When we continue driving through Turkey after the repair in Alanya, the “Death Wobble”, the shaking and vibrating of the steering wheel, has not yet been solved. Again I therefore consult the Land Rover Prikkers on Facebook and with their advice I visit a number of companies in Konya, where we are now. Thanks to Senrot Oto Lastik, Experland Landrover and Ali, from the company Doktor Oto in Konya, we now drive vibration-free through Turkey again.
Solutions in Konya
Senrot Oto Lastik
On Google Maps I found a tire company that we drive past to balance the wheels. They refer us to Senrot Oto Lastik, a company specialized in tires and everything related to it. There the 4 wheels are balanced and we can continue after a good half hour. Costs 200 Turkish Lira = €10.
Expert Land Rover
The next stop is Experland Landrover, which I found on Google. From the pictures it looks like they can help me replace the panhard bar rubbers. Those rubbers appear to be really worn out, I have determined myself.
Experland turns out to be a body shop that makes replacement parts for Land Rover Defenders. Ibrahim Sarıyıldız shows me the workshop, a large hall where hundreds of Defender parts are stored, ready to use. There are also several Defenders in various state of construction, nice to see. Ibrahim recognizes our car from Husseyn Cinar, who posted some photos on Facebook. He is also very enthusiastic about our pop-up roof.
Unfortunately Ibrahim can’t help us with the rubbers. He directs us to coordinate 37.942646, 32.513828, Ali, of the company Doktor Oto in Konya, which can also be found on Google Maps on the same street under Land Rover Defender.
Doctor Oto in Konya
Ali immediately lets me drive Milady Landy onto the pit and wrenches out the panhard rod.
He still has one without rubbers.
After a long search it turns out that he no longer has any rubbers. There is still a freshly finished Defender outside, there he takes out the panhard rod with rubbers and mounts it under Milady. He also replaces the ball joints in the front preventively, then everything in the steering is spic and span again.
We test drive together and I go, downhill, to about 110 km/h on the counter. Then quickly back to 70 before the cameras above the road pick me up. The steering is holding up well, no more feeling any vibration.
We drive back to Senrot Oto Lastik to have the wheels aligned (200 TL). Then I can pay to Ali, 3,000 Turkish Lira, about € 150.
Long test drive
As an extra long test drive we drive to Sultanhani. We have the strong wind diagonally behind on the two-lane road, so we can drive fast. Not once do we feel any vibration in the steering wheel. The problem has been solved, thanks to the good advice of the Land Rover Prikkers and the excellent craftsmanship of the various garages in Konya.