DEATH Wobble

[danruesch]

Ive been fighting the death wobble for a year on my 06. New ball joints, steering stabilizer, steering box support, new front shocks, 1 ton steering linkage upgrade. 315 BFGs with leveling kit. Its had the track bar recall work done. Took it to an offroad shop today and they said throw in a moog track bar bushings. Will see, theres not much left except steering box and control arm bushing... . or ditching the BFG's.

 

[JCockerill]

Ive been fighting the death wobble for a year on my 06. New ball joints, steering stabilizer, steering box support, new front shocks, 1 ton steering linkage upgrade. 315 BFGs with leveling kit. Its had the track bar recall work done. Took it to an offroad shop today and they said throw in a moog track bar bushings. Will see, theres not much left except steering box and control arm bushing... . or ditching the BFG's.

out of all the things you mentioned, the most common item i have heard as a cause of DW is your bfg's... carli will tell you that too. . see if you can find a buddy with same truck and swap wheels and tires to see if it helps... i run toyos and they are great tires and they are E rated, no DW yet... some will say D rated on out trucks means D = death wobble. don't feel bad,, many of us including myself chased dw until the whole front end was replaced. . cost me about $5k and i did work myself!!

 

[Yo Hoot]

315 BFG's It has 2" front spacers and Bilstein 5100 shocks.

Those BFG's and the 2" spacers are the recipe if you WANT death wobble.



The main thing that totally cured mine is "E" rated tires and a high dollar dual steering stabilizer setup. I cannot make mine DW no matter what I do.



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[danruesch]

The truck came with the big BFGs on it and the thought of a swap has crossed my mind. My nieghbor owns a tire shop and swears its not the tire... but the discussions on the blogs say otherwise. Other than looking cool. . okay they grip well too, i dont really need big tires when its for pulling an RV. Ive got a Jeep with big tires to fill that square. If the track bar bushings dont help... tires are next. The 13 dollar bushings are by far the cheapest shot in the dark. Anyone want some BFG with alot of tread left

 

[Regcabguy]

Those BFG's and the 2" spacers are the recipe if you WANT death wobble.



The main thing that totally cured mine is "E" rated tires and a high dollar dual steering stabilizer setup. I cannot make mine DW no matter what I do.



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Looks like your ps cooler and lines are highly susceptible to damage with the airdam removed. Mine was the same until I put the Defiant Rockshield in. It requires his steering gear brace. Aluminess has since built me a replacement.



A local shop here replaced a guy's ps cooler and lines,condensor and radiator when he straddled a five gallon bucket on the freeway.



:{

 

[04blackcherry]

I'm NOT calling BS on the opinion that the BFG's are the cause of Death Wobble. I want to know if it is because you think they wear out parts quicker, or they themselves, with a perfectly good front end, make it happen?

I think there are a lot of differing conditions out there. I'm in the north where my tires don't see 150 deg pavement all the time. I do need excellent wet traction. A buddy of mine has a '96 and a '01 and always runs the 315 AT KO BFG's. He's off road every day (Logger). His only issue is the ball joint on the track bars. He doesn't know what death wobble is because he's never experienced it.

I replaced ball joints and front bearings,then drove 1500 miles to Reno and back this weekend. The front end feels a lot better. No death wobble on the trip. Same BFG 315's.

I'm not discounting anyone's experience, I just can't blame the tires yet. I am thinking about going with alloy wheels so I can try the E rated 18" BFG. We'll see if that makes a difference. I do not want to go back to smaller tires. The 315's are not too big IMO. I feel secure in hard cornering, they are quiet, good in the rain, and I can go crawl around in the mountains with no problems. I like my tires.

One thing I do appreciate, is the opinions of all you out there. I do read the cons on the BFG and take note to beware. I just haven't seen the same things affecting me... yet.

Thanks

 

[04blackcherry]

I fell off my high horse this morning. It happened again. Same place too. Researching '08 steering upgrade today. Seriously thinking about an "E" rated tire too.

 

[danruesch]

Took the stock trackbar off last night and wrestled in some MOOG poly bushings. Now its time to drive and see if the wobble happens again. If it does the BFG are going bye bye for a smaller E tire. Ive heard good things about the Bridgestone Revo.

List of items replaced prior;
Upgrade steering package
Steering Stabilizer
Shocks
Ball Joints
Steering Box Stabilizer
Sway bar links.

Running 315 BFG with leveling kit.

 

[04blackcherry]

danruesch, you did all that and still have the wobble? I'm going down that path now. The only other stuff to think about is ditching the leveling spacers for a longer spring and adding caster. What year is your truck? Is it a long bed? I think I heard that these trucks have tight window for the toe adjustment also.

 

[danruesch]

Yes, its been over a year of troubleshooting and replacing. I have an 06, 4 door non mega, standard box.

I been back to the alignment shop 4 times and the guy has thrown his arms up.

I know the overpass that sets my truck off, next time I go for a drive, its test time.

I dont really want to give up the leveling blocks...

 

[AEdelheit]

I'm NOT calling BS on the opinion that the BFG's are the cause of Death Wobble. I want to know if it is because you think they wear out parts quicker, or they themselves, with a perfectly good front end, make it happen?

