Right, next thin on my list... death wobble...

Driving down the motorway today and the RR is damn near impossible to drive without feeling like it' going to be shaken to bits. I've done a load of the common things, which I'll list below... and nothing has made a difference yet.

Done so far:
Wheels balanced not long ago - they found they were well out as they hadn't been done properly when they were originally fitted.
Tyre pressures checked and topped up where necessary.
Front prop UJ's have been replaced a couple of times, and I put a brand new prop on it not too long ago aswell
Rear prop UJ's have also been changed.
Anti-roll bar bushes and drop links renewed
Front Ball joints replaced (genuine Lemforder)
New drag link and track rod (one was an MOT fail a year or so ago, so replaced bot of them
Replacement steering damper - had a Boge one to begin with an now got one of the Cellular Dynamic ones on - no real difference
It's had new Boge shocks a few years ago aswell

Vibration is mostly felt from 60mph up, but sometimes down as low as 40mph.
Generally feels like it's shaking the whole vehicle, rather than just through the steering wheel - sometimes you can feel it through the steering wheel too though.

My current thought is that it could be the tyres? they are only a few years old and have about 15K miles on them, but wonder if because they are an A/T tyre they causing it - or maybe the fact that it spends so much time sitting there that they've gone 'out of round' a bit?

It's getting to the point where I don't want to take the thing on the motorway as it's such a chore to drive - you can't actually cruise in it without feeling like your teeth are going to fall out.

On an unrelated note, It wanders like buggery too - but I think that is the steering box wear. I tightened it up today, which has made it feel sturdier to steer, but now feels like it's wandering a lot more (part of that I think is slop in the steering box) - it doesn't constantly pull to one side but have to constantly correct it. It's fine around town - just at higher speed.

Doesn't feel right, compared to my previous 2 RR's that had really good road manners and you were able to cruise happily. I've been considering changing the tyres for something a little more road biased, as it doesn't get offroaded as much as I hoped it would!

Thoughts?

Is it worth swapping the wheels over from one of the other two at your workshop temporarily to see if it changes?

I have considered that, though I am not sure if I have a set up there with enough tread on them to be useful! I have thought I might swap the whole lot of one of the sets of hurricanes I've got... it's finding enough that hold air and are legal tread wise that's the problem!!

Might pop up there when I get a chance and have a poke about.. would be a good way of ruling the wheels/tyres in/out, yes. :)

Thanks for the nudge! might get me up there!

Vibration through the car isn't usually the front end. I've noticed that out of balance or out of round rear wheels seem to start at around 60mph and will come through the whole car. You'll feel it through the steering but you'll feel it through your bum too. A rear prop that is out of balance or even bent will do the same.

Yeah, definitely feel it through the seat and the vehicle. I almost want to say it's rear/right but it's so hard to pin down. I'm going to try and get up to the workshop tomorrow and finish putting the green one back together (changed exhaust manifold and just need to get steering shaft back on) and will see about finding 4 decent wheels with legal tyres on them and swapping them over for a couple of days to see if there's any change.

I don't think the rear prop is bent - out of balance, I guess it's possible... If the wheels/tyres don't make a difference then I'll look at dropping the rear prop off an seeing if that makes a difference.

Props have been on and off a lot. Have you got the correct phasing on the UJ's? Rears should be in line, fronts about 11 o clock and 1 o clock. Mass damper on the rear diff still bolted up tight?

Other things to take a look at while you're down there- cr@p between brake drum and drive flange. After you've got prop disconnected stick a DTI on the machined face of the drum and check for run-out. Cr@p between any of the other couplings and their flanges.

Yes, props have been on and off a lot, but I have never split them at the splined joint, or moved the vehicle whilst one/other have been removed so the phasing of them should be OK... I will make a note to check them the next time I'm under there. I didn't get up to the workshop in the end as I had another last minute door latch, and BECM unlock to do!

Will have to get a DTI to check the park brake drum.. good excuse to get another tool I guess :)

Have to try and do a few bits before I go away, otherwise it's going to end up waiting until the summer when I get back from tour!

Marty

Check Panhard Rod Bushings front and rear. Only replace with Genuine. Aftermarket like allmakes are junk.
When you are under there check all other bushings.
Check you intermediate steering shaft for wear. Have someone rock the steering while you look for play.
Check that your steering box is centered. If you had an alignment done after the drag/track rods were done this should be ok. If not get an alignment.
My passenger seat vibrates while driving but I have eliminated the death wobble completely. The worst death wobble I had was when the front drive shaft uni-joint let go.
Man that was scary! Luckily it stayed together and didn't hit the transmission.
Oh just remembered the bushings where the radius arms connect to the chassis are a good culprit for the wobble also.

