Death wobble - revisited

[Dre]

oh no... I am getting used to it for sure. This is not something new to me... I built and drove two other trucks in the past but had no such problems with those trucks.

I don't want to get used to it... I'de like to fix it so it's safe to drive on the highway as well.

 

[easnoddy]

Replace your lower ball joints and outer tie rod ends. It will cost you like $110 to get the parts from rock auto. You also need to have jackstands. I lifted my truck and replaced the lower ball joints and tie rod ends. Much better as far as the shaking goes. I drive a LOT on the highway at around 65+. Made a major difference. When I pulled the old joints off I could move them easily with 2 fingers.

 

[Dre]

my problem is not in shaking... it's in being too soft. Truck rocks from side to side at higher speeds on a flat highway. As soon as I hit an uneven pavement or let the accelerator off for a moment it stops. It looks like the problem is in the shocks... they are too soft. I'm going to RX9000 adjustable shocks... and adding AAL in the back. Front is a bit higher than rear - that would be fine.

Now I'll have 7.5" of lift in the front and god knows how much in the rear (SOA)...


that's OK. I'll take it off-road probably this Saturday... will see if the truck is too soft off the beaten trail...

 

[JTX]

Thats what mine did without the sway bar Dre. It was exactly how you described. With my 9000's all the way tight it really helped.

 

[WAExplorer]

My .02
I also have this problem. Seems to affect spring overs more. I switched from the superlift shocks to skyjacker nitros in the rear and double shocked the front with hydros. Stiffened up nicely. I also put supersteering on it with the steering stabilizer. With an alignment it helped a lot. Not completely gone yet. I don't have any play in my ball joints, but if it helped others, I will probably replace them too.

 

[Dre]

I've still got Nitros front and back... I'm gonna put some clamps on the rear packs... and replace front shocks...

IMO - it should do the trick... if not, sway bar is going on next

 

[Savage Wolf]

My 93 did the same thing, did you put a drop pitman arm on with your lift? the death wobble might be bump steer and the TTB's steering setup reacting back and forth causing the truck to weave (least my wobble felt that way, front end being pulled down side to side), my truck has very stiff springs and dual front shocks and the sway bar and was doing it bad (front felt like it was soft when it would happen) put a 4" drop pitman arm on it and now its smooth again -note I would also check the rear SoA and make sure everything is straight... just a possibility

hope this helps

 

[Dre]

new pitman arm is on. It was installed with the lift...

 

[unclemeat]

Get the steering stabilizer.

 

[Dre]

truck seems OK. I drove it about 400 miles today and noticed that every time I'm going into a slight right hand curve truck rocks more... every time I'm in the left lane on a two lane road (passing) truck rocks more. Problem seems to be with the shocks... front, left to be exact. Could be that I have a deffective shock.

Anyway, I'm replacing them altogether... steering stabilizer would be a plus... sway bar would also help.

After a day of off-roading everything on the truck settled and now rear seats a bit lower... AAL is going on soon. That should stiffen the back area for sure.

 

[Savage Wolf]

:fire: :frustrate: i wish I could remember what exactly i did to fix the wobble on my truck, sounds like you have the exact same problem I did, I cant remember which mod I did to get rid of it, but it was doing it with the dual front shocks and swaybar hooked up and I'm pretty sure that my new pitman arm got rid of it, you said you have how much lift on the front? I have around 5"-5.5" with 6" superlift springs (extra weight of the 5.0 and atlas compressed it alittle) you might want to double check how much of a drop your pitman arm gives, if it doesnt drop enough I think the steering rod angles cause the steering to act sorta "hypersensitive" soon as one side shifts weight, it bump steers back to the other side fighting itself back and forth (this is what I came up with looking at how/what mine was doing) I would make sure the pitman arm is really long enough for the amount of lift you have

 

[Dre]

To be exact I've got 6" of Skyjacker up there plus 1.5" of coil spacers (since my front bumper and winch weights at about 300 lbs. I have replaced pitman arm at the same time... so chances are I don't have enought drop? I might have to look inot that.

Any chances of replacing steering with a different set-up alltogether?

I might just drop all that and go to a straight axle... should of done that to begin with instead of fighting with the lift.

 

[Doug]

You can go with a super runner steering kit, I've heard they eliminate alot of bumpsteer but i dunno if that'll help with death wobble.

 

[Dre]

I have heard some bad things about the superrunner kit... things that it is not worth the money...

 

[Doug]

I have heard some bad things about the superrunner kit... things that it is not worth the money...

Well then bite the bullet and do a SAS!

 

[Dre]

you think that thought didn't cross my mind? I'd do it... but first I need to finish working on the house. I might just go for a different pitman arm... was wondering how I can find out how much drop I need... and which truck take it off... dealer will not know for sure.

 

[Doug]

you think that thought didn't cross my mind? I'd do it... but first I need to finish working on the house. I might just go for a different pitman arm... was wondering how I can find out how much drop I need... and which truck take it off... dealer will not know for sure.

I'm just giving you a hard time. if you dont have the right size pitman arm that can make a difference but it's not really going to cause wobble, you'll get bumpsteer more than anything else but it could be a contributing factor. get a drop pitman arm for whatever size lift you have.

 

[Dre]

I know, I know...

Pitman arm I've got I bought for a 6" lift... should of been plenty.

any ideas?

 

[Savage Wolf]

thing is aligned right I not sure, I'm running out of ideas, check the SoA and make sure its centered... past that I have no other ideas left, check to see if the camber bushings are tight, radius arms all tight, bushings in correctly ect
Least i can say i know the feeling, my front end still has goblins living in it, I somehow lost a wheel stud on a 10 min drive to get a pack of smokes, so my truck is starting to bother me :frustrate :fire:

 

[Dre]

it's definatelly my steering. Pitman arm does not have enough drop. Tie rods are on an angle... that might be the reason for the bump steer.... We figured a while ago that this is not "death wobble" - Truck rocks side to side which makes the ride pretty scary at times. Have pics, will post them later on today.