So, I have a really annoying wheel wobble which feels just like the wheels are out of balance but the symptoms are screwy:

Most noticeable on the motorway (or Autoroute) which is where I spend most of my driving time.
It only manifests between 55 and 80mph indicated, manifesting only through the steering wheel exactly as if the wheels were out of balance.
The wobble is intermittent - its there for most of the time but then can disappear for minutes at a time before returning.
I've had both lower control arms replaced.
To eliminate either tyres or wheels being the issue, I have replaced all 4 wheels and tyres - Had some spare stock wheels refurbed and fitted brand new tyres and had a full 4 wheel Hunter alignment. EXACTLY the same afterwards

It first manifest on holiday in France last year and I thought I'd dropped a weight off so had the wheels balanced whilst over there. It made no difference and was exactly the same, and has been since.
I've had my indy look at it a couple of times and they can't find anything obvious.
I did ask them to check wheel bearings but they reckon there is nothing wrong with them.
Its been on a shaker rig to try to find anything obvious - zilch result.

I'm having the gearbox, xfer box and diffs serviced in a couple of weeks in a vain hope that this fixes it. However, I strongly suspect this won't fix it either so pre-empting this annoyance isn't going away, does anyone have any suggestions?

Drive shaft CV joints?
Propshaft CV joints?
Top mounts?
Could it be a wheel bearing but they are just not being thorough enough?

I'm scratching my head here and its ruined the Fatty driving experience, almost to the point that I'm thinking of dropping it and I really don't want to but with the milage I do (mostly on motorways) its almost unbearable and I'm conscious that its shaking the cr@p out of the suspension components.

Any help would be gratefully recieved.

Fav "Patience" - a word invented by dull b*ggers who can't think fast enough" - Spike Milligan

*************************************************
2011 L322 Vogue HSE 4.4 TDV8 Galway Green/Sand - Current
2006 L322 Vogue SE 3.6 Java Black/Sand - Current
2009 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 Stornaway Grey/Ivory - Dead & Gone
2018 Discovery 5 - Gone
2017 Discovery 5 - Gone
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark - Gone
1997 P38 Vogue - Gone
1988 LR 110 V8 County - Gone
1981 LR 109 Stage 1 V8 County - Gone

Have you had the front brakes checked for a sticking calliper, or even if they’re full of crud they could be causing it to stick slightly and give a wobble. I had this on one of my l322’s and it turned out to be a sticking brake.

Dodgy wheel bearings can also make moaning / humming / grinding sounds

If there is no sound…then maybe the problem is something else

Just to clarify….the symptoms are only between 50-80mph
They go away over 80mph?

What’s the mileage ?
Is the tyre wear even ?
Why change the lower control arms?

The vibration is only felt through the steering wheel?
Steering racks can fail / need adjustment on L322s. Not a common problem though

Rear calipers are more likely to bind / seize than front. Are any of the discs super hot after a motorway run? Do you have any uneven brake pad wear? Any warping of the discs? What happens when you use the brakes between 50-80mph? Any change in vibration ?

CV joints usually have clunking / clicking noises when they wear / start to fail. Lack of noise suggests you don’t have a CV problem

As for prop shaft centre bearing, doesn’t match your symptoms IMHO

diesel Dave wrote:

Have you had the front brakes checked for a sticking calliper, or even if they’re full of crud they could be causing it to stick slightly and give a wobble. I had this on one of my l322’s and it turned out to be a sticking brake.

Unnecessary quote removed

Hi Rambles

No worn bearing sounds so I don't think it's that

Not noticeable over 80 and under 50.

Mileage is 165k serviced regularly and pampered.

It is only noticeable through the wheel. No vibe through my bum or pedals that I can discern.

I swapped out the discs not too long back in a bid to resolve the issue. Didnt touch it. No evidence of one brake being hotter than the other either which would indicate a sticky caliper. The Indy has ruled that out.

Using the brakes between 50-80 gives no discernible change.

Control arms were changed as one was worn. Other was swapped to keep it consistent. Issue manifest after this was done. Go figure...

In a bid to eliminate as much as possible I used the Gap tool to run a steering calibration cycle which has improved matters a bit but not eliminated it.

I agree with you that it's not consistent with a prop shaft issue but I'm clutching at straws somewhat.

