[swatson1]

I bought this car new a couple of months ago (2009 Range Rover Sport). I have had steering wheel vibration at around 70mph. They balanced the tires twice, that didn't work. Then they recently put on new tires (conti's). I'm still having the problem. I have over 2,300 miles on the car already. Anyone else have any experience with this? any recommendations?

 

[kstatenupe]

Sorry you are having that prob. I have had mine just as long with 1k more miles than yours, and no issues with my stock 19's or my 22's. Where did you take it to get balanced? LR dealer, or local tire shop?

 

[swatson1]

The dealer has done the work (balancing, alignment, etc.)

 

[umbertob]

Whether you have 19 or 20s, there is a lengthy TSB about steering wheel vibrations affecting RRS between 50 and 70 mph. If the dealer has tried everything else (balancing and tire replacement) and you still experience the vibration, I'm afraid their next logical step would be to replace steering gear. See TSB attached.

 

[geflackt]

Do you get the vibration on a totally smooth road at 70mph?? My '06 RRS steering is smooth on very smooth roads at 70mph, but if there are even slight imperfections in the road, the steering wheel vibrates. So far I have had tires replaced, rebalanced, sway bar bushings, ball joints, AND the entire steering rack replaced. It helped for about a week and now it's back along with a clunk and occasional clack noise while turning. The RRS is at the dealer again, but they just left a message saying they can't reproduce it. Will have to talk to them tomorrow - this is the 4th time it's been in for this issue and I'm not sure what to do next.

 

[LBizzle]

Do you get the vibration on a totally smooth road at 70mph?? My '06 RRS steering is smooth on very smooth roads at 70mph, but if there are even slight imperfections in the road, the steering wheel vibrates. So far I have had tires replaced, rebalanced, sway bar bushings, ball joints, AND the entire steering rack replaced. It helped for about a week and now it's back along with a clunk and occasional clack noise while turning. The RRS is at the dealer again, but they just left a message saying they can't reproduce it. Will have to talk to them tomorrow - this is the 4th time it's been in for this issue and I'm not sure what to do next.

Do you get the clunk clack noise usually when making left turns at slow speed? and sometimes a wobble in the car once you're through the turn?
Let me know if so, I had the similar problem and can dig out the service record to see how they corrected it on mine.
It took three visits to the dealer for me and they couldn't reproduce it either, but after a while it started happening often enough that they could.

 

[geflackt]

Hot DIGGITY! Left turns mostly, compressing front suspension(like coming out of a parking lot - all the time at work), then after the clack/clunk the suspension is loose for a while. This morning taking it to the dealer it was fairly tight until the clunk was felt, then it had the vibration again. Steering wheel is turned slightly to the left, too.

PLEASE check for the service records - that would be a big help!

 

[gooseyloosey]

I bought this car new a couple of months ago (2009 Range Rover Sport). I have had steering wheel vibration at around 70mph. They balanced the tires twice, that didn't work. Then they recently put on new tires (conti's). I'm still having the problem. I have over 2,300 miles on the car already. Anyone else have any experience with this? any recommendations?

A telltale sign its a balancing problem and not a mechanical problem is that the vibration happens at a certain speed and goes away below and above it. I assume you only get it ~70 and don't get it at 80+? If its worse at 80, then you likely have a mechanical issue.

Before you try to convince the dealer to replace the steering rack, try the following (in order of cheapest to more expensive). I assume these are stock wheels because non-hub centric wheels are nearly impossible to get balanced:

1..swap the rear wheels to the front. If you get the vibration of the same intensity and mph its not likely a balancing problem. If it changes, or goes away its a balancing problem, and make sure the dealer "dynamically" balances all the wheels.
2..try having somebody other than the dealer do the dynamic balance. There may be a problem with the dealers machine or the idiot running it.
3..sometimes vented rotors can are imbalanced due to a bad cast internally, have dealer replace the rotors, they're cheap.

While they have the wheels off, check for play in the wheel bearings, working inward to the control arm bushings, etc. until you arrive at the $$$ steering rack.

Good luck.

 

[icoburn]

I am also having this problem on my 09 RRS with aftermarket 20" Stormers. Just had the Wheelworks rebalance yesterday and they said the front left and rear right was slightly off. Drove on the freeway this morning and even on smooth road, I am getting vibration/wheel wobble at 65 now instead of 70mph. Speed up or slow down and it goes away. Very interested in the outcome of your dealer visit.

 

[TripleE]

I am also having this problem on my 09 RRS with aftermarket 20" Stormers. Just had the Wheelworks rebalance yesterday and they said the front left and rear right was slightly off. Drove on the freeway this morning and even on smooth road, I am getting vibration/wheel wobble at 65 now instead of 70mph. Speed up or slow down and it goes away. Very interested in the outcome of your dealer visit.

