Death Wobble

[bigfoot]

I was wondering if anyone has had the {death wobble} i have recently had a very bad vibration when you hit a pot hole at 45+ mph, the vibration is bad enough you can not focus on anything in front of you, it goes away when you slow down and clean your shorts! 

[MarbleCrusher]

Its a fairly common problem, if you search around on here youll find plenty of info and threads on the issue. Basically its a sign of worn out front end parts. Track bar is most commonly the main problem of it all but a steering box brace can help as well as checking all other front end parts (ball joints, tie rod ends etc)

 

-Jordan-

[rancherman]

yep.    When  'shorts cleaning'    is  mentioned,   you   definitely  nailed it  with the  right  terminology!

 

have someone   turn the  steering wheel  side to side  about  1/8  turn.....  while  you   are laying  in  front of the  truck,   head  under stabilizer  bar.   You will see the  frame  moving  side to side  before  the  tires   actually  pivoting..    That'd  be  the  track bar  ball socket  worn.     If  your truck is  a  1994,   verify  which   track bar  you need  (  they  had  2  choices  in 1994)   They had  two different   tapers  for the  hiem  joint.

Track bars ,  even though they look like a  heck of a  chunk of  metal, (they are!)    are  not too  expensive.    I've  use the  MOOG  bar  less than 100 bucks.

 

Now  would be a good time  to  check for  other  worn  pieces too,..    steering tie rods  are probably  getting a little   tired too,   then  ball joints.

[Mopar1973Man]

Well I would have to say check everything in the front end as well. Track bar is a good spot. But also check the ball joints, shocks, steering stabilizer, even tire balance. What we are looking for is loose parts or something that might contribute to oscillation.

[Gamble]

Just know that you need to be meticulous in finding the issue.  Sometimes it will be so obvious there is no trouble finding it, but it may also be very small in terms of what you see with your own eyes.  I don't know the stature of your truck as you don't have a filled out sig (HINT HINT)  Anyway, lots of factors come into play and I believe the last thread was titled "Death Wabble" there were some good discussions in there about the matter that may help you out with ideas.

[Russ Roth]

yep.    When  'shorts cleaning'    is  mentioned,   you   definitely  nailed it  with the  right  terminology!

 

 

That's for sure.  Never had it on my rig but did on some older 4x4's although it usually was more of just a shimmy.  The one that did rise to the level of death wobble was a '41 WC Dad traded on a new tractor.  The guy that drove it across PDX to Gresham arrived white faced after crossing a RR track.    I did have DW on a 4 axle Peterbilt though.  I was loaded and pulling around a 25 MPH on ramp and happened to spot the drop axle tires start a slow wobble and then just as quick let loose full bore.  I would never have guessed it could throw that big of cab around as violently as it did.  Nearly cracked my head on the door glass.  I called dispatch and said I know how to go around the scales and I will run with the tag up to get it unloaded and it's coming straight to the shop.    

 

 

 

 

[TFaoro]

Mine started to do the same thing. My track bar joint was worn out. I replaced the end with a "Luke's Link". It is a lifetime fix that is adjustable and works on all of the tie rod ends on our trucks. 

[joecool911]

Luke's links for tie rod ends and track bar are high on my list of projects. My steering is loose. Never had a death wobble though.