Death wobble advice

[ranger 393]

I had the death wobble for the first time last night, I could not get it to do it again ,but I know its only a matter of time. It is an 04.5 all stock except for what is listed in my sig. I need some advice from those who have had sucess fixing theirs, I don't really want to part swap it until I find what fixes it.The trackbar seems tight"no play", Nothing stands out that may be causing it. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Many trucks have death wobble from different causes. I had an 08 mega that I could make wobble almost at will. That truck seemed to eat steering stabilizers. A permanent fix was finally concocted by installation of a Kore suspension package. No problems after that.

Inspect your shocks and steering stabilizer. How many miles are on your rig?

 

[ranger 393]

I have 110,000 on it. I recently replaced the steering stabilizer. I will look into the shocks, thanks.

 

[lpennock]

What tires on it? Try a rotation and see if it helps.

Check both ends of track bar.

 

[AnOldBiker]

I was starting to believe I was beginning the death wobble. I took my truck for a wheel alignment and they checked it ewverything out. The said I was well with in specs and suggested I through on a steering stabilizer since Dodges are known to have soft steering units. I bought mine from Sinister since they had to on sale at the time. After installation, I have yet to feel any play in my steering. Might look into verifying the front end is tight and consider a stabilizer. Just a suggestion.

 

[ranger 393]

Thanks, I put a new stabilizer on about 2 months ago. I am going to jack it up tomorrow and see if I can find anything loose,and recheck all bushings.

 

[GrantP]

Thanks, I put a new stabilizer on about 2 months ago. I am going to jack it up tomorrow and see if I can find anything loose,and recheck all bushings.

Actually, don't jack it up. Leave it on the ground and with a trusted person behind the wheel and engine running, have them rock the steering wheel back and forth while you are underneath and inspecting everything for any slop. Without the weight on the wheels it's likely a worn component will not show without a load on it. Triple check the track bar.

 

[ranger 393]

Actually, don't jack it up. Leave it on the ground and with a trusted person behind the wheel and engine running, have them rock the steering wheel back and forth while you are underneath and inspecting everything for any slop. Without the weight on the wheels it's likely a worn component will not show without a load on it. Triple check the track bar.

OK, thanks for the advice, I will do that.

 

[sag2]

In order to confirm you fixed it you should really try and duplicate the condition. Usually they will do it in the same place each time if speed and loading remain the same. Once you can duplicate it you will then know if the suspect part repairs it.

 

[NIsaacs]

Check your toe in. When a truck is new and all frontend parts are tight the factory specs work. However, when they get loose, as in no preload (not slop) they need more toe in, that is your new preload so to speak. This is important.

My '01 has 266k on factory oem front end, not one new part, only shocks have ever been changed. These tires have 15k on them, no wear and it still drive just fine.

Nick

 

[ranger 393]

Ok, I had my son turn steering wheel while I got under it to see what may be worn out.. The track bar is as tight as the day it was put in, the bushings look good on it as well. The trailing arms are tight and the bushings look good in them as well. The only thing that had a slight play in was the knuckle on the pitman arm. I have thought about just replaceing all the steering knuckles. Does anyone know if you have to buy the whole assembly or can you just rteplace the knuckles?

 

[Regcabguy]

Ok, I had my son turn steering wheel while I got under it to see what may be worn out.. The track bar is as tight as the day it was put in, the bushings look good on it as well. The trailing arms are tight and the bushings look good in them as well. The only thing that had a slight play in was the knuckle on the pitman arm. I have thought about just replaceing all the steering knuckles. Does anyone know if you have to buy the whole assembly or can you just rteplace the knuckles?

Have your tires rebalanced and make sure they "zero" them out. If they are severely worn,get new ones. Preferably Toyos and e-rated.
I just upgraded my front linkage from the '08.5 Mopar to this:

http://www.cjcoffroad.com/Synergy-Dodge-Ram-2500-3500-Heavy-Duty-Steering-p/8525-01.htm
Every component dwarfs the Mopar stuff and tightened my steering up darn near as good as new.
Don't even mess with the Mopar linkage. Mine was worn after 44K easy miles. The Synergy aligns easily by any competent tech.

 

[ranger 393]

I replaced the trackbar bushings with lukes link bushings,and it did it again last night. I guess I will start with the steering linkage now.:{

 

[BDaugherty]

Rotate the tires and drive it. Poor balance or funny wear will cause dw even if everything is good.

 

[ranger 393]

Rotate the tires and drive it. Poor balance or funny wear will cause dw even if everything is good.

Will do ..Thanks

 

[brods]

Have your tires rebalanced and make sure they "zero" them out. If they are severely worn,get new ones. Preferably Toyos and e-rated.
I just upgraded my front linkage from the '08.5 Mopar to this:

http://www.cjcoffroad.com/Synergy-Dodge-Ram-2500-3500-Heavy-Duty-Steering-p/8525-01.htm
Every component dwarfs the Mopar stuff and tightened my steering up darn near as good as new.
Don't even mess with the Mopar linkage. Mine was worn after 44K easy miles. The Synergy aligns easily by any competent tech.

That is the nicest looking kit yet. Too bad it is not a true crossover kit. Are the rod ends off the shelf parts or custom ones only available from Synergy?

 

[ranger 393]

I took it yestrerday and had the alignment checked, they said the tow was out very little, everything else was spot on. All ball joints and rod ends looked good and tight, said everything looked good. I replaced the shocks and had tires rotated and balanced, so we will see. It has not happened but twice. Tax return comes and I'm going to buy the synergy tie rod and drag link kit.

 

[dan_gilson]

I had this on my 98.5. Did pretty much the same things: Lukes links, DSS steering stabilizer, new cross shock, new shocks all the way around. Nothing seem to work until I got the tires balanced on the truck. The tires balanced off the truck did not mean that the assembly was balanced. Since I added a set of Centramatics and no more death wobble.