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First Time Death Wobble

leathermaneod
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dripley

dripley

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am voting tires since yours are miss matched and maybe old? I dont know for sure. If you google this and check out the forums, X amount of people have all found the cure all for DW, You have done 80% of them. The only thing you changed was the caster, that you can reverse that and see what happens. That would be cheaper than the tires. I am at a loss as to what you should do,

 

Myself, I am going to see what my new tires do when they start wearing thin. If they do it again i will rethink my purchase and decide from there.

Edited by dripley
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leathermaneod

leathermaneod

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Thanks @dripley. I am sort of going to take care of the tires and alignment first. I can't justify new tires right now because at the moment, I have 12 tires at my disposal, all of which are about half tread give or take. I need to get some more use out of them lol. What I am going to do is put a matching set of 4 on so that they are at least the same. I'll get a fresh mount and balance, and get the toe and caster checked to make sure its all in speck. I'm betting/hoping the toe is off more than I'd like to think and I can blame it on that. Then just give it some time and see what happens. I'm really not expecting it to happen again very soon. Of course I'll also check to make sure nothing is loose. I may put a damper back on some time in the near future as well. Thats going to be about it for now barring any unforseen issues or it becoming a regular thing. 

 

BTW just want to throw out a big thank you to everyone for all the helpful input on this!!

Edited by leathermaneod
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Haggar

Haggar

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Posted

Leather,  it is the nature of the beast. And like dripley said, you have fixed 80% of the common problems.  So it's hard to say what is still possibly a problem.  I noticed in your original post, you didn't say anything about new upper control arm bushings.   

 

I would try at least a good  pair of tires on the front (all 4 don't) have to match. 

I would also do a better job of checking the toe.  With the same tires on the front, inflated to the same pressure, clamp a 3 foot piece of square tubing to each wheel.  low enough so you can pass a tape under the truck to measure the ends, but high enough so you are not on the "bulge" of the tire.  (you really want to go rim to rim, but that takes a bit of fabricating...) 

 

I got these pictures from IH8MUD dot com 

 

Either will work.  Angle iron is a bit weak, and is not always straight.  On the one with a tire on, be careful not to do the ratchet strap so tight to bow the straight edge.  (this is why i like square tubing better.  I also check it with a straight edge first.)  Use math to get your angles from the measurement.  Total toe is 0.10 degrees +/- 0.10 degrees.  If your straight edge is 4' long, the difference between the rear and front measurement should be approximately 0 to .168"  or zero to 5/32".

 

HTH

 

Hag

setting toe with tire off.jpeg

setting toe with tire on.jpeg

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leathermaneod

leathermaneod

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Thanks again for all the replies guys @Haggar, sorry it's taken so long to reply, been very busy. In answer to your question, I have never replaced the upper control arm bushings, so that is on the to do list. In other news, it happened again today. No weight in the bed really, but four people in the cab. At highway speed, hit a slight bump and bam! It was weird because I could feel it starting before it actually happened. I have a family friend who is a retired lifelong mechanic and he is pretty sure putting the steering damper back on is going to fix it, so wheel see. I was planning to use a Bilstein 5100 because I have their shocks, but it got sent to the wrong place and at this point won't be able to get it till Tuesday at the earliest. So I may just use the OEM I picked up today. Any thoughts? Will the Bilstein be that much better for this? 

 

I also got to thinking and i realized I don't have as many highway mikes on without the damper as I thought I did. So maybe it is all lack of damper. 

 

We also did switch the tires yesterday. They aren't great, a set of off brand Chinese made mud tires with about 7/32's, best I can do right now. They all match and balanced up fine and don't leak. My alignment is scheduled for Tuesday and I'd like to have the damper on by then....anyone have any experience with the Bilstein 5100 damper that can tell me yes I should wait for it rather than use OEM? Btw the OEM one I have is for a newer truck with the 4th gen steering if that makes a difference. It's pretty stiff. 

Ps- I like the OEM because it's plain black already so I don't have to paint it like I will the Bilstein to keep it from rusting. I have the Bilstein 5100 shocks and they are very nice, but I really have to keep them oiled or they will rust. So unless the Bilstein is gona be a heck of a lot better, it's not really worth it anyway, only upside in that case is that it's cheaper, but I hate always having to wait days on parts lol

Edited by leathermaneod
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notlimah

notlimah

Posted
Posted

There's probably little to no difference between the two, but I'm not expert on the matter.

 

As far as dampers go, I think if the rest of the steering components are good up front, then you shouldn't need the damper, it's more a nice to have. Since I installed my 4th gen steering, I haven't had a steering damper. I've done a lot of in town but also towed a 5500lb travel trailer that gave my truck a decent squat in the rear with my leveling kit up front. If anything that'll accentuate the problem but I haven't had a single issue either way.

 

Something tells me your alignment is the perp here.

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leathermaneod

leathermaneod

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Ok. That's what's making me wonder. I realized after thinking about this that I haven't driven on the highway as much as I thought since I removed the damper. Idk we'll see here in a few days I guess if the alignment and damper fix it. I'd really like to have the Bilstein, just because if I don't get it and the problem isn't fixed, I'll wonder if a possibly better damper could have fixed it ya know? I'm going to call XDP tomorrow and see if there is any way they can get it to me on Monday. I'm only 2 hrs away but I don't have time to drive there on Monday lol

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