Death wobble gets Federal attention???

[RCMerrill]

I also had the Death Wobles its uncontrobile after $3,000.00 dollars of After market front end parts she runs good now I am out 3 grand that stinks.

 

[AEdelheit]

Im sorry but there is no need to spend $3000 dollars to fix DW, Thats just throwing parts at something hoping it will fix the issue instead of diagnosing it. And a steering box brace will only help DW if there is play in the box, No magical frame strengthening there. Its amazing how many parts and theories people have came up with about DW.

 

[Wayne M.]

Mine sometimes did it a tiny bit but always shook it off kind of like a dog drying off. Recently, I must have had a perfect storm, and was forced to slow down a bit. My kids got spooked- that never happened before. I guess things are loosening up a bit. I AM suspecting that I may need fresh shocks and a new damper shock since I've noticed a bit of pitching and rolling. I was under it recently, and things seem pretty tight. A tiny bit in a lower BJ.
I really think, with the steering setup, if there's any axle bounce as with bad shocks, it can play havoc with the steering geometry.

 

[RDeFayette]

While the "death wobble" is serious enough recently a fix has been discovered to this terrible plight. My friend has a 1st gen dodge and he told me he had the death wobble until he found this Dodge Steering Stabilizer. He was told that 80% of the time the death wobble is caused by the cummins torque monster twisting the frame which causes the rails to flex and wear down. This bar brings back the stability and has lasted him almost a year already. You may want to shop around to see what deals you can find but that's who he used. Anyway Good luck guys

First you say steering stabilizer then you say"rod"? worn down frame rails? What in the world is that? Is that next to the blinker fluid aisle? A steering stabilizer and/or a track bar/rod will NOT "straighten frame rails (that aren't bent/worn down anyway...whatever that is).

Im sorry but there is no need to spend $3000 dollars to fix DW, Thats just throwing parts at something hoping it will fix the issue instead of diagnosing it. And a steering box brace will only help DW if there is play in the box, No magical frame strengthening there. Its amazing how many parts and theories people have came up with about DW.

Agreed. Loose front end parts. Improper alignment specs. (which just aggrevates the problem). and ESPECIALLY oversize, under spec. (ie. 8 ply) tires and extreme offset wheels will result in DW.
I went through this DW garbage with a lifted, big tire '79 Bronco WAAAAAY back in the day. (BTW, the front end design is EXACTLY like a '06 up Dodge). Never knew when it would happen BUT when I would take off the oversize (36's on 10" wheels) and go down to a "reasonable" size tire/wheel combination DW NEVER happened no matter how hard you tried to replicate the conditions to induce DW.

 

[AABEN]

Back in the 50 all the trucks had the same thing. BUT why has Dodge NOT done any thing to fix this. My 03 was only off of state hi way for less than 1000 miles had to rebuild the front end at 54.000 miles out of my pocket! only had stock tires it hole life 54.000 miles. YES Dodge should be made to up grade it steering to hold the Cumming Eng. I hope that the government makes Dodge fix this.

 

[AEdelheit]

Well the 2014's have a far better front end, much better steering and track bars. It would be nice if they would correct the older trucks but I just dont see that happening.

 

[RustyJC]

Or as us 2WD guys with IFS trucks say, "Death wobble, what's that?"

Solid axle suspensions have been prone to caster wobble since the first cars were built. Frankly, the switchover of the 2WD duallies to solid axle front suspension would be a major deterrent for me to buy a new Ram for this very reason.

Rusty

 

[RDeFayette]

Or as us 2WD guys with IFS trucks say, "Death wobble, what's that?"

Solid axle suspensions have been prone to caster wobble since the first cars were built. Frankly, the switchover of the 2WD duallies to solid axle front suspension would be a major deterrent for me to buy a new Ram for this very reason.

Rusty

That's just the price we pay for having the MOST powerful/dependable/longest lasting IRON (ie: HEAVY) diesel on the market. Sure Cummins could make a lighter (read: POS) diesel thereby making the life of the front end a little easier BUT then we'll just have a crappy diesel like the GM/Ford guys. Sure AAM (or someone) could make a heavier duty (expensive) 4x4 front axle. How much more would that cost/weigh? Weight kills something has to give, with us it's the front end. Easier/cheaper to replace front end parts than crappy, lightweight diesel engines. IMO, anyway.