Appreciate the grey matter application. "Patience" - a word invented by dull b*ggers who can't think fast enough" - Spike Milligan

*************************************************
2011 L322 Vogue HSE 4.4 TDV8 Galway Green/Sand - Current
2006 L322 Vogue SE 3.6 Java Black/Sand - Current
2009 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 Stornaway Grey/Ivory - Dead & Gone
2018 Discovery 5 - Gone
2017 Discovery 5 - Gone
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark - Gone
1997 P38 Vogue - Gone
1988 LR 110 V8 County - Gone
1981 LR 109 Stage 1 V8 County - Gone

Did you tighten the control arm bolts with the weight of the car on them?

If the issue started after the control arms were replaced…that’s where I would be looking first

Agree with what Rambles just said ^^^

Perhaps one (or both) new arm(s) are faulty or just cheap and nasty items fitted by your garage? Would recommend only using Genuine or Lemforder parts are used. The rear bush can tear itself apart if not installed following the correct procedure of torquing up with the weight of the vehicle on the floor.

If you hadn't just said it started after arms were changed, I was going to suggest that the mating surface between discs and hub could be contaminated. The discs would need to be pulled off to check. Did the garage fitting the arms do the discs at the same time by any chance?

Those surfaces have to be scrupulously clean and rust free for a nice flat mating surface between the discs and the hub face. Don't forget the wheels mate to the disc not the hub! Similarly the rear face of the wheel needs to be flat/clean, but this can be ruled out as you've used re-furbished wheels as well as the originals.

Also, *never* put copper slip / anti-seize on the disc to hub mating surface. Loads of people do, I've even seen mechanics do it - but that's wrong! The surface should be clean and dry. It's ok to use anti-seize between the wheel and disc, especially around the wheel's centre bore (spigot).

Jon 1992 RR Classic 3.9 efi Vogue
2014 Disco 4 HSE
===================
Both my fatties now gone...
Previous: 2011 L322 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE /// 2002 L322 4.4 V8 HSE /// 2009 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 XS /// 2004 Defender 90 TD5 /// 1993 110 V8 Snatch Landrover /// 2005 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE (Aus) /// 1990 110 Isuzu 3.9 County (Aus) /// 1976 Series III Trayback (Aus)

Agree with suggestion above that it could also be worn / out-of-adjustment rack (pre-load).

Or, it could also be a worn lower steering column joint, or worn inner track rod ends. Assuming outer track rod ends have been looked over by your indy.

Jon 1992 RR Classic 3.9 efi Vogue
2014 Disco 4 HSE
===================
Both my fatties now gone...
Previous: 2011 L322 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE /// 2002 L322 4.4 V8 HSE /// 2009 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 XS /// 2004 Defender 90 TD5 /// 1993 110 V8 Snatch Landrover /// 2005 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE (Aus) /// 1990 110 Isuzu 3.9 County (Aus) /// 1976 Series III Trayback (Aus)

Rambles wrote:

If the issue started after the control arms were replaced…that’s where I would be looking first

@D3jon

Both lower control arms were genuine LR parts. I would think it unlikely that both were faulty.

Casting my mind back, this all started when I had the discs replaced. When I first bought the car I was getting a nasty thrumming when braking hard which suggested warped discs so I replaced them for some quality drilled and grooved items in a bid to reduce the likleihood of warping in future.

I suspect that there might be an issue with the mating surfaces not being clean as you propose although my indy has a very good rep and all the other work he has done for me has been on point so I would be surprised if this were the case, but indeed possible.

However, this also has all the hallmarks of a sticky caliper/piston. Camber does make a bit of difference in that on a mild l/h camber I'm constantly having to steer right by about 5 degrees whereas on a right hand camber the wheel is in a neutral position. Also when releasing the wheel on a l/h camber the car naturally steers to the left whereas on the r/h camber, it tracks straight.

When I replaced the wheels and tyres the other weekend and had all 4 wheels tracked up on a Hunter, the report came back with all in the green. So I'm starting to think sticky caliper.

They tested the TREs when they had the thing on a shaker rig trying to find if there were any suspension issues but it all came back negative so again, possible but I think unlikely.