I have never personally had BFG's but have freinds who have, they replaced them with the yokohama Geolanders, also D rated and never had DW again. Ive been running D rated tires for 80k miles with no issues, Id say its the BFG tires themselves that cause it.

 

[04blackcherry]

I've been looking at the TSB 22-005-06 for the steering issue concerning "shimmy on rough road after hitting pothole. " They talk about what stuff to check on. There is a section on tire pressure. The 315 BFG "D" are only a 50 psi tire. I'm starting to think again... Ouch. They also show procedures for both '03-'08 and '09 and later steering systems. It seems the '09 can have it also.

I also would like to know how different the '09 steering knuckle is from the '03-'08 knuckle. I hear a lot of stories about breaking tie rod ends on the '09 steering after upgrade on the '03-'08 trucks. There may be bad angles, bad installs, excessive lifts or other issues that I want to shake out before I go with an upgraded steering. I'm planning on "E" rated tires on the next go 'round.

 

[LCartier]

Don't believe its the tires nor their ratings, I expereinced DW with "E" rated tires. The tires were Dic Cepek FCII 35x20 running with a 6 in lift. I checked everything under the front end... found worn out bushingsd on the trac bar, replaced and have yet to experience DW again. I am currently running on "D" rated tires and OEM rims (my 20" rims are being re-surfaced) I have put plenty of miles on these "D" rated on and off highway, still no DW.



If you have a solid front end and experience DW then you can blame it on the tires (did run BFGs once... lets just say they don't like gravel roads much).



Really check out your front end parts, before replacing unnecessarily expensive parts.



Tierods: grab the tierod, if you can twist it - replace it



Trac Bar: have buddy (with engine running) turn wheels left and right while you look at the trac bar ends if there is play (bar moves) - replace or redo bushings



Ball joints: jack one corner up (at a time) enough to get a prybar under tire, get your "good" buddy to pry up and release on the tire while look for movement in both the upper and lower balljoint if there is more then a 1/8 - 1/4" movement - replace ball joints



Steering Stablizer: replace worn shock (look for oil leak from shock or external dents/damage) or add a dual stablizer - 3/4 and 1 ton diesel powered trucks should have dual stablizers IMHO due to added front end weight.



Adjust CASTOR: have alginment shop add postive castor to +5



If everything checks out, then make sure tires are at correct pressure, then try rotating tires or swap with a buddy temporaily, if rotating or swapping tires, fixes the DW - then replace tires

 

[Yo Hoot]

My truck had about 15,000 miles on it. As soon as I put the H2 rims on with the BFGs and the 2" spacers, DW kicked in. In other words the front end was practically new. The problem with the BFGs is the sidewalls. They're jellyroll sidewalls. Our trucks don't like flimsy sidewalls.

 

[Bill Weber]

Ran 2 sets of BFG 285x75x16's on my 97. 2 sets of 315's on my 04. Tires wear great. The reason I am using BFG's is they have a 3 ply side wall. Everyone else seems to use a 2 ply. Much stiffer than others I have seen. At my ranch in S. Texas I always worry about thorns or bush hogged stubble puncturing the side wall. So far only a 20 penny nail. Had the hole patched (against the advice of the tire shop) and put another 20k on it.

These tires are too wide for stock rims and would wear better on a 9" rim. To keep the outer edges wearing even I run 40# on the front and 35# on the back when running unloaded. Much smoother ride also. And, no they don't get hot when running @ 70MPH in 100F heat.

Bill

 

[Yo Hoot]

I liked the tires. Just not the tendency they have to create DW.

 

[danruesch]

Ok. The trackbar bushings didnt help... Dumped the 315 BFG's for Nitto Terra Grapplers in the 285 size. The ride is firmer and more in control. The truck doesnt have the squishy feeling when Im driving it. 2200 miles on them so far and I hit every overpass, expansion joint, pot hole, railroad tracks that caused issues before. No death wobble yet. I admit, its going to take some time for the apprehension to wear off everytime I go over those things but it was the tires causing the issue that terrible! Granted the ball joints were shot last year, but it sure makes troubleshooting things difficult.

 

[04blackcherry]

To Update:
I found a left inner tie rod was bad at the joint were it attaches to the drag link going to the right side knuckle. Had an alignment. So far it won't start the wobble in the same places.

It took my buddy who has had 5 Cummins Dodges to help me find it. He showed me how to put your fingers on the ball sockets; one on each side; then have someone rack the steering back and forth. You can actually feel any movement that isn't smooth. When I looked at the joint real close you could then see it jump out of socket just a bit.

I overheard the alignment guy saying to his coworker; "the track bar is probably sloppy". It was not. Nothing else has worked until I replaced that tie rod.

danruesch, let us know how your truck feels when you have run the corners off the front tires. My 315's always round off on the front. I usually rotate them when I change oil. Sometimes after that they need to be rebalanced also. I still have that "feeling" like it wants to start the wobble sometimes, that's why I ask.

 

[danruesch]

Following up and its been sine June and not one wobble since I got rid of BFG tires. So far the Nitto tires have been treating me well. Sure dont miss the death wobble.

 

[AEdelheit]

Awsome, Glad you got it taken care of!