 

[cerberusiam]

why has Dodge NOT done any thing to fix this.

There is nothing wrong , therefore nothing to fix.

From the vehicle makers persepective, when the operator fails to maintain the vehicle, uses substandard parts, and\or changes ANYTHING from stock spec it is not their problem to fix. The bulk of DW issues ARE in fact worn or substandard parts. Not a manufacturer problem.

Usage also plays a large factor in perceived problems. Parts wear out, they wear out faster when used harder. The aftermarket has provided all that is needed to address early parts failure under extreme conditions. The owner using the same old cheap ones instead of better ones is, again, not a manufacturer problem. No matter how much some want to make it so, it isn't going to happen.

Not a safety issue for the manufacturer either, it is owner repsonsibility to maintain the vehicle. That has been proven time after time and studiously ignored. Nothing new, just a different subject.

 

[RDeFayette]

There is nothing wrong , therefore nothing to fix.

From the vehicle makers persepective, when the operator fails to maintain the vehicle, uses substandard parts, and\or changes ANYTHING from stock spec it is not their problem to fix. The bulk of DW issues ARE in fact worn or substandard parts. Not a manufacturer problem.

Usage also plays a large factor in perceived problems. Parts wear out, they wear out faster when used harder. The aftermarket has provided all that is needed to address early parts failure under extreme conditions. The owner using the same old cheap ones instead of better ones is, again, not a manufacturer problem. No matter how much some want to make it so, it isn't going to happen.

Not a safety issue for the manufacturer either, it is owner repsonsibility to maintain the vehicle. That has been proven time after time and studiously ignored. Nothing new, just a different subject.

absolutely!!!!
especially the last prgraph.
But you know how that works today. Not my responsibility, someone else's. Who can I sue to pay for it and make a quick buck too?
sorry state of affairs.
Basically it boils down to, the owner changed it from the original design, didn't maintain it and wants pin the "blame" on someone else.
Suck it up and own it!

 

[SRay]

I too have experienced DW in my friend's 1996 2500 4x4.

I've noticed a few things:

I have big 315/75/16 toyos
I run much lower air pressure, 35 psi front and 25 psi rears to get the tires to wear properly and last 110,000 kms.
There's 540,000 kms on the odo. 300,000 kms on the same steering parts since I've owned the truck.
The truck is greased a lot, every 5,000 kms, or less.
The grease I used is very good quality.

The trucks I've seen fail mostly are the ones running 80 psi in their front tires which hammers on the steering parts from holes the tires encounter or lack of maintenance.

I've driven over a 5" tall curb at 40 kph and the soft pressure mts absorbed the impact like nothing. A duramax buddy of mine did that several years prior and completely lost both of his front knuckles, tires, bent frame etc. $30,000 damage and a new dmax was purchased after.

One guy lives on gravel roads, his steering never lasts long because of potholes and 80 psi front tires. He does maintain the truck, not sure what grease he uses. But it didn't help his truck. Only 180,000 kms.
Another guy never maintains his truck so replaces his steering parts 3 times in 2 years and gets DW (the 1996 above)

I myself have concluded the heavy cummins, hard tires, poor roads, and poor maintenance are extremely hard on the steering components.

In my opinion hard tires causes tires to whip against the steering parts. Loose parts makes it worse.

Which is why I preferred soft pressure in the tires. Takes the impacts of the road out of the equation.

Also, I'm not recommending anyone to use the above tire pressures that I use in my mts. I used what I felt allowed my tires to wear nicely and give me a nice smooth ride according to the weight of my truck.

Low air pressures can cause blowouts with certain tires but I monitored my tires throughout its life.

I myself prefer the large tires over the smaller factory size any day. It allows lower pressure as there is more volume of air in the tire to support the weight with less pressure. I air up when more weight is added, air down when weight is removed.