Death Wobble????????

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Today I was running down the road at 75-80 mph when I hit a pothole. The front end started wobbleing real bad through the steering wheel. Called friend at local ******* in service dept and asked about TSB's on the problem. He did a search and said there was not a fix. He is going to call Star on Monday and check with them too. Anyone else have a problem like this. At first I thought I was losing a tire, then a shock, then I thought it might be a Death Wobble situation. Need help... ... Thanks, Greg

 

[crabjoe]

There is always a fix, just might not be a TSB on it. On Jeeps when someone gets the death wobble, like I had, the usual fix is to replace the steering dampener. It basicly a shock on the steering system that is worn that causes this but could be other worn componants on the steering system.

 

[CATCRACKER]

i think duck on here had the same problem. ask him!

 

[DIESELMAN]

Greg -



Ducks 'problem' was that 'somebody' forgot to tighten the track bar after installing his levelers in the front.



Mine, plain worn out shocks and stabilizer, replaced with RS9000X's and all is well

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

My truck has only 10,000 miles on it. It feels like a shock is dead... wheel hop on a bump. It is on the driver side only which makes me think it is a shock. Where did you get the 9000's and what size do I use with the 2" spacer on a 4x4?

 

[DIESELMAN]

Greg - If you put the spacer in, the shock is likely dead. I spaced mine, then on the first bump I felt the suppension slam home with full extension. It only took a few of those to destroy my shocks, Drivers side had no damping, passenger extended itself, but had little damping and was easy to move.



When I hit a bridge on the freeway it felt like an old Ford, ah, memories



Rancho RS9000X Front with 2" lift, 99221, the rear stock height is 99269 and I forgot the steering shock number. I have mine cranked on 9 all the time.



www.4wheelparts.com has an average price thats about right.

 

[Duck]

Hey, hey, hey. Eeeaassyy now...

If it were a 'mysteriously loose' torsion bar bolt like mine, it would do it all the time, bumps or no.

Ya, shock(s) or stabilizer is my bet. Might as well replace all 3 while you're under there.



DM- I had a 79 Ford with the same problem too. First time it did it I was on one of those high sweeping, single lane overpasses where the 51 meets the 10. Ah, memories.

 

[DIESELMAN]

Duck - I must have a few years on you, I-17 and I-10, was all there was in '81 when I had a '76 Ford F100 give a shake due to a worn King Pin that was so violent it actually bent tie rod. Drove home at 30MPH from New River to Sunnyslope with over 2" of Toe-In!

 

[Steve M]

Hit a pothole at 75-80mph? It's a wonder you didn't blow out a tire, shatter a rim, soil your bloomers and crash! It's a shame a decent suspension system is $3500. I'll be putting a set of Bilsteins on mine when the time comes. We have rail-road crossings around here that'll make you change direction.

 

[Duck]

$3500? Somebody's been drooling over the same TDR article that I've been drooling over

But, that's another thread all together...

 

[Kilby]

I got the death wobble last Thursday and I do have that $3500 suspension. It wasn't a fault of that suspension though. Kent was kind enough to loan me a King shock to temporarily use as a stabilizer for the show last weekend (bling factor). I installed it Thursday thinking I was gonna drive home then to the show the following day. Wrong! I ended up having to pull the shock and going back to the OEM stabilizer.



Greg, check your stabilizer to make sure it's working correctly. Also check its mounting hardware and bushings. Check the trackbar mounts too with tools, not eyeballs. A sloppy bushing can allow the wobbles to begin just enough to get beyond the point of no return. Until you slow down that is. A track bar bolt can appear tight but actually move when the situation get's rough. Good luck!

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Thanks Kilby,

I will check it all out in the AM. I was looking at the R9000's but am drooling over the T-Rex. How would it work on a Dually? O. K. I would think, Just not as good as on a 3/4 ton. I live in a rural area and live on and drive dirt roads daily. The shocks are pretty crummy on the stock truck. Thanks





Greg

 

[Duck]

I'm wondering how well th T-Rex would work with a load on the rear. It's designed for lots of travel, so in my mind the rear end would sag real bad with load.

 

[Kilby]

Greg, I think it'd work pretty good on the dually. I know it'd do wonders for my '97 dually sitting outside.



Duck, the T-Rex system does great with a mild load. I haven't had the need to really load it heavy yet. When I say mild, I'm talking around 2000 lbs. My heavy car trailer with a Jeep loaded up squatted the rear less than an inch when loaded normally. T-Rex has you remove your overload spring and replace it with thier 3 leaf spring supplement. It basically turns your rear leafs into a progressive spring. Well, that's if you buy the springs that is.

 

[CATCRACKER]

i have got the death wobble starts in 6th gear at 1700 rpms and goes fades a little when i reach about 2100rpms is this the same symtpoms you guys have?

 

[Duck]

Nope, CAT. We're talking about the entire front end of your truck shaking out of control to the point where your front tires are actually leaving the ground.

The DEATH Wobble

 

[CATCRACKER]

Greg,



what did you find out? i have the same problem. the exact problem?

 

[MPassaro]

I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER FOR THEM TO CHECK THE ALIGNMENT AGAIN AND THE DRIVERS SIDE TIRE WAS OUT 43 DEG. PLUS. NOW I HAVE NO DEATH WOBBLE BUT I SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON SHOCKS, STEERING STABILIZERS,AND BAL. TIRES AND ALL IT WAS THE DEALER DID A BAD ALIGHNMENT. I HOPE I CAN SAVE SOME OF YOU A LOT MONEY. GET THE ALIGNMENT CHECKED AGAIN.

PS I AM A FIREMAN AND GOT A CALL SAT. AND GOT MY TRUCK UP TO 95 MPH NO DEATH WOBBLE NOW.

 

[bish777]

I had somwhat of a death wobble yesterday. I checked the tire pressure and all the tires were down to 38-40 psi. So I put them up to where they should be and so far so good.

bish