Death wobble (shocks or tires)??

[KKeen]

Well, I've been hearing and reading about this death wobble, but until now it's not been ME. Now I know what the fuss is about. WOW not a good feeling. My 98. 5 drifted and wandered a bit, but never did this. The dealer here in St Louis was pretty receptive with my concerns. They installed a steering upgrade, and the TSB this site alerted me about. My truck only has 27,000 miles stock Michelins, and a 2. 5 leveling kit. The dealer replaced the pitman arm, steering drag link, tie rod, and steering dampener. (no trackbar??) I was wanting to know if anyone has had any luck replacing the shocks or changing tires? Dealer said my caster was 5. 0 positive (did not adjust) I thought the top of the spec was 6. 0. If that is the case, before my leveling kit I must of really been at the top of my spec. The dealer repair has reduced the severity of the problem, but it is still there, and will only get worse over time I'm sure. So my question is does anyone think heavy shocks or different tires will help?

 

[Slow Six]

It took Carli ball joints to fix mine but I had a lot more miles and my ball joints were shot.

 

[pullya]

If you have been reading about DW you have probably found that there are many many causes and therefore many many cures. There is no one thing that causes it and therefore no one thing that cures it in all cases. It seems every incidence is a little different. In your case I would think you should check your ball joints, then shocks and then tires. Some tires have a weaker sidewall that can cause you problems. I would suggest "E" Rated tires-and not BFG's. I would also recommend Bilstein shocks. For ball joints I would recommend Carli uppers(if you can afford them) and Moog lowers. Everyone has a story about DW and everyone has a solution so be prepared to pick and choose the one that fits your situation. As I said everyones problem is a little different and their solutions will all be a little different. Good luck

Jay

 

[CurtLee]

Tires shouldn't be a problem because they're E rated. I would do trackbar seeing how the dealer already did balljoints. I would consider shocks too. Everybody's is a little different, and they all have different solutions.



My $0. 02

 

[Seisenbath]

I have a '97 4x4, at about 150,000 DW started, replaced the shocks with Bilstein's from Geno's, fixed the problem.

 

[DPKetchum]

Friend of mine his 05 dually got DW. Checked front end. Replaced steering stabilizer with a heavy duty unit and still had DW. Stock tires were 80/85% worn. Replaced tires. FIXED and that was 100k ago. Tires were RWL Generals.

 

[JWadford]

i ended up going with a full rock krawler front four link long arm and adjustable track bar to get rid of my death wobble btw tires dont cause death wobble they just make it easier for everything else to come into play

 

[FFeiller]

front stabilizing shock stopped the DW on my 05 4x. happened at about 53,000 miles. sold truck after another 3,000 miles so don't know if problem was actually fixed or masked by the front shock. my front tires on the '05 4x wore very uneven and fast. front end was aligned correctly.

now my '08 wears the front tires unevenly within every 3000 miles i have to rotate them. wonder if DWs still exist o 08s

 

[DPKetchum]

I ran across DW years and years ago on Ford station wagons and Datsun B210s. It would break your thumb it was so bad. It was ALWAYS tires causing it on them. sometimes with radials and sometimes with BELTED tires that had 7 ribs and were worn funny. I have never owned a vehicle that did it and I know OTHER factors cause it. BUT a OLD rule of hunting vibrations was start with the FIRST thing that hits the ground and work your way UP. Not the other way around.

 

[KKeen]

Thanks for your replies guys. Sorry I have been tied up, and not replied myself. I was expecting many causes and many cures from other sites I've visited. I think I will try the dealer 1 more time. Maybe I can get some new shocks, a track bar, and maybe tires out of it I would like to upsize my tires anyway so maybe I'll get lucky and that will be the fix for mine. Thanks again guys.

 

[MickeyMiller]

I think on GEN3's it's ball joints. Tires aggrevate the issue, but wear in the ball joints triggers the 'death wabble'. No wear/no wabble! Unfortunatly, the non-parallel upper/lower ball joint alignment on the AAM front axel accellerates the wear on the upper ball joints... so I went with Carli's. We will see if that is a long term fix or just an expensive adventure!

 

[Tejasdge]

I have 120K on my stock front end and broke my stabilizer last week. Took it off and hit a washboard patch on a gravel road and there it was. BFG's were about 5psi low. Aired back up and replaced the stabilizer and haven't felt it coming on. Did not expect it to come on that bad. Even though recent alignment checked out fine, I may go ahead and rebuild the front end.