Patrol GU4 Wheel Balance
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 14:39
ThreadID:
58640
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3214
Replies:
14
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3
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blown4by
I have had front wheel balance problems since the day I purchased this vehicle in April 2005 which results in the typical annoying vibration through the steering wheel a the critical speeds of 90 and 103 -108kph approx. After many unsuccessful attempts to rectify the problem by wheel balancing and after speaking with one tyre "expert" he advised Nissan have some fix available to do with rectification of this problem which he thought had something to do with the steering damper or pre-load on some bearings?? The tyre people say the wheels are perfectly balanced and if fitted on a non Patrol vehicle they would perform without vibration. I would have thought any vehicle modification would not cure the problem but only mask the symptoms.
If anyone one of you learned people knows anything re a fix for this problem which is not only annoying but is doing god knows what premature damage to all my steering components I would really appreciate hearing from you.
In anticipation: "No I am not trading it in for a 200 series twin turbo V8 Cruiser"
Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:02
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:02
I have had the same problem since 1999 in two Patrols. If you get lucky, a good balance can last 5000 ks. Its got be beat, i have spent a fortune on balance and alignment. The 1999 model had steel wheels and the current has alloys, same problem.. At the moment, the car is smooth at 115kph and awful at 100kph.. I have always run BFG 265x75 x16. I think they may be half the problem. Michael
| Patrol 4.2TDi 2003
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AnswerID:
309230
Follow Up By: blown4by - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:00
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:00
The tyres may not be the problem as
mine are the factory fitted Bridgestone D693's
FollowupID:
575569
Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:03
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:03
I have had the same problem since 1999 in two Patrols. If you get lucky, a good balance can last 5000 ks. Its got be beat, i have spent a fortune on balance and alignment. The 1999 model had steel wheels and the current has alloys, same problem.. At the moment, the car is smooth at 115kph and awful at 100kph.. I have always run BFG 265x75 x16. I think they may be half the problem. Michael
| Patrol 4.2TDi 2003
Retired 2016 and now Out and About!
Somewhere you want to explore ? There is no time like the present.Member
My Profile My Blog Send Message |
AnswerID:
309231
Reply By: stefan P (Penrith NSW) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:25
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:25
There is not 'one size fits all' fix here.
It comes and goes in
mine, normal bad after off road work. Maybe mud throwing things off balance, wet days seem to set it off as
well.
Try things in this order
1. Get under the car and make sure there is no mud around the front anywhere...wheels, discs, shocks ect.
2. Rotate the tyres front to back, while you have the wheels off make sure they are clean and no mud ect anywhere
How many kms on the car? still the original steering damper?
3.
mine was shocking until I got the new springs and shocks and damper.
4. Panhard rod bushes.
5. wheel bearings out of adjustment
any of the above can set it off and then be magnified through other worn components.
Welcome to the Patrol wobble!! LOL
Stefan
AnswerID:
309243
Follow Up By: stefan P (Penrith NSW) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:28
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:28
forgot to add......it is never really fixed, just goes into remission!! LOL
FollowupID:
575251
Follow Up By: blown4by - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:09
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:09
Yeah I find that it comes and goes as if its dependent on the rotational relationship (that was hi tech) between the two front wheels. In other words when it seems ok (it never goes away altogether) it is as if the two wheel are in harmony but then after turning corners etc and one wheel is out of sync with the other then off it goes again. I cannot understand what else changes as you drive to cause the extent of the vibration to vary. Re mud etc there is none. It has only done 75000 k's since new with minimal off road work so I would expect the damper and panhard rod bushes to still be ok. I cleaned , re-packed and adjusted the front whee brgs at 40000 km as per the handbook and it was just the same as before the service.
FollowupID:
575570
Reply By: Peter McG (Member, Melbourne) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:48
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 15:48
You might try checking the front discs - they may need cleaning up.
