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cyntaxx
Veteran
Date registered: Aug 2006
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Vehicle(s): 2002 G500
Posts: 248
| Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
Did a search and I think it is different from KERR's steering stabilizer woes. Could be out of balance wheels? You decide...
We have horrible highways here, particularly one section I have to cross whenever I make the hour trip north to see the girlfriend. There are a few spots on the road where it looks unfinished with waves and ruts. This time going through, I noticed my steering wheel shakes uncontrollably left-to-right-to left whenever I cross that section. Keep in mind the road is "wavy" and has a few bumps that may be uneven - and I'm also cruising at 80-95 mph going over all this. The reason for my post this time is that it seems more apparent than before, and I'm wondering if maybe I lost a wheel weight through the fun I had during the snowy days, or worse? I did get stuck a few times, used my diffs, etc. - generally exercised the G for what it was meant for. Now, I'm assuming this could be my paranoia but thought I'd pick your brains in case there is a culprit to be found...
Note that this does not occur when my brakes are applied, thus implying no rotor warpage or brake-related issues.
Sorry if this issue may not necessitate a post.
2002 G500, 45k miles, no heavy "offroading," no accidents, no aftermarket suspension mods, stock wheels and tires |
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EuroTruck
Extreme Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Oakwood, Georgia - USA
Vehicle(s): 2012 Audi A4 Avant S-Line, 2015 Ridley NOAH SL
Posts: 518
| RE: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
You are experiencing the "Death Wobble" as described by the UNIMOG crowd. It happens when hitting bumps at speed, such as a railroad crossing, and is cause by a worn steering shock. -Sean P. |
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cyntaxx
Veteran
Date registered: Aug 2006
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Vehicle(s): 2002 G500
Posts: 248
| RE: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
EuroTruck - 2/19/2007 1:38 PM
You are experiencing the "Death Wobble" as described by the UNIMOG crowd. It happens when hitting bumps at speed, such as a railroad crossing, and is cause by a worn steering shock. -Sean P.
Sean,
Could you give me more details? Is this component different than the steering stabilizer? I have an extended warranty from Daimler-Chrysler that will hopefully cover this repair if and when it is needed.
How severe is the wear for the symptoms to begin? I swear this started relatively recently, but I don't travel that route frequently (or by highway at all)....
Thanks!
Additionally, my search on steering dampers made me realize it's a very common issue G's encounter. Is there a TSB out there or any internal note through MB that I can have my dealership pull up to make the warranty work go through smoother?
Edited by cyntaxx 2/19/2007 3:27 PM
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ewalberg
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
| Re: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
Steering shock, steering stabilizer... same thing. My take is that the point in wear at which the driver will start noticing a difference is when there is yet no discernable difference in performance sitting in your hand between a new one and the one that needs replacing.
THere are some routes and some specific situations that will alwasy cause steering wheel feedback. The one spot on 101 northbound that has activated the 4 cars i've driven on it. Honda Civie, Lotus Elise, Nissan Pathfinder, and g-wagen, so it could be that's just a nasty spot, but with 45k miles, i think its normal the thing starts going south.
Regardless if you tires have been more than 5k miles without a balance i'd say it's also time to have then done by a good shop, becuase that will also make a difference regardless. I say GOOD shop becuase i've had to stop going to one shop because i learned the hard way that their regular equipment was not able to accurately balance my tires. This really surprised me.
Edited by ewalberg 2/19/2007 3:46 PM
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roughneck
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: UK, Germany & USA
Vehicle(s): 270 cdi.300 GD 300 GE.lwb 300 GE.swb. Disco 2
Posts: 4398
| RE: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
Cyntax
I'm surprised that 85-90 mph if the road is as you describe that you are able to stay on it, I have a stretch of lane on my route home that causes violent feed back on every thing I drive, Ive decide to slow up on that bit and reduce the wear on my trucks.  |
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cyntaxx
Veteran
Date registered: Aug 2006
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Vehicle(s): 2002 G500
Posts: 248
| RE: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
roughneck - 2/19/2007 3:52 PM
Cyntax
I'm surprised that 85-90 mph if the road is as you describe that you are able to stay on it, I have a stretch of lane on my route home that causes violent feed back on every thing I drive, Ive decide to slow up on that bit and reduce the wear on my trucks. :)
roughneck,
Maybe my words exaagerated the road flaws or maybe I'm just used to that particular stretch of road. It's bad by highway standards given most do travel in excess of 70 mph, which is the speed limit, but it's not bad to the point where one would lose control or go airborne. Until recently, the suspension soaked up (as it should) most of the roughness and there was minimal play in the steering, if any at all.
ewalberg,
I will rotate and balance my tires this spring. I had Service A (the cheaper one of the two) done recently, but I don't believe that includes much else other than an oil and filter(s) change? Does Service B include balancing or rotating tires?
As for the stabilizer, I will definitely explore the issue further. Just wanted to confirm that it wasn't at death's door. Most of the bumps I do go over, even at high speeds, does not result in this wobble I describe, only a particular patch of road on this particular route (at least so far). So the road may attribute to at least a part of the severity at hand...
Edited by cyntaxx 2/19/2007 4:02 PM
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KERR
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Re: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
jeep use to have that same problem. The G did to this last time.
Also if you have a tire or two just a little out of ballance and stabilizer that half way worn out you have a big shake..
Id reballance the tires first. around here its $8.00 a tire. If that doesnt fix the problme then do a steering stabilizer. I did both last week. $196 bucks from www.fourbyfour.com You can do the install, it 2 14mm botls.
My 02 eats those stabilizers even when it had stock tires. I think it has to do with heavy wheels, tires, awd etc. |
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Braingears
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: St Petersburg, FL
Vehicle(s): G320 & ML320
Posts: 1450
| Re: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
I have a little of this with 125,000 miles. I have not gone under the truck to see what may be loose yet... I could almost swear that one of the tie rod ends are beggining to get loose. My logic says "if there is shaking, something must be loose". I am of course excluding minor vibrations due to wheel balance or hormonic drive shaft balance.
What exactly is the steering dampner obsorbing?
Before replacing mine, I was going to simply remove it and see how much tention it has left (like a shock). Then I replaced the drag link on my sedan, I could tell in a heartbeat that it was no longer effective and had no resistance. |
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ewalberg
Expert
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
| Re: Steering wobble over bumps at high speeds
wheels out of balance can cause quite a bit of wiggling and jiggling.
and just becuase it's okay now doesn't mean it wont suddenly get undriveable quickly... essentially it could be near deaths door to where it wont stop jiggling over 50mph. As long as you have a 2nd car you can let it wait till spring, but just plan on the fact that one evening you might go out to drive your car and find it's not really fit for it when you get on the highway and you'll have to turn around and go back and switch cars. This is basically what happened to me accept i was about 10 miles from home so i had to baby it home at 45-50mph becuase i'm not willing to drive with a constantly jiggling wheel. I had about 1 weeks warning where it would wiggle a little for the first few minutes i drove on cold nights.
Get the tires balance on a "road force" machine. it's a fancy hunter machine that can tell the operator how to rotate the tire on the rim to get the best ride. That will be a good place to start with on already broken in tires so you can establish if your regular balance shop is any good.... if they're not, it'll ride worse than when you brought it in. Which i've had happen. |
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