That's a very good point about the steering box alignment.

My steering developed a small wobble after the front wheels were aligned for the MOT here and I'm still trying to cure it.

Hmmmm,

Food for thought - I haven't had the steering aligned since the new rods were put in.. I will check the steering box for being centered, though when rocking the steering wheel back and forth I can still feel play in the shaft going into the box. I wondered if it was the intermediate steering shaft, and the rubber coupler, but when I grabbed the intermediate steering shaft and tried rocking it under the bonnet (I was on my own) it still moved on the steering box input.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a refurbished steering box, and maybe new intermediate steering shaft aswell, just because of the slop that is in the box.

Bushes... I have been considering doing the radius arm bushes - I've got a spare set of radius arms up at the workshop, so could get some bushes and then get them replaced, and then swap the arms over.

OK, so my list at the moment (for when I get some time - and unfortunately don't that will be until the end of June now, as I'm away for work for about 10 weeks solidly from the middle of April):<br>

• Check prop shaft phasing and UJ's again just to be sure<br>
• Swap wheels/tyres over for a set from one of my other vehicles to rule in/out tyres<br>
• Check steering box is centered, and intermediate steering shaft - possibly replace anyway as steering box has some wear in it anyway <br>
• Replace radius arm bushes<br>
• Get steering alignment/tracking done... and not get fleeced on a '4 wheel alignment' :)<br>

If anyone is about towards the end of June who fancies a day of helping out, then I could do with a hand for some of this.. I also want to swap my ABS modulator out, and replace/bleed brake fluid. I've also got a new power steering pump to install as the one on there sounds like it has a grumbly bearing - which makes sense to do at the same time if I do the box.

All that and an engine oil change and she'll be in a happy place for the MOT in July and ready for summer!

Let me know if anyone is about and willing to lend a hand... I'm hoping by then I'll have some of my workshop space available.. Also happy to help out if you have any bits you want to look at on your P38(s) and share time/workshop/tools etc so we can all get some things done!

Cheers,
Marty

If I can be of help I'll happily pop up!

Might even have those bits together from the old car by then...

I'm sure you'll be of help - if you've got any bits you want to do on your one, then I am sure that we can get a load of things done in one go...

If anyone else is keen on coming around and has some things they want done aswell, then maybe we could look at organising a 'P38 weekend'
I'm happy to look at anything electrical for people in return for help on the mechanical side of things... Might post it on the other forums aswell and see if there's any other UK owners in the vicinity who fancy it... could make it into a bit of a P38 meet up aswell...

Marty

Sounds like an idea Marty. I'd probably do it as a weekender anyway. Your workshop anywhere near a Travelodge or other quality hotel? 150 miles each way in a day doesn't leave very much time to actually do anything!

The workshop is a bit out of the way (which is why it's fairly cheap to rent!!) But it is just out of Marlborough, so I will have a look and see what is around.

I know there are Travelodges and the likes around Swindon itself - which might be an option too, as I have to travel from Swindon anyway - and could make it good to be able to go for food and a couple of beers if people aren't knackered after a busy day.

I will take a look and see what is about a bit later, both around Swindon and also nearer the workshop and post up for anyone who's interested...

Used to be lots of pubs down that way with accommodation. That's what I used when I was down there a week at a time.

All the ones I used were north of Swindon though, I never stayed south, so can't really recommend one.

Just had a look, and there isn't much around the workshop area in the way of accommodation :(

Swindon itself however, there's Travelodge in the centre of town, and Premier Inn both in town and also one just up the road from where I live aswell.

Also a couple more Premier Inns around and Holiday Inns too. I think there are probably B&B's and the likes about too..

Will put a post up on the other forum aswell, but think if we have maybe a max of 5? Just thinking of time and space!

There are a scattering of B&B's from £30 night within 5 miles of Marlborough. Be an idea to find out what everyone's expecting to get out of the time though. 5 engine rebuilds might be too much for the workshop space/ tools/ time! I'm kindof thinking BMR kit installation for mine. Bit of synchronicity with your modulator swap Marty!

Yeah, I was going to first see who was interested, and see what they were wanting to look at and see if we can work out a list of things to get done and then filter that a bit to see what we think is realistically possible to achieve.

If it's general maintenance and service, then I'm also thinking of considering bulk order on the likes of engine oil/ATF/gear oil to make the most of bulk buy discounts from some suppliers etc.

I'll have a few months whilst I'm away working to try and get it all organised...

I'll take a run down to help with any mechaniking too. Many hands make light work and all that.