Try your stock wheels out and see what changes.

 

[1953]

I have the same problem in my MY08, they've balanced a 4 times more times than i can count, as well as road force balanced serveral times. 18K on mine, and all 4 times have also been replaced/pro-rated as well.

 

[geflackt]

Picked up the RRS last night. Seems very solid - but I also thought that last time and it was solid for a week. Although the invoice says they were unable to reproduce(the issue, that is!), the service manager said he had the control arm bushings rotated and bolts slightly rotated and retorqued. Not sure what that would do, but said there was a TSB related.

I drove on the same highway that has given trouble before and it felt very solid. Drove around our back-roads last night and no clunking felt. BUT - I did hear the clack again. When I drove over a change in road surface on a fairly straight section, the RRS would have been subjected to a twist between front and rear. I didn't feel anything, but definitely heard the clack and even my wife commented. So it may not be related to the steering or vibration. Monday I'll try the left turn out of the work parking lot where it always happens.

In the past I mostly felt it at highway speeds between 50 and 75, but now it's better. At first it felt like a balance issue, but after several balance attempts by the tire shop and dealer, it didn't change anything.

So I'm not sure if it's totally solved. I'll find out when I trailer my car out to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix next week.http://www.pvgp.org

 

[1953]

I'm going to bring mine back to the dealer first thing on Monday, it's really begining to annoy the hell out of me. :evil:

 

[swatson1]

Not sure what my next step should be. I've got over 3,000 miles now. It does it just below 70mph. Before they replaced the tires w/ new ones, it did it just above 70mph. It's not as bad now, since they've replaced the tires.

 

[1953]

Mine was in first thing this morning. Both front tires had 700 miles on them, and they replaced them again for a hop in each tire. Drove it home and 48-88 still have a vibration in the steering wheel. I brought it back to them and I took it for a ride with the shop foreman, they now placed a call to Land Rover NA, asking for assistance.


This should get interesting now...stay tuned... ray:

 

[umbertob]

Uh oh. I hope they gave you a good loaner, because it sounds like your car will be at the dealer for a while. :wink:

 

[1953]

nope!

They didn't have any LR2s, they were all out with other customers. So I have to go back there tomorrow morning. Yippppie :dance:

 

[icoburn]

Hope there are able to figure it out quick. Are you seeing a constant vibration from 48-88 or does it go away when you speed up or slow down. Are you using OEM 20" Stormers?

Getting ready to take my car back in to be rebalanced for the 3rd time. This time around I am taking it to a another shop that has done most of my tires over the past 5 years. I am running replica 20" Stormers and wondering if they are the problem. Next step will be to put the stocks back on. Has anyone had any negitive experience with replicas?

Mine was in first thing this morning. Both front tires had 700 miles on them, and they replaced them again for a hop in each tire. Drove it home and 48-88 still have a vibration in the steering wheel. I brought it back to them and I took it for a ride with the shop foreman, they now placed a call to Land Rover NA, asking for assistance.


This should get interesting now...stay tuned... ray:

 

[LBizzle]

Hot DIGGITY! Left turns mostly, compressing front suspension(like coming out of a parking lot - all the time at work), then after the clack/clunk the suspension is loose for a while. This morning taking it to the dealer it was fairly tight until the clunk was felt, then it had the vibration again. Steering wheel is turned slightly to the left, too.

PLEASE check for the service records - that would be a big help!

So it sounds like you are having the issues I had. It progressively got worse, and the frequency of this happening increased over time and after a couple of trips to the dealer. I pulled out my invoice...
What ended up happening was I got the suspension warning light, with that they were able to find fault codes to correct the problem and it was tied to the Dynamic Response Control Module.
The invoice states:
Control Unit- Active Cornering Enhancement (ACE) - Renew
Diagnosis- ACE System- Includes configuration of new ECU

So basically the Dynamic Response Control Module went out and that had an effect on the ACE System. I haven't had the problem since this has been repaired and I've tried to duplicate the symptoms on a particular left turn where I used to get the problem all the time, kind of like you coming out of your parking lot.

Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[umbertob]

Just FYI, Dynamic Response System, AKA Active Stabilization System, is a "refinement" of the original Active Cornering Enhancement system patented by Land Rover and available as an option on older Disco IIs up to 2004... I guess your dealer is old fashioned and still refers to Dynamic Response as its earlier incarnation (ACE) in its paperwork... Basically, he replaced and configured the Dynamic Response module. We have enough acronyms in this car, we don't need another one. There's no ACE in the RRS (other than us guys sitting behind the wheel, of course.) :wink: