Suspension Noise/ Wobble

[jbolt]

OK 1st Genners I can usually trouble shoot pretty good but this ones eluding me. For a while I was getting a good vibe when making a turn. So far I have replaced both front wheel bearings, upper king pin bushings, tie rod ends, drag link, steering box and upgraded the steering shaft to a borgensen. I've also replaced the rear diff fluid and added modifier just in case it was a rear diff chatter mistaken for a front end vibe. The vibe has been significantly reduced but is still there.



Now on top of this when I hit a bump or curb in such a way that the truck rolls from side to side quickly I'm getting a lot of clanking noise from the front suspension. I'm also feeling the road more through the floor than I used too. If I try and rock the truck on the ground I cannot recreate the clunks. I've hung the front end but cannot find anything loose. Spring bushings feel tight though I'm sure they've seen better days. Now today on the highway the truck would slowly wobble side to side. Kind of like the tires were following a wiggly line. It is not constant or to a great degree but enough to get my attention.



Jay

 

[RHancock]

I had a similar problem with my Blazer a few years ago. What mine turned out to be was the front leaf spring bushings were shot. Looked great but were moving arround alot.



Just a few other thoughts



Bent rim?

bad tires? (swap with some known good ones not new)

hubs stuck in locked position and spinning the front

bad us joint in front axel. (goes with above)

loose u bolts

steering block loose on knuckle

tie rod ends bad or egg shaped hole in stering knuckle

Bent rear axel housing ( seen one or more of these)

have a 4 wheel alignment done on a good computer rack



I am sure there are many things that I missed but give these a shot.

 

[cguthrie]

Jay, I'm not trying to knock on your mechanic skills but when you jacked the front end up did you shake the tires and wheels. I had a problem when i put my new rotors on i did not seat the the little spacer into the hole between the hub nuts and my hub came loose. It seems like it was doing alot of the same thing. truck all over the place while driving down the road. I would also check the cab bushings and like hancock said the spring bushings. If those are bad you can buy a whole set for not that much. I hope its not your hub coming lose though, i did not like the idea of that when it happened to me.



Chris

 

[Dfeland]

Steering stabilizer

Put a steering stabilizer on it and that should take care of it. That is if you don't already have one. Have a Happy Day.

 

[RHancock]

One thing I failed to mention was that I chased the problem in my blazer for quite some time. I had it on and off the alignment rack 5 or 6 times at work, replaced anything that had any play and still had a problem with vibration and wandering at high speed. I finally gave up and called the oldest suspension guy I could find and picked his brain. He rattled of a list of stuff and I rechecked it all. Leaf spring suspensions are real basic but even in them some really weird stuff can happen... Good luck and keep looking, you'll find it... .