobble after hiting a bump, with one or both wheels is usually panhard i have found. king pin shims to increase preeload is the next step if you have checked you panhard and its fin.
wack a new set of KP bearings in and see how that goes first. not sure if the coily shim setup is between the KP and the KP-bearing, or between the kp and the nuckle.

[tzuukk]

johnmath wrote:

Tyre tread blocks "feather" (wear on the tread blocks in an uneven way) depending on their position on the vehicle.

That does make sense. Is there a way of testing this?

As well, the only reason i thought it might be wheel damage is because i never felt it until i went 4wd'ing and it started happening. Is there any chance it is damaged/buckled wheels?

[tzuukk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PFVjAk ... e=youtu.be

Check out a video of my coily's death wobble.. What can you see?

[Mickc]

Check if shock /strut mount is damage.
Coily's do elongate the mounting hole, damaging bushes and allow strut to move around.
Was going to say check radius arm bushes as well but I would Suzi auto would have done that?

[kenzook]

did u sort this? what was the problem?

[tahoa]

Mine has the same problem and also makes a horrible CLUNK noise when going into right or left obstacles.. I am not keen to drive it more than 80 k,s an hour as it seems to want to follow ruts on bitumen roads.....

[tzuukk]

I cured my Coily about a year and a half ago now. I replaced all 4 tie rod ends myself and it has not wobbled ever since. There was no visible or physical signs my Coily displayed in terms of which mechanical part was causing the wobble so tie rod ends was my first bet. The tie rod ends had not been replaced since the factory and were looking quite old, although not yet shot or looking too bad. My guess is that under the load of the driving/turning/road imperfections the age of the tie rods and the small play in them would set it off. I found the part on Ebay for $100 (link below) and without much mechanical experienced, fitted them myself. If you want more advice as to how I replaced them send me a PM. Im very happy this worked for me and hope it helps all coily owners with the same issue.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tie-Rod-End- ... xyzi9SfIob

Cheers, Tzuukk.