It's going in a a week or so for some more pampering (gearbox, xfer box and diffs service) so i'll get them to check the rack and see if they can get a dial guage on the discs to check the runout. "Patience" - a word invented by dull b*ggers who can't think fast enough" - Spike Milligan

*************************************************
2011 L322 Vogue HSE 4.4 TDV8 Galway Green/Sand - Current
2006 L322 Vogue SE 3.6 Java Black/Sand - Current
2009 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 Stornaway Grey/Ivory - Dead & Gone
2018 Discovery 5 - Gone
2017 Discovery 5 - Gone
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark - Gone
1997 P38 Vogue - Gone
1988 LR 110 V8 County - Gone
1981 LR 109 Stage 1 V8 County - Gone

A sticking calliper could have caused your original problem of warped discs, so could be the problem once again.

If the new discs are warped, you'd know about it when you applied the brakes, but it/they could also produce a vibration when driving along.

If you don't have one already, get yourself a non-contact infrared thermometer (they're available for less than £15). Take the car for a run and then measure disc surface temperatures after gently stopping using hardly any brakes (so they don't all get really hot from the act of stopping!)

A disc which is significantly hotter than another on the same axle will identify a sticking calliper.

Another thing could be a binding handbrake shoe. That'll produce a shake through the car from the rear handbrake discs/drums. A non-contact thermometer would show that up also!

Let us know how you get on!

Jon 1992 RR Classic 3.9 efi Vogue
2014 Disco 4 HSE
===================
Both my fatties now gone...
Previous: 2011 L322 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE /// 2002 L322 4.4 V8 HSE /// 2009 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 XS /// 2004 Defender 90 TD5 /// 1993 110 V8 Snatch Landrover /// 2005 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE (Aus) /// 1990 110 Isuzu 3.9 County (Aus) /// 1976 Series III Trayback (Aus)

I’ve got much the same issues that you have and it’s driving me crazy! I’ve had two trusted garages check it over and they can’t find anything wrong. Hunter alignment done a few times all green yet I have to steer slightly to the right to go straight unless the camber slopes to the right.

The steering issue has resulted in my front right tyre wearing more on the inside edge.

The only addition I’ve got is that the steering wheel vibration also occurs when off power at 70mph eg when going down hill, and then becomes a much greater wobble upon light application of the brakes. I do think that on occasion I can feel a slight pulsing through the brake pedal but I’m uncertain on this.

I’m thinking about starting to replace parts, but had to put plans on hold has in the last couple of months I’ve had to do rear propshaft, inlet manifold and oil cooler so it’s been expensive enough already this year!

I think mine is slowly getting worse, but that might be in my head. Brakes and tyres have been changed previously, with the previous tyres having the same uneven wear front right although I didn’t have the wobble at that time.

Last edited by Full-fat-Lance on 12th May 2025 9:27pm. Edited 1 time in total

I also had my tyres "blocked" on the outer edges which suggests play somewhere. Its going in for some other stuff tomorrow so if they find anything, I'll report back. "Patience" - a word invented by dull b*ggers who can't think fast enough" - Spike Milligan

*************************************************
2011 L322 Vogue HSE 4.4 TDV8 Galway Green/Sand - Current
2006 L322 Vogue SE 3.6 Java Black/Sand - Current
2009 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 Stornaway Grey/Ivory - Dead & Gone
2018 Discovery 5 - Gone
2017 Discovery 5 - Gone
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark - Gone
1997 P38 Vogue - Gone
1988 LR 110 V8 County - Gone
1981 LR 109 Stage 1 V8 County - Gone

Well that's frustrating.....

The fatty is back from my indy and I am about a grand lighter, but at least the g/box, t/box and diffs won't need looking at for a while. The rear washer works again too. However, they couldn't find anything obviously wrong to cause this wheel wobble so it looks like I am going to have to do some digging myself.

I have taken D3Jon's advice and have bought a little IR thermometer so first job over the weekend will be to check the disc temps. I've a sneaky feeling it might be a sticky caliper/warped discs but if not then I'll be stumped. It may mean a trip down to Dursley to see if Craig can track the issue down.... "Patience" - a word invented by dull b*ggers who can't think fast enough" - Spike Milligan

*************************************************
2011 L322 Vogue HSE 4.4 TDV8 Galway Green/Sand - Current
2006 L322 Vogue SE 3.6 Java Black/Sand - Current
2009 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 Stornaway Grey/Ivory - Dead & Gone
2018 Discovery 5 - Gone
2017 Discovery 5 - Gone
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark - Gone
1997 P38 Vogue - Gone
1988 LR 110 V8 County - Gone
1981 LR 109 Stage 1 V8 County - Gone