Need Death Wobble HELP!

[fritzimax]

I have had my truck since October of 2002, I put on a set of BFG 315/70R-17 radial all terrains a week after picking up the truck (on the second set now) at about 40k miles in the fall of 06 the Death Wobble started. I brought the truck to a local 4x4 truck shop and after a few days and about $1200 I had my truck back and no more Death Wobble. They balanced my tires, replaced the steering stabilizer,replaced the steering linkage tie rods and did an alignment.

Four years and only 21K later (yes I don't drive the truck much) @ 61,000 miles the Death Wobble was back. I spent hours reading all the posts on the Death Wobble so taking some of the advise posted I changed the trac bar bushings added a steering box stabilizer bar, replaced the sway bar bushings and ends. I drove the truck for a few days and all was well, until this past weekend. My family and I were on a road trip from Long Island to Pennsylvania and half way there it happened again#@$%! The rest of the trip was not fun I worried with every bump that it would happen again. Two time I thought it was going to start but thankfully it did not.

I don't even like to drive my truck anymore, does anyone have any ideas? Anyone know of a good shop close to zip 11702 that could once and for all fix this issue?

I sympathize with all who have this issue, I thank all who reply.



Have a Happy Holiday Season, Pete

 

[Prairie Dog]

It may be time to install the upgraded suspension kit that Dodge came out with. It's a bit costly but seems to do the job.
Since you did a lot of reading here then you probably know how the BFG's add to the problem ~ at least make sure they're LR "E"s.

Good luck.

 

[DennyDay]

I've been fighting this- - it started when I swapped wheels and tires with my sons '09. I got rid of the tires, put Nitto Duras in 285 X 17size and it hasn't happened since - -BUT-- it feels like it wants to - - just prior to the first swap, I installed a Bilstien steering stabilizer, and plan shortly to go back to an OEM stabilizer - - Ive got a feeling this may be a major part of the problem

 

[AEdelheit]

Worn ball joints can cause death wobble or make the truck feel like it wants to start, the BFG are notorious for death wobble as well, A load range E tire wont matter, myself and many many others have been running D rated with no issues for many many miles, 50k for me personally and i know about 20 other trucks with them, similar milage, no issues, BUT they may bring out signs of another worn component sooner then a stiffer tire, also check your caster.

 

[SierraRam]

Do you have leveling spacers on the coil springs?

 

[fritzimax]

No, no leveling spacers on the coil springs. Has anyone done the 08. 5 (09) steering assembly upgrade that Dodge put out for the 03-08 Rams? Does it help the DW issue?

 

[SierraRam]

No, no leveling spacers on the coil springs. Has anyone done the 08. 5 (09) steering assembly upgrade that Dodge put out for the 03-08 Rams? Does it help the DW issue?

I have done the upgrade, the T design is much tighter than the Y design. As far as will it cure your death wobble, it depends if these components are worn and adding to the problem.



When I had the DW on my 03 all I had to do was adjust the caster more positive, new nitrogen shocks and it cured the problem. This was after I had put coil spacers on though.



If you have the stock hydraulic shocks I would change them to a good quality nitrogen shock. My DW was the tires moving up and down almost like bowmen dribbling a basketball, my stock shocks and larger heavy tires would hit a pot hole wile traveling above 55mph and they would start to bounce out of control.

 

[JFought]

i did the upgrade to 08 parts

06 mega

Its good upgrade< never have had the DW. maybee due to the huge front bumper an hydraulic wench!!

 

[bigflatdaddy]

i did the upgrade, cost about $1200, well worth it. no problems since. tight as it can be.

