2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission 2 1/2 inch lift, death wabble

[gjacobs]

I have read both the posts about death wabble or hell hop which ever you call it. I installed a set of 2 1/2 inch spacer lift. After I got them on I went for a test drive. On the freeway at about 65mph I hit a SMALL bump in the road and all hell broke loose. It was shaking so bad that it slung the ashtray out of its hole. What needs to be replaced??? I put a new pro-comp steering stabilizer on about 8 months ago and a complete new front front end about 6 months ago. What else can be done to controll this beast?

Thanks for the info

 

[TomGolden]

A track bar upgrade is another highly recommended cure for death wobble. There are several options available for this. Try a search for track bar and see what comes up. Maybe new shocks too??



Tom

 

[RustyJC]

Bear in mind that when you lifted the truck, if you made no other changes, you changed the front axle caster settings.



Rusty

 

[TowPro]

Still thinking about how we used to "try" to fix this on the Fords, but as I said, I think it was caused by lots of caster. I can't remember, its been a couple years since I "cold bent" a Ford I beam, but I think they used to have 5-6 deg caster?

Originally posted by RustyJC

Bear in mind that when you lifted the truck, if you made no other changes, you changed the front axle caster settings.



Rusty

 

[jponder]

I'd think that shocks might help if it is a hell hop. I am getting my 2 inch lift now and will probably go to some rancho 9000 s on a real stiff setting for the heavy front end.

 

[rrowdy]

"Death wobble"

This may or may not help but I used to have terrible death wobble in my altered drag car. The problem was too much positive caster. If I kept my foot in the throttle it would eventually go away but would scare the crap out of me when I slowed after going though the traps. An old timer told me the more weight on the front the less caster you want and I corrected the problem

by putting less caster on the axle.



These trucks are pretty heavy on the front and it might help by

making the caster 1-2 degrees less than what the factory calls for.

 

[gjacobs]

Thanks for the info! I got a trac bar coming from O'Reilley in the morning. Will start there then move on to the caster. I put a new set of Rancho 9000 on yesterday, WOW what a difference from the old RS5000



Any body who has this 2 1/2 lift what size tire are you running? I had an old set of 305s laying around put them on and the truck still looks stupid! It just swallows them up!

 

[RO'neal]

I would have to say track bar. I don't see where the 2" lift would throw anything off. I've ran two trucks with the leveling kit and the one I have now has the 4. 5" lift and I've never had a problem. Unlike IFS, lifting a truck with a solid front axle doesn't affect the alignment at all, especially 2 inches.

 

[**ICEMAN**]

Originally posted by RO'neal

I don't see where the 2" lift would throw anything off. lifting a truck with a solid front axle doesn't affect the alignment at all, especially 2 inches.

sure it does !!! as we lift the front of our trucks and don't add longer lower control arms it changes our positive caster setting to negative. with only a 2" lift we have enough adjustment to get it back to positive without adding the longer control arms.



gjacobs,, when i installed the spacers on my 94 the truck had a new trak bar,shocks,ball joints and steering stabilizer. i immediately got the wobble. i had an alignment shop set the caster back to positive (like install instructions recommended) and it was fine then. once the tires were worn to replacement time the wobble came back. new tires and it was fine again. now my tires are at replacement time and the wobble is back.



when i installed the spacers on my 01 the truck was new. i got the wobble in it too before having the caster set back to positive. been fine ever since.



once on my 94 i balanced and rotated the tires (front to back) when the wobble started and it was fine for a while.

at first i blamed the the spacers for the cause of the wobble but after reading about other members getting it without any lift i had to rule out the lift being the cause.

i tried changing air pressure in the tires but that didn't work either.

i was told by some tire guru's that there is a certain point in the life of a tire where the belting etc does not absorb shock like they do when they are new.

as far as i can narrow down the cause to the wobble is caster setting and tires.

 

[gjacobs]

I really appreciate the input. I am about to go out and put the trac bar on and will get back to ya'll. Tonight I'm going to do a search on how to adjust the caster.

Thanks again!!

 

[RO'neal]

Originally posted by **ICEMAN**

sure it does !!! as we lift the front of our trucks and don't add longer lower control arms it changes our positive caster setting to negative. with only a 2" lift we have enough adjustment to get it back to positive without adding the longer control arms.

Perhaps I should have worded that a little different. What I meant was that when lifting SFA trucks with coils (as in COMPLETE lift) it doesn't affect the alignment at all. And with only 2 inch longer coils I haven't heard of anyone having the death wabble that didn't need a track bar. With all the instances you listed you have to be the unluckiest person I know I've lifted several trucks and never had to mess with the alignment and they all go down the road straight as an arrow and the tires wear perfect when rotated.

 

[gjacobs]

Well the trac bar seems to have cured all of the old goats ales! I could not believe that mine was as worn as it was. IT wasn't really bad, I thought, until I braught the new one home and had to put the nut back on the thread to tap it over to get back into the hole. After all put back together took it for a ride down some pretty bumpy roads and all was good. I just can not figure out which one is nicer, the loss of the death wabble or the cadillac ride that the RS9000's brought to the truck.

Thanks again for all of the advice and I am now going to figure out how to look at the caster, just to be safe!

 

[Clinton]

I'm inclined to agree with **ICEMAN** on this subject. I had my first wobble a couple of weeks ago. Never had it before my front end upgrades and had driven quite a bit on my D25 coils, DT trac bar, Bilsteins, Heckthorn stabilizer, and good alignment without incident. I've been milking my tires for awhile to get those last few miles out of them. With the bald worn-out tires I got the wobble. I'm certainly not an alignment tech, but changing the ride height of the suspension without changing the length of the links looks to me like it would have to alter the caster.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Originally posted by RO'neal

Perhaps I should have worded that a little different. What I meant was that when lifting SFA trucks with coils (as in COMPLETE lift) it doesn't affect the alignment at all. And with only 2 inch longer coils I haven't heard of anyone having the death wabble that didn't need a track bar. With all the instances you listed you have to be the unluckiest person I know I've lifted several trucks and never had to mess with the alignment and they all go down the road straight as an arrow and the tires wear perfect when rotated.

A complete lift would include longer lower control arms to put caster back to the correct amount. On my '96 gasser death wobble was cured by increasing caster - shocks, track bar, ball joints, control arm bushings didn't solve the problem.



Brian

 

[dan_gilson]

A Lukes Link will fix the track bar problem without having to purchase a new track bar. If you have lifted you may need an adjustable track bar.



Also, the stock steering geometry is crap. You need new bushing because of the closed knuckle axle ends. Both caster and camber will need some adjustments from stock. It will behave much better afterward.