Death Wobble at 112!!!!

[ChrisBlevins]

I first thought it was something to do with the brakes guys but now after I shut it down at the drag strip I get the Death Wobble. So guys how do I fix this before it kills me?????

 

[HOBrian]

My DW was due to hitting bumps on the road at or above 45 mph. So here are some things to look at:



1. How many miles do you have on the truck?



2. Have you checked things like ball joints or tie rods?



3. Is your steering box loose? (play in the wheel)



4. Does it happen every time down the track, is it lane sensative??



Again just shooting ideas out there.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I had it and tried everything. The final fix was real tires DO NOT USE BFG 315's. They are a common contributer because of the jellyroll sidewalls. I mounted Toyo Open Country's "E" rated. Then I installed a Carli dual steering stabilizer which really locked her up. Haven't had a trace of DW at any speed for 20,000 miles, highways and rough roads.

 

[nickleinonen]

DW is a suspension issue. tires can contribute to it, but blaiming the tires alone is not right. i have had my truck at 160kph on really bad roads and no death wobble [i didn't like driving that fast on that bad of a road though], and i have the bfg 315/70/17's [at 42psi up front too]

stock suspension on my truck except for the relocated rear spring spacers

$0. 02

 

[biggy238]

Almost always caster problems. The upper balljoint needs to be behind the lower. (further rear in the vehicle) Most spacer kits put the caster at near verticle.

 

[DPurchase]

Almost always caster problems. The upper balljoint needs to be behind the lower. (further rear in the vehicle) Most spacer kits put the caster at near verticle.



nickleinonen - DW is a suspension issue. tires can contribute to it, but blaiming the tires alone is not right. i have had my truck at 160kph on really bad roads and no death wobble [i didn't like driving that fast on that bad of a road though], and i have the bfg 315/70/17's [at 42psi up front too]



stock suspension on my truck except for the relocated rear spring spacers



$0. 02

Have to agree with both. I am running bfg 315's and could do the 160 kph with out issue. After I installed a 2" leveling kit the DW's showed up. I have installed a double stearing stablizer (DW still there) and will be doing the caster this week, let you know how it goes.

 

[Heavyweight]

Chris, you are running 12 flats and what tires do you have on your truck? This is a major issue, along with a front lift kit (if you have one). Let us know what you got, and btw, that is a great time in the 1320...

 

[ChrisBlevins]

Sorry it's took me a few day to get back with you guys work is crazy got off today though. Anyways guys I'm running stock michlens that came on the truck no kind of lift at all no leveling blocks of any kind it's the stock suspension. Thanks for all the help guys I just don't know what to do. My mods are stage 2 Cp3, 3 flows, silver bullet, Fass 200, tst, beta smarty and a Nadp trans.

 

[BKWelliver]

There is a great article in one of the TDR mags about this. Andy Redmond out of North Dallas Texas did the artical and it goes into great detail about the permenant fix for this. I did it on my second generation truck and it cured it for good. No more death wobble. Mine would happen at highway speed when I hit a pot hole. It sent off a wicked oscilation that would almost put you in the ditch every time. Turned out it was my track bar that was worn out. At any rate Solid Steal industries out of Canada sells the kit. You can reach them at (306) 842-4346 or go to the web site at Solid Steel. biz Hope this helps.

 

[ChrisBlevins]

Do you know what month that was in???

 

[DPurchase]

There is a great article in one of the TDR mags about this. Andy Redmond out of North Dallas Texas did the artical and it goes into great detail about the permenant fix for this. I did it on my second generation truck and it cured it for good. No more death wobble. Mine would happen at highway speed when I hit a pot hole. It sent off a wicked oscilation that would almost put you in the ditch every time. Turned out it was my track bar that was worn out. At any rate Solid Steal industries out of Canada sells the kit. You can reach them at (306) 842-4346 or go to the web site at Solid Steel. biz Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info.



I did a caster adjustment, helped a little but still there.

 

[PHeadings]

Get yourself one of the Kore stabilizer's they run 120psi nitrogen in them. They control the wobble very well. I have had no issues since i installed one.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

agreed on the suspension vs. tires... I ran my BFG 315's up to 120 often w/ no problems

 

[ddivinia]

I run BFG 315s on my 2005 3500 SRW and i have had death wobble. I got a tire that was out of balance since new. I had new tires put on and I walked out and it looked like they put every weight in the store on that wheel. I was like - dude, what is up with that. It is what it is... . they didn't have another one in stock. They did end up swapping that tire out and the DW went away.



the BFG 315s are load range D.



I did have worn balljoints, etc.



BFG 315s on good suspension seem to be OK as long as you don't get a bad tire.



If you have both a bad tire and worn suspension - it can get really bad.



I am thinking of down sizing to 285s so I can get some BFGs in load range E.



D.

 

[ColemanR]

My truck has never ever had DW in 350K origanal balljoints,hub assemblys ect... changed over to 08 steering as I needed tierods ect... DW I could not hardly drive my truck every little bump would send it over the edge. I was like I wish I hadnt done the up grade of steering components. At the end of the day I installed new shocks have not had a bit of problems in 25k just what worked for me.