Salmon River Rural Fire Dept got a upgraded fire truck. 

 

This is a Oshkosh from a military base. Powered by a Cummins Big Cam 400. Strange enough right around the 40 to 45 MPH speed this beast get a death wobble pretty good. The fire chief and I took it into town to load it with water and see if water weight helps. Kind of but still there. The driver side tie rod end is rather sloppy (possibly) and the tire is cupping on the inside from possibly being toed out. I suggested on just replacing both and if any slack is found and have it aligned up again. 

Beyond the fact is a military fire truck this thing is set up rather weird where the cab is a wide one row of seating and the driver is the second seat in on the driver side. We are currently working to get this put together for our local fire dept. Awesome truck and has plenty of power to haul 1,000 gallons of water and climb our steep canyon grades. 

I had a death wobble on a loaded Peterbilt from the tag axle.  Going around

on ramp to I-84 about 20 MPH and I happened to glance in the mirror and see a bit of wobble on that axle and about that time it let loose.  I would never have believed it could shake a semi tractor so hard I nearly banged my head into the side window.  Stopped an picked tag up, called dispatcher to tell him what happened and let him know I will haul this load because I know how to get around the scale and then I am coming straight to the shop.   Turns out shop had been working on this problem and that's why I was in it instead of a regular.  They  knew I would handle it OK.  Just wish someone had warned me.  I never did find out what fixed it but I drove this same rig at one point again with no trouble.

Just saw an article where Jeep found the death wobble problem. Weak steering dampner. I aint buying it.

50 minutes ago, dripley said:

Weak steering dampner. I aint buying it.

 

Neither do I. Typically there is something wore out in the front causing the tires to cup or wear the shoulders off. 

Jeeps have the same steering as our trucks but I'm sure have got rid of it. Same as the new 08.5 steering 

 

A stabalizer will fix nothing

 

I'd look at axle mounts and see if that trucks axle is shifted.  I'm assuming its leaf sprung.  Is it

 If so theres a potential it walked a fair amount

 

I've seen trucks with no abnormal where patterns that death wobble.  And drivers who no the certain bump and speed that will make it let lose

Edited August 24, 20195 yr by Evan

5 hours ago, Evan said:

Jeeps have the same steering as our trucks but I'm sure have got rid of it. Same as the new 08.5 steering 

 

A stabalizer will fix nothing

 

I'd look at axle mounts and see if that trucks axle is shifted.  I'm assuming its leaf sprung.  Is it

 If so theres a potential it walked a fair amount

 

I've seen trucks with no abnormal where patterns that death wobble.  And drivers who no the certain bump and speed that will make it let lose

The article I read was about new Jeeps and under warranty repairs. How wide spread the problem is I dont know.

Edited August 24, 20195 yr by dripley

Ohh really that sux

Anything with solid steering axle can get death wobble. 

 

Steering design will impact how prone they are thou. 

 

My 05 TJ has a little bit of wobble at 48-53, so it’ll probably get all new steering this winter. It has 127K in the OE Stuff. At least it’s not as expensive as the HD trucks! 

Quad chrome steering stabilizer seem to be the internet fix for death wobble 

Then some of us Dodge wise have NEVER had death wobble. Neither the 96 or 02 Dodge Rams have had a death wobble problem ever. 

 

Shocking to see a military vehicle of this size to have death wobble as bad as it was. 

And all along I thought 'Death Wobble' was when a chicken wandered near a Chic-Fil-A restaurant. 

Edited September 11, 20195 yr by JAG1

7 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Then some of us Dodge wise have NEVER had death wobble. Neither the 96 or 02 Dodge Rams have had a death wobble problem ever. 

 

Shocking to see a military vehicle of this size to have death wobble as bad as it was. 

As loose as the steering is on my truck I have NEVER had DW either. I have all new or good front end parts, but it's still not what I'd call precise steering. Heck my 67 c-20 with 10.5-31's was way tighter than this truck ever was or will be. I learned to get used to it and it's like normal to me now.

5 hours ago, JAG1 said:

And all along I thought 'Death Wobble' was when a chicken wandered near a Chic-Fil-A restaurant. 

You are crazy! But I love the way you talk.

I experienced a few times back 6 or 7 years ago on an old set of tires and a worn track bar. New tires stopped it and have not experienced since.

 I do remember the first time it did it, I was about to jump out the window. It shook so hard it cleaned out my door pockets. Quite the experience.

6 hours ago, JAG1 said:

And all along I thought 'Death Wobble' was when a chicken wandered near a Chic-Fil-A restaurant. 

The smart ones know which side of town to stay on.

Confined today that my track bar has a bad bushing. It’ll get a new track bar this weekend, and hopefully cures my sporadic 48-54 mph shake. 

in the BMW world we call it " the 55 mph shimmy"