Death wobbe worse after all new bushings!!!

[shrekmoose]

The steering upgrade parts seem tight on ok there is a slight amount of slop in the rag joint in the steering shaft. But it seems that if that was the problem I wouldn't be just getting DW when unloading the right tire and hitting a bump. Going straight down the road it seems to be ok bumps or not.*

 

[Tim@KORE]

Searching for the cause of DW is a pain in the butt. If you have any friends with the same lug pattern, ask them to swap wheels for an hour to see if you can duplicate the problem with different tires. Just one more thing you could try before throwing parts at it. Spending the money on what you thought would fix the problem gets frustrating.

 

[Motorhead]

Hope you found your problem, if not how old is the steering stabilizer? The number one culprit for DW phone calls ends up being load range D tires. Make sure you have load range E. Also I have had customers install the 08 steering upgrade with bad parts out of the box, check your tie rods even though they are new. Is there any play in your steering before or after the box?

Unless I missed it being suggested in other posts other than Tim@KORE, steering dampeners are real important on ball joint front ends to keep the death wobble at bay. Unhook one end of the stabilizer and check for any un-dampened space by moving it back and forth. A WEAK dampener, one without a lot of resistance can also let the front end wobble. This is just one thing along with the above good suggestions to check..

 

[JKosten]

A WEAK dampener, one without a lot of resistance can also let the front end wobble.

A steering damper will only hide the real issue and only helps reduce feedback to the driver. If the complete front suspension is working correctly and with specifications, the damper should not even be needed.

If you remove the damper and drive (carefully of course) you will get a much better idea of worn parts.

 

[Motorhead]

A steering damper will only hide the real issue and only helps reduce feedback to the driver. If the complete front suspension is working correctly and with specifications, the damper should not even be needed.

If you remove the damper and drive (carefully of course) you will get a much better idea of worn parts.

If a dampener is not needed, then why are they installed?
VW switched to ball joints in 1966 from king pin style on all earlier models. 1966 is when they started putting steering dampeners on the front ends from new.

 

[JKosten]

It is needed to have a smooth driving experience, as it dampens the feedback to the driver, and it helps with bump steer, but all it does is dampen, not correct for worn parts. Some drivers like more road feedback, but the majority of people do not want to feel every little bit of tire feedback.

Overall point to take away, is that damper will only mask other issues, and if the underlying cause is not corrected a new damper will fail / wear out faster while the worn parts will only get worse.

 

[cerberusiam]

Overall point to take away, is that damper will only mask other issues, and if the underlying cause is not corrected a new damper will fail / wear out faster while the worn parts will only get worse.

Exactly, it will cover up things that should be addressed. Part of the for the damper is the slow ratio on the box and relatively soft NVH generated feel to the steering. It dampens out the movements that the box cannot with feedback which helps limit the shimmy when parts get worn. Not going to stop DW even if it is good but it helps curb the initiation event.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Lay down in front of your truck and have someone turn the wheels lock to lock several times and observe any abnormal movement amongst the tie rods, track bar,tires et cetera. It's how we discovered my front end woes on my 04.5.