Death Wobble - Series 2a

[ron thompson]

Can a deteriorated shock bushing on the passenger side cause a severe wobble (right side of Rover) when hitting potholes or speed bumps?

[I Leak Oil]

Probably not. I'd bet money it's your swivel bushing/bearings. Probably need to reset the swivel pre-load.

[64osby]

Could the shock be dead?

[loose gravel]

I'm with the guy who leaks oil, swivel/railco bushes or the wheel bearings.

[Ollies truck]

When mine did this it was the swivel ball preload. I brought that into spec and everything was fine (as far as the wobbling goes anyway)

[lumpydog]

Shock bush may be a contributing factor... the final straw that sets the wobble in motion. Rovers are great in that (in most cases) they can absorb single points of failure well. It usually takes 2 to 3 things in the chain break down and combine to cause real issues.

Be thorough - Best to roll through all potential contributors and tighten up the whole program... Bearings, bushes, pins, shims (preload), steering damper, shocks, steering box, steering relay, shocks, etc.... Your truck needs to be safe for you and the people you drive near.

[series guy]

If you just need a few shock bushings I might have 1 or 27 laying about.

[I Leak Oil]

If you just need a few shock bushings I might have 1 or 27 laying about.

Ahhh so you're like me? Order things you forgot you ordered because you put them in a place you'd remember them?

[series guy]

No I usually install polybushes and don't toss the stock ones that come with the new shocks. I may have posted this before as it's my only shock bushing story. I'm at the MAR leaning against the trunk lid of my 300SD Benz. My wife drove it down because she couldn't get enough time off work to ride along in the truck. Anyway a friend of mine comes walking up with a lovely young lady of Asian descent and asks if I have any spare series truck shock bushings as her boyfriend/husband was missing a few after his shock came loose on a trail. I reached down and pressed on the chrome tips of my exhaust and two Rover shock bushings fell into my hand. I handed them to the young lady and she thanked me. My buddy stared at me for the longest time and just shook his head and walked away.

[loose gravel]

No I usually install polybushes and don't toss the stock ones that come with the new shocks. I may have posted this before as it's my only shock bushing story. I'm at the MAR leaning against the trunk lid of my 300SD Benz. My wife drove it down because she couldn't get enough time off work to ride along in the truck. Anyway a friend of mine comes walking up with a lovely young lady of Asian descent and asks if I have any spare series truck shock bushings as her boyfriend/husband was missing a few after his shock came loose on a trail. I reached down and pressed on the chrome tips of my exhaust and two Rover shock bushings fell into my hand. I handed them to the young lady and she thanked me. My buddy stared at me for the longest time and just shook his head and walked away.

SHOCKING!

[Ash]

Swivel pins, steering-rod ends, play in steering box [and probably in that order]

[50 wulf]

No I usually install polybushes and don't toss the stock ones that come with the new shocks. I may have posted this before as it's my only shock bushing story. I'm at the MAR leaning against the trunk lid of my 300SD Benz. My wife drove it down because she couldn't get enough time off work to ride along in the truck. Anyway a friend of mine comes walking up with a lovely young lady of Asian descent and asks if I have any spare series truck shock bushings as her boyfriend/husband was missing a few after his shock came loose on a trail. I reached down and pressed on the chrome tips of my exhaust and two Rover shock bushings fell into my hand. I handed them to the young lady and she thanked me. My buddy stared at me for the longest time and just shook his head and walked away.

So you store your spare shock bushings in the exhaust system of your 300SD???

[series guy]

Well the bumper that was supposed to keep the rear muffler from bouncing up and hitting the body left the scene and I had this pile of shock bushings sitting on the workbench so………

[DouginMaine]

I'd like to stress the importance of having the steering box tight. My 1960 Series II used to do the death wobble until I removed some shims from the bottom end of the steering box, the end play that was in there left enough slack to let the wobble continue. All fixed now.