Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hey Folks,

As I’ve explained a while ago, my truck has the well known 80-105km/h wobble. I have replaced my caster bushes and the tyre folks pointed out that the panhard-rod bushes, drag-link and tie-end rods are due for a change. Lomg story short: I am leaving for the Swartbergpass as well Baviaanskloof and some passes in between end July. Replacing above parts right-away is both very short notice and pricey. Terrain Tamer has stock but they are not cheap. Can these parts wait to be replaced by year-end? Or are there actual risks of tearing off the drag-link?

Lots of Love

Johann

Eish Johann, if you are asking a question like that, then you are not experiencing full-on DW, yet. DW is terrifying and leaves you unable to even hold the steering wheel if really bad. Mine lost steering and would go off in it's own direction following any road camber, which is usually off the road into the bushes. I have not heard of it happening in Patrols, but the Jeep guys have reported it ripping brackets off the chassis. On my Hillbilly-built Sani, DW on 33's bent my M16 Steering damper mounting bolt.

From experience, I would be making a plan to get it sorted out before a trip like you are planning. I did a Joburg to Cape Town trip with that DW suddenly appearing at stoopid times. The most terrifying being in the middle of a slow hairpin corner coming down Vanrhyns pass which put me across the road across the oncoming lane and onto the dirt on the other side from a speed less than 70Km/h. You never know when you are going to hit a bump in the road that sets the DW into action. Still today over two years later, I have a fear of pulling into the yellow lane to let people past me because I know its where you can pick up some horrible bumps.

I don't know how bad your wobble is, but be careful, and if you have any fear that it could catch you out, it probably will.

Have you checked your front wheel bearings for play - this is the most likely suspect. Jack up you car and see if the wheels have play by putting a hand on top and bottom of wheel and seeing if there is any pay. It is quite simple to tighten up the nut with the correct tool (I think Peter Connan makes the tool)
The next thing on the list is usually Panhard bushes, which are not too difficult to replace if you use the Terrain Tamer ones. Lots of videos online about how to remove the bushes with a vice and spacer, I have also heard of people using a jack to do it. Rotating and balancing the wheels can also help in the short term...

Kingpin bearings are also a factor, and are easy to change. There are shims that take up the extra play on the bearings. These can be removed, but make sure the pretension is then not too stiff. On mine I had a wobble (not a death wobble) on my steering between 80 - 100km/h, and removing the shims on all 4 of the kingpin bearings sorted this out, and I still had a loose enough preload on the steering. In other words the steering would still come back to straight without me having to turn the steering to get back to straight.

There could also be a little play in the steering box itself. There is a nut that can be tightened up CAREFULLY AND IN SMALL INCREMENTS to take up the slack in the wormgear of the steering box.

99% the panards lie under the car let someone shake it hard left to right . You will see movement between diff and bushes immediately.
Jack up one side of your car . Test free play on bearing . If it moves from 12 to 6 it's bearing that's loose .if it moves from 3 to 9 it's the tie rod ends or drag link .
When you start the car and put your foot on the break and play doesn't go away you need to have a look at the 2 king pins and the shims . It's good practice to remove steering damper before you start looking for problems with wheel wobble . It only job is to stop the steering wheel from breaking your hand when you hit a hole. The damper can hide other problems.