We need to do some maintenance to Milady.
For some time now, Milady had been experiencing the so-called “death wobble,” an uncontrollable vibration in the steering wheel at speeds over 70 km/h. I had replaced the Panhard rod bushings several times, and that helped for a while, but not permanently. Now it was time to properly address this problem.
Part 1, Steering Overhaul
During our last holiday in the Netherlands, I picked up an overhaul kit for both steering balls. Now that we’re staying at Yeti Gear in Kathmandu, Vivek’s mechanics can take care of the job.
The entire steering ball is disassembled, and everything is thoroughly cleaned and inspected. Everything is reassembled and disassembled with completely new bearings and gaskets. The steering ball on the right side turned out to be cracked, so it took a day to find a new, used one. After that, it could be reassembled.
Part 2, Wheel Balancing
In Pokhara, we stopped to have the wheels balanced; we still noticed a significant vibration above 50 km/h. I also removed a shim from the steering balls to increase the preload a bit.
But we still experienced the “death wobble.”
Part 3, Bushings
Back in Kathmandu, at the Yeti Gear garage, we replaced the Panhard rod bushings and checked the radius arms. One of the bolts, on the right radius arm, was completely seized, and it turned out the support was cracked. That needed to be welded…
After this final repair, we were back on the road! For those who were worried about our Milady Landy: she’s completely recovered; the wobble is gone!
What we did to solve the steering vibration (especially the front axle):
- New bearings
- Rebuild kit for the ball joints
- One new ball joint; the right one was cracked
- Wheel alignment
- Wheel balancing
- New bushings in the Panhard rod
- New bushings in both radius arms
- Welding a support for the right radius arm
Part 4, New Tyres
And to make sure all the wheels were in good condition, we purchased new Chinese tires for all the wheels in Lhasa.
Conclusion
Now, after two intensive weeks of driving in both Nepal and Tibet, we can say that everything is fine!