2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission sick of death wobble,considering a Ford Cummins set-up

[SAndreasen]

I'm getting tired of this constant death wobble,,seems like nothing works on the ****ty Dodge design,,,it's a constant battle for every Dodge owner i know,,,so i am considering getting a Ford F-350 and doing a Cummins 12 valve swap,,there is no denying the Ford is a much nicer looking truck,,and the inside and seats are way more comfortable,,the factory manual hubs are a nice bonus,,same excellent Dana axles,,seems like a win win to me after this constant battle with the death wobble,,i like my Dodges,,my 07 Mega cab is nice,,except for the crappy common rail engine,,,but that's getting removed this winter and replaced by a fresh 12 valve P-pumped engine,,,so that will finally make that truck the best it can be,,,no more ****tty electronic injectors,,,
As to the death wobble,,,i even considered a leaf spring conversion for my 96 like the first gen trucks,,no more death wobble with a set up like that...
So if anybody has an opinion or recomendations or even experience with any of these ideas,,i sure could use them,,
Thanks for any help you guys might have ,

i have a buddy with a 2001 f350 12 valve conversion and that thing is a joke hes had nothing but trouble of course he tried to use the adapter plate to mate the cummins to the 6 speed ford transmission and the problem with that is he used a destroked adapter plate and that requires the use of the ford starter well you have to modify the starter to work hes broke more starters than i can count . i guess there is an adapter plate that lets you use the cummins stater or you could stick with a dodge trany and save a lot of problems with adapter plates flywheel spacers and all that junk

 

[dcs1968]

I was starting to experience DW at freeway speeds hitting just the right bump in my 2010 2500 so I jacked up the front end to check things out. The only thing I found wrong was there was some play in the passenger side front hub bearing. I replaced the bearing and DW gone. I have larger than stock wheel/tire combination that amplified the effects of the bearing play.

My last truck was a 2001 1500 CCSB 2x4 5.2 5 speed that I drove for 11 years. I bought the truck in my signature and there is no looking back. Love this truck!

 

[JR]

DW is very real, its never happened on any of my rigs but I was a passenger in a lifted Wrangler on 37's when the front axle decided to throw a temper tantrum....yep...gets your attention real quick.

I have seen Ford TSB's that address the issue in a round a bout way. Not actually admitting it to be a problem, just suggestions to resolve the issue should your truck decide to go rogue

 

[AnOldBiker]

I uderstand the feelings of the Dodges with the death wobble. But converting to a Ford with a cummins ? I've been wondering if the ost was worth it. So while running through the internet, I found a clip of what looks like a stock Ford with the death wobble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EuQ6f8rgT4


So is the money and time spent worth the cost ?

 

[AEdelheit]

The fact the driver maintained one hand on the wheel makes me thing he is too used to the feeling by now!

 

[Regcabguy]

Be very certain your tires are zero'd out by the tire shop. The only time I got it was by a deliberately botched balance job by a kid on his last day.

 

[mwilson]

The fact the driver maintained one hand on the wheel makes me thing he is too used to the feeling by now!

That, combined with the fact that he knew what overpass / expansion joint to use ........

 

[SnoKing]

That, combined with the fact that he knew what overpass / expansion joint to use ........

What you want him to do, drive around for a week with his buddy trying to film it? OH wait? Maybe he did! SNOKING

 

[fest3er]

I uderstand the feelings of the Dodges with the death wobble. But converting to a Ford with a cummins ? I've been wondering if the ost was worth it. So while running through the internet, I found a clip of what looks like a stock Ford with the death wobble.

So is the money and time spent worth the cost ?

Watch the front wheel carefully. If all was tight, you would see only up/down motion over the expansion joints. I believe I see what is best described as 'random orbital motion': the wheel moves front/back as well as up/down. There's only one thing (set of things) that would let the axle move forward and backward.

 

[SnoKing]

Watch the front wheel carefully. If all was tight, you would see only up/down motion over the expansion joints. I believe I see what is best described as 'random orbital motion': the wheel moves front/back as well as up/down. There's only one thing (set of things) that would let the axle move forward and backward.

If you can see that much detail in the film there are probably some Ford engineers that would like to talk to you! Just saying! SNOKING

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[SSage]

I would just rebuild the front end before doing a Ford anything, your just inheriting another set of issues. There is something causing the death wobble, so rebuild the entire front end and axle with fresh parts, new bushings, new ball joints, new tie rods, new control arms etc. That would be cheaper than any engine transplant into a Ford. I found my vibration issues went away after I stopped getting my tires balanced by punks, I run centramatic balancers now. Tires run smoother, last longer.

My experience with Fords have been mixed, we had a buy back lemon in the family that the dealer could not fix. The front suspension kept having major issues, could not align it right and by 30,000 the dealer gave up trying to fix it, should have replaced it long before. A F150 2wd gasser company truck was almost bought back, it had extensive work done but that was years ago. We had some issues with our Ford Lightening too, but we found a dealer that actually fixed the issues. They ain't no better than a Dodge truck IMO.

I've had a 4x4 2003, a 4x4 1998 and a 95 2wd and all have been good trucks with no major front end issues. I've had steering column clunking from wear, but when your over 100K things will need replacing. I'm replacing the ball joints on my 95 soon with 94K on it, the 98 needed ball joints and a track bar at 89K, the 03 is still all original and running tight with 104K, it beat the other two. Had a little wobble on the 03, installed a double shock steering damper and new shocks, its doing okay now. It has a clunk in the steering shaft sometimes, but what HD hard working truck is perfect at 100,000 miles with nothing worn out? I've never owned one. Most folks have worn suspension and don't realize it, how many trucks have badly feathered out inside tread up front. Its not uncommon in the parking lots around here, they just fix things when they fail, like ball joints popping and creaking or even snapped off. I saw a Chevy with the wheel folded in at work, upper ball joint snapped, almost 200K on it. How many of us have replaced all the rubber bushings? I need too, but its a pain.

One thing I've noticed lately on my trucks is the rust build up inside the vented rotors, man the rotors eat themselves from the inside out. We fuss about tire balance and add maybe 4 to 6 ounces of wheel weights to the rims, but I bet the rusty unbalanced rotors can't be helping either.