Peter
AnswerID:
309250
Reply By: _gmd_pps - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:16
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:16
this will not remove the reason but reduce the effect
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/
I have dyna beads in all my tires. works very
well for the lifetime of the tire. if you loose a junk out of the tire it is still perfectly balanced.
good luck
gmd
AnswerID:
309253
Reply By: V8Diesel - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:16
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:16
Can't be fixed. You can make it better, but it simply can't be fixed. Some do it, some don't. End of story. I spent bucket loads doing every last thing imaginable to my GU. I left no stone unturned (or dollar spent)....trust me.
Do search for 'wobbles'.........plenty of info about it. I can't be bothered going listing what I ended up doing as it's too painful, but it's everying you will read here and more.
I eventually got fed up and sold my first and last Patrol and went back to Landcruiser's. Problem solved. Not a exercise in bashing a make of vehicle - just a fact.
AnswerID:
309254
Reply By: udm - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:45
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 16:45
i have or had used 3 sets of tyres in my 80series, 1 set of bfg/at 33" and no matter what i do they always shake... balancing, bearings, bushes, big steering damper, etc, doesnt fix them.
the other 2 sets are mtr's 35" and et2 36", which have never given me problems. funny how these are not onroad tyres and they still perform better than the bfg/at on the highway.
so looks like im not getting bfg's ever again.
AnswerID:
309264
Reply By: VH-GU4 - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 17:45
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 17:45
Sound like the normal problem people have with trol.
Mine does it and you just put up wth it. Drive on more dirt roads and you dont notice it. It is a pain tho.
AnswerID:
309277
Reply By: Member - Charlie M (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 20:06
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 20:06
On the gu patrol they have to be balanced with adaptor cone made for wheel, not tapered cones or fingers adaptors. On the early one's, nuts had to be torqued in correct order
Cheers
Charlie
AnswerID:
309329
Reply By: mechpete - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 22:17
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 22:17
have someone
check the preload on the swivel head bearings ,
I have a GQ an had the patrol SHIMMY in the front end .didn,t matter how many wheels an tyres I tried .
took some of the shims out of the swivel head bearings just to put a light preload on the bearings an bingo all gone after 10 yrs
should have done long time ago instead of thinking babout it
cya mechpete .
AnswerID:
309384
Reply By: Member - Bucky (VIC) - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 07:39
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 07:39
Blown4by
More stuff than tyres affect wheel balance. ( at the steering wheel )
Here are a few !
1) Tyres themselves
2) The fitter
3) The brake rotors
4) Steering damper
5) the wheel bearings
6 ) the rims
7 ) the actual road
and there are probably a heap more
Now I could be wrong, but if you have done lots of things to this vehicle, then you need to contact Nissan and demand the fix..
But, before you go ahead, make sure you have done all your homework, and not overlooked anything !
Cheers
Bucky
AnswerID:
309411
Reply By: Ozboc - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 21:33
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 21:33
Mine does it from about 80 Km to 90 Kmh - then evens out at 100 and there on .... ( with MTR tyres )
I did reduce it a little when i found the preload on either wheel brg has diminished -- so off came the hubs and reset the preload ( actually pulled brgs out and re greased then set the preload)
save your money and just put up with it ... and try not to drive in the wobble zone :)
Boc
AnswerID:
309584
Reply By: blown4by - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:22
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 23:22
Thanks for all the assistance and helpful advice guys. I have some good leads to follow up on before I give up and in particular the pre-load on the swivel hub brgs and the type of hub centre used on the balancing machine. I still don't understand why IF the wheels are perfectly balanced as indicated on several balances then it vibrates on the road because the vibration can only come in the main from the rotational movement of the wheels attested to by the fact that it comes and goes at varying speeds. IF the wheels are balanced correctly then whatever else is wrong in the design of the front end shouldn't cause vibration because nothing else other than the hubs and rotors actually rotates. The rotors are like new and only having done 75000k's the brake pads are like new also as we live away from the city so are not constantly "on" the brakes.
Thanks again
AnswerID:
309615
Reply By: hunter40 - Saturday, Jun 14, 2008 at 18:20
Saturday, Jun 14, 2008 at 18:20
Hi,
I use to get one ( 2003 GU 3lt ) they tell me it is the tyre also it use to pull to the left pretty bad told it was a nissan thing so I had a return to center steering damper fitted problem solved.
Lyle
AnswerID:
309960