Bit by Death Wabble.. can't SHAKE it...

[JCockerill]

after 51,500 miles with this truck i have finally been bit by the dredded death wabble. it seems to wabble when you are on the highway and one wheel clips a bump on a slight turn and it sends it wacky.



It started a week after I installed a whole mess of expensive parts to try to make truck better, now its worse. carli started kit with track bar. dss, bilstein 5100 shocks and steering damper. well it's not the alignment, just had that done today. checked the track bar, that is all tight. changed back to stock damper. still can't find it.



Called carli, they said re-tighten the track bar with the biggest breaker bar you can find. ALso mentione about the H46 steering recall. and 08 steering upgrade? has anyone done this with any luck?



I am going to replace stock worn out tires next and see what happens...



any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! this sucks... every bump you hit in the road you cringe... #@$%!

 

[Regcabguy]

I'd lean toward a Toyo E-rated tire. They balance with minimal lead and wear pretty well. BFG KO's are the most frequently mentioned tire associated with dw. The '08+ sttering upgrade and a rebalance of tire cured mine. Another precision built tire is the Bridgestone Revo 2/Firestone AT LTR.

 

[JCockerill]

thanks for the info, what are the chances of the dealer covering the 08 upgrade? if not where do you order it from? toyo tires are backordered in 285/75 17. hopefully another month

 

[JApol]

Here is my thread on the 08 steering upgrade.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...on-discussions/220571-08-steering-uprade.html

 

[JCockerill]

thanks for the help, where did you order all parts from? thanks

 

[JKreiss]

Mine went when the tires wore wore out... and the shocks... and when the factory steering went. Pretty much death wobble can come from many sources. If you're tires are worn out, start there. Worst case you got the tires squared away. After that just keep going down the line.

 

[Mobius1]

I got my 08 steering upgrade from source automotive 2003-2009 Dodge Upgraded Steering Linkage



They have zerks on their tie rod ends

 

[JCockerill]

source says you don't need the pitman arm? but the sell it as an option? what is the story here

 

[JCockerill]

Mine went when the tires wore wore out... and the shocks... and when the factory steering went. Pretty much death wobble can come from many sources. If you're tires are worn out, start there. Worst case you got the tires squared away. After that just keep going down the line.

sounds like a plan! thanks

 

[Mobius1]

Ya you do need a new pitman arm because of the different angle of the new steering. I got mine from Bob Wagner cheaper than you can get it at the dealer.

 

[JoeLeonard]

I had the 2008 steering upgrade done and really like the way the truck drives. I used a Bilstein damper from Geno's. If you do the work yourself, make sure you have a good pitman arm remover, the stock pitman arm was on TIGHT! The only other issue we ran into was a coarse thread nut is required to hold the new damper on and the original nut is a fine thread.

 

[rjones]

I did the upgrade w/o the pitman arm I have a good 5000 plus on the truck with no problems what so ever

 

[Regcabguy]

I used the stock pitman arm for a bit until I saw the new one in action. When you see the new one up close,you'll see why it's a part of the package. A special puller makes removing it much easier. My buddy's got it,but I don't have the part # on hand.

 

[Mesenbrink]

I see that you have had it aligned. Did you have the aligment shop put in max. positive caster. There is a range that is acceptable from Dodge, so you may be within spec. but on the lower end. It worked for me, good luck.

 

[JCockerill]

I see that you have had it aligned. Did you have the aligment shop put in max. positive caster. There is a range that is acceptable from Dodge, so you may be within spec. but on the lower end. It worked for me, good luck.

i looked at caster adjustent today. i think they accually look caster out of it.



if you look at driver side lower control arm caster cam. stock the cam was pointed at the 12 O'clock position. to add positive caster you want to turn cam to 1, 2 or 3 o'clock positon, correct? my alignent guy turned the cam from 12 to about 11-10 o'clock. so that would take caster out right? this is looking at outside cam on driver side. .



on another note, i found the carli track bar has about an 1/8 in of play in the frame side bushing when you rock the wheel with engine running. i have to take this apart for further inspection. it was as tight as it could possibly be.



i also have slight wear in the drag link to tie rod joint. so the 08 steering upgrade will be on order.

 

[JCockerill]

Death Wabble hopefully cured after some work. Here is List of corrections:



Maxed out caster and checked tightness on all fasteners, helped with onset, still wabbled.



Replaced stock tires with toyo 35X12. 5 m/t's, wabbles accually lost the violence, but would still want to wabble.



Found what I think was exsesive movement in frame side carli track bar bushing, replaced with Thuren basher bushing which seemed to be slightly harder of a bushing and has less material with a slightly thicker inner sleve, and i upgraded to 08 larger 18mm track bar bolts.



Also found play in right side inner y steering joint. Replaced with 08 steering t steering upgrade.



Death wabble is not happening over same bumps i would get it to wabble on before. I think it was a combination of all of these things. we will see. hopefully i won't see anymore wabble.



good luck to all of you bit by the death wabble, it's a nightmare to experience and can be expensive to fix!

 

[CKESSEL]

On your alignments, make sure that the shop does a 4 wheel alignment. Yes, I know that you cannot move the rear axle. What you are after is to keep the thrust angle or wheelbase the same side to side. When you specify a 4 wheel alignment, they should be putting the laser targets on all 4 wheels. If they are only hanging targets on the front, as in a 2 wheel alignment, the settings will be wrong and compund the wobble problem. We had a customer come by work, NTG Racing, that had recently had the steering recall done at a local dealer. They set the alignment for him also and called it done. He still had the wobble and came by our shop which he has seen a plethora of Dodges at. The owner, Joe Salas, and I did some rough tape measuring checks. The wheelbase on the rh side was 3/8 of an inch different than the left and the wheel stuck out 1/2 inch on the lh side and 1/2 in on the rh side. We sent him by the alignment shop we use and the results were worse on all settings. When we get in the first batch of adjustable arms in, he will get a set and then get a proper alignment done. One thing to keep in mind is you will be spending more than 49. 95 on an alignment to get this problem squared away as it takes time to get both sides equaled out but the results are worth it. Also like Dave said, you have to run a good tire like the Toyo with an E rating. Wimpy tires don't help. If you want more info on this, contact Joe at NTG Racing 619-449-2758.

 

[CKESSEL]

On your alignments, make sure that the shop does a 4 wheel alignment. Yes, I know that you cannot move the rear axle. What you are after is to keep the thrust angle or wheelbase the same side to side. When you specify a 4 wheel alignment, they should be putting the laser targets on all 4 wheels. If they are only hanging targets on the front, as in a 2 wheel alignment, the settings will be wrong and compund the wobble problem. We had a customer come by work, NTG Racing, that had recently had the steering recall done at a local dealer. They set the alignment for him also and called it done. He still had the wobble and came by our shop which he has seen a plethora of Dodges at. The owner, Joe Salas, and I did some rough tape measuring checks. The wheelbase on the rh side was 3/8 of an inch different than the left and the wheel stuck out 1/2 inch on the lh side and 1/2 in on the rh side. We sent him by the alignment shop we use and the results were worse on all settings. When we get in the first batch of adjustable arms in, he will get a set and then get a proper alignment done. One thing to keep in mind is you will be spending more than 49. 95 on an alignment to get this problem squared away as it takes time to get both sides equaled out but the results are worth it. Also like Dave said, you have to run a good tire like the Toyo with an E rating. Wimpy tires don't help. If you want more info on this, contact Joe at NTG Racing 619-449-2758.

 

[Cissco]

Local dealer did 08 upgrade and ball joints on my 06 under extended warranty. Wen I took it in I told them it had some play in the steering.