 

[EDankievitch]

I did the upgrade about 60,000 miles ago was the best upgrade that I've ever done on the front end aside from Carli upper ball joints. I had given Moog's a try and they were binding. When the Carli uppers came out I replaced the uppers and most of the binding went away. Yesterday I replaced the lowers (65,000 miles later) with Dynatraxx units. The Carli uppers were as tight as the day I installed them. I would have done the Carli lowers but the price and that small batch of bad ones turned me off on them. The people at Dynatraxx were awesome and their product so far seems to be Very good No more binding. So, back to your Death Wobbe here's what l'd do as it worked for me. Carli Uppers Dynatraxx lowers (I don't know how the Dynatraxx uppers hold up but 60,000 on the Carli and NO wear says it all) Do the 08 upgrade and a steering box stablizer. Set your Caster at 4. 5 degrees pos and Toe in inbetween 1/16-1/8. If you haven't done the track bar bushings do them as well. Then enjoy a front end that will track as good as it can get. Oh I run 50 psi on mmy 315-70-17 front tires. Hope this helps

 

[SWithrow]

I agree with AEdelheit, the balljoints going bad could cause the DW. I had the dealer replace worn joints at 40k and they went bad again at 80k. The second time I had to also replace the steering knuckles due to the bad joints wearing out the knuckles. I installed moog upper and lower joint at 80k and I have 170k with no problems. Good luck

 

[kd5eiv]

Rig here is:

03 Quad cab.

after much money (Bilstiens, ball joints, suspersion stuff, death wobble went away when installed some Reese 5th wheel rails to the bed of my truck.

Seems like having the frame rails reinforced by the 5th wheel rails which tie everything together, makes everything more riged. Big problem (very big) solved accidently.

Rog

 

[AEdelheit]

That doesnt make any sense Rog, DW is caused by issues in your front end, Alignment, worn components and what not. I would thoroughly inspect your frame if you suspect the hitch actully made a differnce.

 

[JKreiss]

DW can be caused by anything, and everything. My 04. 5 never had it until 125k miles when i switched to pro-comp tires. A lot of people had good luck with them, i have not. went to Nitto's and have not had a problem since. I have nothing in my steering or suspension that is Dodge and I had it happen, it really just depends. It seems as if our trucks find something they don't like and all h3ll breaks loose. I always love the posts that say "death wobble cured" or something like that. They should read, "cured for ME". My point being is what works for some won't necessarily work for anyone else. In your case Pete, i say tires, tires, tires. how long does your truck sit between drives? There's no worse feeling than having the wobble hit ya, I wish i could help you.

 

[1965LONEWOLF]

been threw this for a year now,new parts , chasing this and that , i took the bfg's off and installed nitto tires and haven't had a problem since, don't care how big the pothole is or what the situation is , it's gone - IT WAS THE BFG TIRES !!! i thought everyone on here was stupid for telling me it was the bfg;s , WELL THEY WERE RIGHT,IT WAS THE BFG'S THE WHOLE TIME...

 

[bheiting]

Do a search for DW in the forums. All the 3rd gen. 4X4 2500 and maybe 3500 Rams have a problem with the front end geometry. The 2008 tie rod replacement kit seems to help. There is a TSB for this. Dodge won't fix it under warranty unless you have physical damage to front end components, and they can experience DW while doing a road test - which almost never happens. They take the cheap way out by reducing toe in, which seems to help, but the truck then tends to wonder on the road. DW is caused by a change in toe in angle as the wheel cycles up and down, like hitting a pot hole. Ram Division should fix all of them under warranty before they kill someone - if that hasn't happened already. As long as they can bs the customer, I guess they will.

 

[kd5eiv]

ALdelheit,

You are right of course.

I should not have said cured, I only changed the resonant frequency of the mass of my truck so that it does not happen.

We do this with suspension bridges and aircraft all the time.

Rog

 

[seafish]

ALdelheit,

You are right of course.

I should not have said cured, I only changed the resonant frequency of the mass of my truck so that it does not happen.

We do this with suspension bridges and aircraft all the time.

Rog

kd5eiv, that is a VERY good point that you raise. I believe that what you are saying is that while the initial vibration that initiates DW may be caused by several or many different susceptabilities to vibration in the front end of our trucks, by changing the resonant frequency of the entire truck frame, the initial vibration no longer affects the entire truck, which means no more DW, even though the initial vibration still exists. All that being said, not all of us want to or are able to install a 5th wheel hitch in our trucks... . :-laf

 

[kd5eiv]

seafish,

Well said.

I did not pretend my situation to be a fix, only an observation. You elaborated on it well.

Rog

 

[ddivinia]

I have 315 BFGs now.



It seems a smaller tire in load range E would be a good idea next time around.



The dealer changed the speedo last time.



What is the best way to handle that?



Thanks,

D.