Hi Guys,

I am new to this forum and have a nasty fault with my 97 Samurai Coily. When you get to around 60kph the cars has massive and violent judder through the steering wheel, if you decrese your speed it goes but if you try and drive through it it becomes uncontrollable. I have had it checked over but every mechanic here cant seem to find the problem. The wheels have been balanced but this didnt help, the ball joints etc have all been checked and found to be ok. The car is in Mauritius so trying to get anything done or explained to a mechanic is a nightmare....has anyone encountered a similar problem and what was the fix?

Thanks in advance people.

Some of the less-visible causes of wheel-shake or - as we call it here in the States, the "Death Wobble" - is

worn knuckle felts
worn kingpin bearings
worn wheel bearings
worn suspension bushings
too much play in the steering gearbox
bad Caster angle caused by a poorly-done front-end suspension lift.

check out this forum thread for more info:

http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic,45770.0.html

Since your truck is a coily (unfortunately, we don't have those in the US... ) you might want to check the black "rubber" bushings on the suspension "arm" pivot points.  If there is any side-to-side or up/down movement when the joints are flexed, you need to replace the bushings with new ones.   Normal axial movement in these joints is okay.

I hope that this helps!

Steering stabilizer maybe? 

that much vibration won't be caused by the steering stabilizer and putting a bigger one will only mask the real problem.

Take the whole front end apart and check all the parts....the kingpin bearings are probably shot. Like the post above said...did you lift it or is it stock? If the angles on the front end was changed it won't drive good at all, no matter how new all the parts are.

I take my front end apart in the spring and in the fall and make sure that everything has fresh grease. Once I rebuild a front and check it twice a year I normally don't have to change any more parts...the bearings get new grease twice a year. I replace the axle seals once a year and make sure to change the oils very often in the summer. I love to play in water and bad oil will ruin everything.

So simple answer to your question is....take it all apart. IF you can change your own spark plugs you can do this too. Just take one sided apart at a time, take some pics if you are nervous and take your time.

that much vibration won't be caused by the steering stabilizer and putting a bigger one will only mask the real problem.

Take the whole front end apart and check all the parts....the kingpin bearings are probably shot. Like the post above said...did you lift it or is it stock? If the angles on the front end was changed it won't drive good at all, no matter how new all the parts are.

I take my front end apart in the spring and in the fall and make sure that everything has fresh grease. Once I rebuild a front and check it twice a year I normally don't have to change any more parts...the bearings get new grease twice a year. I replace the axle seals once a year and make sure to change the oils very often in the summer. I love to play in water and bad oil will ruin everything.

So simple answer to your question is....take it all apart. IF you can change your own spark plugs you can do this too. Just take one sided apart at a time, take some pics if you are nervous and take your time.

Good advice, zukimoo!

I had close to the same problem on my 87 Samurai and believe or not it was the drive shaft bolts were so loose it sent that when I hit 35 mph an uncontrollable vibration through drive train and steering system.

I had the same problem on my 93 samurai and rebuilt the entire front end from steering stabilizer to bearings to king pins but nothing helped.  I later found the problem was the front shocks were complete shot.  Replaced the shocks and it went away.

Thanks guys...this is priceless advice....now just got to find a mechanic that understands english  ....for the record the car is completely stock.