Death Wobble Revisited....

[sonorakitch]

Hi all,



I was struck with the infamous "Death Wobble" crossing the Gila River in Arizona. The truck hit the concrete seam in the bridge just right, and at 79 mph started shaking like an earthquake. Lost several ounces of water from the cup in the holder, as well as most of the papers and things in the cab. What a mess!



I have performed a search and looked back several months, but cannot find a post about the subject. I know there has been some, but I can't find them. I remember a worn track bar could cause this, along with bent wheels and ball joints. Any input?



Thanks in advance,



~Chris

 

[Bigramguy]

It could be a number of things. Most common are track bar,tires out of round or balance,bad shocks,loose ball joints and or tie rods,control arm bushings,etc etc.



First thing I would do is check the front end over completely and replace anything that is worn,and balance the tires while you have them off.

 

[BILLYGEE]

Ref front end wobble

My last truck (98 3500) I ran a county highway that was a real washboard up north(lots of chuckholes, etc. ) and I experienced that death wobble after going over a rough spot... Turns out I broke off the steering stabilizer... DC replaced it under warranty... Check to see if yors is worn out...

 

[Andy Redmond]

Several things cured my ram, new track bar kit (Luke's link) new tie rods and drag link. New rancho steering stabilizer and I added a steering stabilizer (see tsb's)



The most important thing I found was the caster setting. My ram was running 1. 8 deg. positive and s/b 3-4 deg.



You will swear you are in a different truck.



I've since added an AGR steering box, but I'm not sure if I like it or not as the first one was defective and the second one seems to not have enough steering assist at low rpm, even with a new pump. Maybe their (AGR) box recommendation of running their high flow pump is a requirement rather than optional.



I ordered my AGR thru 4 wheel parts . . The rep. I spoke with at AGR was a jerk. They need a knowledgable tech rep. that is personable and knows what they are talking about. Any difficulty you have must be customer error.



Ok, I'm off my soapbox and on to driving straight with no shimmy!



Andy

 

[**ICEMAN**]

do a "search" on a year or longer.

been there with both my trucks

 

[TKemper]

Hey Andy, I had the same experience as you with the AGR box. 1st box was defective, second didn't have enough assist at low rpm's. I also bought it thru 4 wheel parts, but I have to say the customer assistance at AGR was REDICULOUS!!!!!!! PS I also installed their super pump, so I don't think there is a problem with your stock pump. The box also holds up as well as a stock box, it gets nice and sloppy and needs periodic adjustment. Oh well!!! Sometimes you just can't WIN. Todd

 

[sonorakitch]

Thank you all.



I also had the same problem with my first Dodge '94. At about 215,000 miles, the death wobble hit hard. I replaced ball joints and performed an alignment before I figured it was bent rims. This truck shouldn't have that problem though; not off-road too often and meticulously cared for. I suspect it is the track bar.



Thanks again!



~Chris

 

[SteveH]

Search for "Arbitration Works" also by MChilds. There are several problems that different members have described. Only one of them seems to be "dangerous" in that it is so bad that an accident could happen if it were allowed to continue in this death wobble effect. Look at my post on this thread and you'll see that simply changing out parts, tires, balancing tires, shocks, and all the already mentioned fixes do not fix the true "death wobble. "

I am waiting for a call from the laison between DC and me now for their buy-back offer. If your truck is not in warranty, you could spend more on it than it is valued trying to repair the death wobble. E-mail me if you want more about what all I have been involved with in getting this problem corrected.

Steve H. Oo.

 

[JSmith]

I also had the DEATH WOBBLE!!!

I cured this problem by having my front end rebuilt. And at the end of the track bar I had installed the Lukes Link. The front end is solid.

 

[pcorssmit]

If you search on the 4x4 board, you will find many reports of poor quality control and even worse customer service from AGR (though I personally have never dealt with them).



As I recall, our trucks have saginaw pumps on them. If this is the case, you may want to check this link:



www.westtexasoffroad.com



for info on how to modify the pump for greater low rpm flow and pressure. I just did the mods on my Blazer's pump, but haven't got it back together yet (I'm still waiting on a hydraulic ram in the mail for it).



Pete

 

[Stmpplr]

Maybe I was just lucky, but replacing that cheesy factory stabilizer cured the wobble in mine. I would check that first. seems the easiest and cheepest thing to replace. I put on a dual unit from Quadraqtec. No trouble since, even looking for things to test it on.

 

[GOODE11]

stabilizer

A little off topic, but a few of you have stated above that you've changed you steering stabilizer.



Those of you that have changed the stabilizer, how does it come out of the tie rod on the drivers side? I pulled the nut and cotter key, but it did not want to come out. Any suggestions?



Thanks--





David

 

[sonorakitch]

Hi,



I used the search feature with a wider date... . I am shocked at how many posts there were about this subject. Unfortunately, the truck has 107,000 meticulously cared for miles. So whatever the cost to repair, it will probably be worth it. I expect to get several hundred thousand out of this thing. Of course, if it survives the next "shake-up"!



Thanks to all again,



~Chris



P. S. - My tires are just about toast too. This is the first suspect I think. I will also change out the track bar (from Napa). I already have a new steering stabilizer. If it gets more complicated, you can be assured I will re-visit!

 

[Big John]

I have three Dodge trucks and have experienced the wobble on only one. It is the '94 2500 and the tires seem to have more to do with it than anything. I have 4 sets of tires and wheels that I use on the various trucks depending on what I am doing with the vehicle. The '94 has that wobble only with the wider tires and must have something to start it off, like a pavement flaw at just the right speed.



I have tried several things, but Andy Redmonds comment on caster setting is right on!. Even with the wide tires, once I got the caster right, my problem went away. The wider the tire, the wear on the tire, the caster being a little off and "Bingo", what a ride!



Big John