Reversing wheel shudder - Help please

[Lewy]

Hi - some ideas for this please I have spent a long time searching old posts but not found any answers...

Slowly reversing van from cold start has caused a shuddering from the wheels - a bit of a graunch really that seems to come from the rear wheels. But moving forward no problem and when its warm - again no problem.

Drives fine on mainly A and B roads - no whines or vibrations - although I think there might be a low level wrrrrump wruuump sometimes - but that might be my imagination. ! Just had from drivers CV joint done - and just had new rear tyres. The fronts have good tread on the outside and are approaching the wear bar on the inside. Also after fitting new rears I thought the car was a bit more 'drifty' and loose round corners - but this might be my imagintion too

So is the VC winding up 'cos the difference rolling circumference? After a 10 mile drive I put car in neutral, hand brake on and jacked up the front end to see if the wheels span round indicating wind-up - but nothing there. I had a look under the van too - no obvious oil leaks and all boxes warm to the touch.

ANY ideas please. I've head the lube in the VC might be gelling when left overnight and this might be the cause? This is my daily driver and I need to get on to any problems ASAP.

I'm thinking of going down the converting to 2wd route too, so any advice on this too please would be cool.

To sum up - intermitent wheel shudder when reversing cold up slight incline, then gets better. Should I be worried?

[Dolly1]

Hi Lewy,
Just a thought,you say from cold, maybe your hand brake shoes are sticking on.
Next time before you move off,or start up,release hand brake and with a mallet
LIGHTLY tap the housings,its worth a try.also a lot easier to fix

[Lewy]

Would never have thought of that in a month of sundays! It would be as you say a much easier fix...if only life is a simple as that

[brorabongo]

I have noticed the same with mine, rear wheels shudder, when reversing up hill but when warm (after 28miles) never tried it when cold. Mine is a 4wd manual, and I'm only having problems with front tyres ( flat spots). So I told by a member check my VC for that. Which I'm yet to do. ( once I find the post about it)

[Lewy]

Thanks Brorabongo - so its how do you check the vc? I found something about gelling or congealing lube but can't find the post again. I haven't got flat spots on the tyres more of a raised tread - castling I'm told which is a sign of a bad VC apparently but I've had the van over three years now and its run as a daily driver sweet as a nut.

If you geld the van into a 2wd does that do away with the VC and therfore less to go wrong?

[brorabongo]

My previous tyres have suffered from "castling" aswell.

There was a great post by DemonAV on testing your VC, but can not find that either.

I was chatting with Dandywarhol at the weekend, and between us we were trying to remember the testing procedure. What was mentioned was Something like, jacking the car up turning the wheel so far and letting go, to see if it springs back? ( If I remembered rightly what Dandy said. )

[Lewy]

Looking at some posts I'm wondering if a good place to start is to replace the front tyres to match the tread depth of the rears and so put less strain on the VC - they'll need doing soon any way and for the cost if they help stop wear and tear could be a good move.

[The Great Pretender]

I have noticed the same with mine, rear wheels shudder, when reversing up hill but when warm (after 28miles) never tried it when cold. Mine is a 4wd manual, and I'm only having problems with front tyres ( flat spots). So I told by a member check my VC for that. Which I'm yet to do. ( once I find the post about it)

That will teach you vegoil contamination, it is caused by the molecules facing the wrong way

[dandywarhol]

My previous tyres have suffered from "castling" aswell.

There was a great post by DemonAV on testing your VC, but can not find that either.

I was chatting with Dandywarhol at the weekend, and between us we were trying to remember the testing procedure. What was mentioned was Something like, jacking the car up turning the wheel so far and letting go, to see if it springs back? ( If I remembered rightly what Dandy said. )

Its here Brora...........

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 888#155888

Shuddering could be caused by a rear clutch pack slipping on an autobox

[Lewy]

Thanks for that Dandy - rear clutch pack eh? Wouldn't that affect pulling away forwards and other gear changes? Which are all okay at the moment?

Is the best thing to do let it develop? I can always park backside in to and pull away forwards in the morning - and perhaps it was just a bit of a glitch...

I've started another thread on removing the front w drive and would value your comments???

[dandywarhol]

Not sure about the 4 speed bongo 'box but the rear clutch also operates top gear on a 3 speeder - need to consult the manual (book - not gearbox )

[Lewy]

Bit of an update - seems the shudder is not restricted to reverse - just pulled away slowly up a slight incline and got the same shudder - car moves forward for a few yards and then briefly shudders once for a few seconds and then seems to be okay. I tried reversing and pulling away again to see if it would do it again but it seemed perfectly normal.

Any thoughts - will do a search now as I seem to remember something posting on this.

[Lewy]

Keep coming back to this...if its got new rears and the fronts - certainly the drivers side one - are fairly worn could this be causing it. The wheels - especially as the glich occurs probably after about a complete wheel revolution? Or is that just a rubbish idea?

[dandywarhol]

Not at all rubbish idea - especially if the VC is suspect. Tht's the reason it's advisable to replace 4WD tyres as a set.

[Lewy]

Thanks Dandy - I'm a bit like a dog with a bone on this one - i HATE it when the Bongo is ill.

I think a new set of tyres on the front as well as checking autobox oil, and diff oil.

I searched under 'juddering' and found a few useful posts and I guess juddering describes it better!