Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Hey all,
With much trepidation I purchased a '96 3500 4x4. The truck is a 5 spd and was all stock. I read as much as I could on the front suspension issues and saw a lot of different theories. I am adding mine as it is a bit different. This may be a long post and I am sorry, but it may help someone out there.
I bought my truck from of all people, a 17 year old high school kid. He loved the truck but couldn't afford the diesel anymore. He hinted at some front suspension issues and even added a disclaimer in the receipt that he was not responsible after the date of sale!
Driving the truck compared to my '98 2500 2wd was, in a word, different. My 2wd was a one finger affair driving at 70mph whereas this was a two handed affair "guiding" it between the lane dividers. I wouldn't have called it scary but it was far from what I was used too.
Coming home, I drove over a bridge expansion joint and the front of the truck tried to separate itself from the rest of vehicle. A bit unnerving, but I figured this was the dreaded shake associated with the track bar. A quick check got me back on my way. without issue.
Now prior to doing any fix, in the subsequent days, the only way that I could recreate the shake was on an off-camber section of road with a pothole or something like that effecting only one wheel. So the problem wasn't that big.
My first fix was having the front hubs gone thru with the u joints replaced as one of the joints was completely shot. In addition, while everything was apart, I put a 2" leveling kit in to correct the sag in the front, (I had also read this cured the wobble in one case). BTW the ball joints were assessed and found good.
The truck was now unsafe to drive after this was done. It would go into the death wobble at the slightest provocation. It also had a very numb feeling in steering which was new.
Next was the Luke's link to shackle the joint. I drove the truck after the fix and it still wobbled. Sure enough the luke's link needed more tightening. It took three test drives to take all the slack out of the link. (A little side note here: I installed the link with the tires on the ground which yes was easier, but next time I would lift the front end and wouldn't have to drive it to take the slack out).
The link worked really good. It was pretty close to my 98 in terms of steering effort and response. But I would still get the occasional death wobble on off-camber roads where one wheel was effected by a bump.
Next and finally, I bought new tires (Firestone A/T's 235/85R16) all the way around as the old ones were serviceable but old. Sure enough since then, I have not had a issue with the wobble at all!
So here is my Hypothesis.
1. ) I think that at 160K there are a variety of components that have worn producing slack throughout the system.
2. ) Here is where I diverge from what I have read so far. I am speculating that the spring rate of the coils on these truck is relatively high and over time due to compression, that spring rate may become marginally higher due to compression. I think this may account for the "bounce" felt in the wobble. My "bounce" became significantly worse by adding the 2" levelling kit, (further increasing the spring rate).
3. ) My old tires compounded this effect due to the aging of the rubber, making it stiffer, (When I deflated the front tires from 60 psi to 40 psi I all but eliminated the wobble before I even did the first fix!).
4) I need new shocks! At 160K I am sure the dampening effect of my shocks is gone which seems to me would aggravate a higher spring rate of the coils.
I am by no means a engineer, suspension specialist or even mechanic. I may be way off on this idea... But, as of yet even without the new shocks in place, I have yet to experience the death wobble with the above simple fixes. I can still feel a little something when I hit a bump just right.....
Weigh in with your thoughts and comments. I hope this may help someone who is struggling with this. I know I was getting pretty nervous as I started to rule out the big things I had heard caused the wobble.
Pete
With much trepidation I purchased a '96 3500 4x4. The truck is a 5 spd and was all stock. I read as much as I could on the front suspension issues and saw a lot of different theories. I am adding mine as it is a bit different. This may be a long post and I am sorry, but it may help someone out there.
I bought my truck from of all people, a 17 year old high school kid. He loved the truck but couldn't afford the diesel anymore. He hinted at some front suspension issues and even added a disclaimer in the receipt that he was not responsible after the date of sale!
Driving the truck compared to my '98 2500 2wd was, in a word, different. My 2wd was a one finger affair driving at 70mph whereas this was a two handed affair "guiding" it between the lane dividers. I wouldn't have called it scary but it was far from what I was used too.
Coming home, I drove over a bridge expansion joint and the front of the truck tried to separate itself from the rest of vehicle. A bit unnerving, but I figured this was the dreaded shake associated with the track bar. A quick check got me back on my way. without issue.
Now prior to doing any fix, in the subsequent days, the only way that I could recreate the shake was on an off-camber section of road with a pothole or something like that effecting only one wheel. So the problem wasn't that big.
My first fix was having the front hubs gone thru with the u joints replaced as one of the joints was completely shot. In addition, while everything was apart, I put a 2" leveling kit in to correct the sag in the front, (I had also read this cured the wobble in one case). BTW the ball joints were assessed and found good.
The truck was now unsafe to drive after this was done. It would go into the death wobble at the slightest provocation. It also had a very numb feeling in steering which was new.
Next was the Luke's link to shackle the joint. I drove the truck after the fix and it still wobbled. Sure enough the luke's link needed more tightening. It took three test drives to take all the slack out of the link. (A little side note here: I installed the link with the tires on the ground which yes was easier, but next time I would lift the front end and wouldn't have to drive it to take the slack out).
The link worked really good. It was pretty close to my 98 in terms of steering effort and response. But I would still get the occasional death wobble on off-camber roads where one wheel was effected by a bump.
Next and finally, I bought new tires (Firestone A/T's 235/85R16) all the way around as the old ones were serviceable but old. Sure enough since then, I have not had a issue with the wobble at all!
So here is my Hypothesis.
1. ) I think that at 160K there are a variety of components that have worn producing slack throughout the system.
2. ) Here is where I diverge from what I have read so far. I am speculating that the spring rate of the coils on these truck is relatively high and over time due to compression, that spring rate may become marginally higher due to compression. I think this may account for the "bounce" felt in the wobble. My "bounce" became significantly worse by adding the 2" levelling kit, (further increasing the spring rate).
3. ) My old tires compounded this effect due to the aging of the rubber, making it stiffer, (When I deflated the front tires from 60 psi to 40 psi I all but eliminated the wobble before I even did the first fix!).
4) I need new shocks! At 160K I am sure the dampening effect of my shocks is gone which seems to me would aggravate a higher spring rate of the coils.
I am by no means a engineer, suspension specialist or even mechanic. I may be way off on this idea... But, as of yet even without the new shocks in place, I have yet to experience the death wobble with the above simple fixes. I can still feel a little something when I hit a bump just right.....
Weigh in with your thoughts and comments. I hope this may help someone who is struggling with this. I know I was getting pretty nervous as I started to rule out the big things I had heard caused the wobble.
Pete
