hi guys,

it's been a while since i last posted. been busy with work. truck is in the body shop for cab repairs since my accident. she's coming along nicely.

now, i've told the body shop guy to check on the overall alignment, especially on the rear axle, even though it's not hit. it seems to be dog-tracking slightly.

my more obvious concern is the shaking of steering wheel from left to right, and it becomes evident when i start to hit 50 mph and above. i have a dually with 3 different sets of rims.

also, i replaced the front tire when it got busted during the wreck. the new tire was replaced brand new, balanced and placed in the front. (i think i should have balanced and rotated all 6 tires anyway)

i think it might be a balancing issue since it's quirky like that. please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.

oh and i've checked my steering pump and it looks fine from underneath. no leaks whatsoever. hence i dont think it's the steering wheel but i could be wrong. i'm leaning towards the balancing of the tires. the front wheel alignment is done before i dropped the truck off at the body shop. the body shop fella did mention that he will also check the rear wheel alignment and overall alignment, i think.

anyway, thanks in advance.

 

Hey Dom, good to see ya posting. I was wondering how/if your truck was coming along.

I agree with your thinking on the balancing issue. My truck was doing that just a little, not severe just annoying, and a tire rotation made it go away. Not sure what you have for rims or if swapping them around is an option.

You could have tweaked a rim a little bit in the accident also... It don't take much to show up in the steering wheel.

 

Long time no see.
I would also think about the tire on the opposite side as a contributing
factor. This would be do to the difference in wear of each and the way
each sits on the road.
Like Rusty said bent rim could also be a factor.
One other thing how is the steering dampener could it of been compromised?

Drive safe and keep the rubber side down.

Sean

 

jack the front end up and spin the tire assy around and see if you have any wobble in the rim or tire, the tire might not have been lubed enough to install the tire on the rim causing it not to seat properly on the rim or the tire is out of round. Also you might have lost a wheel weight already.

 

hey guys! thanks for the kind words.

here are my responses. lol

i got stock rims which means 3 different types of rims.

after the accident, i had a busted tire on the front driver side. it fell on the rim and busted the original rim. since then, i found a replacement stock front rim and had a new tire replaced.

all my other 5 tires measure at 10/32 tread while my new front tire measure at 12/32 tread. i know. my truck is sensitive as hell.

wat happened was tat i placed the new tire on the original location where i had lost the original tire. the other 5 stayed where they were.

i balanced all 6 tires BUT did not rotate them. maybe i should re-balance again, and this time, rotate the tires?

imagine my front end. new tire on driver side and slightly older tire on passenger side. since the difference in tread is only minimal, it may be ignored, but i've had enuff life experiences with this truck in particular to know tat she's mighty sensitive.

maybe when i finally rotate the new tire towards the backside, it may take the problem away.

i dunno. just speculating here.

 

mich6.0, i tried tat for the front end and the tires or rims dont wobble, but i'll check that when i get the truck back from the body shop.

 

again, i mean. lol

 

sean, i almost forgot to answer ur question.

no, the steering dampener has no leaks nor is it bent or anything. she looks fine.

when i got hit, it was at the rear passenger door area, and the impact was so great, tat it spun me around about 90 degrees to the right.

 

rusty, i dont think swapping the rims is an option at all. since i got tat annoying 3 sets of rims, i'll have to do a rotation on the 6 tires but the wheels/ rims will have to stay where it's at.

 

You might want to take the dampener off and test it.
You do it just like any other shock.

Sean

 

oh yes sean. i'll definitely have to try tat. thanks for bringing it up.

 

First my thoughts on front wheel shimmy can cause premature greying of hair. It is one of those things that is very hard to track down at times. I think you have alot of variables that could be in play here. My personal experience with steering wheel shimmy on my gasser was exhaustive. I had bought new tires and shortly after I had a shimmy ( steering wheel shaking) only at 65-70 and it would come and go to the point you could probably have set a timer and predict when it would do it again. Long story short after blaming the tire shop several times with no results I finally took it to a shop and just asked to have the front rotors turned. Alas that fixed it for good. With these trucks it has a completely different suspension and I'm not saying the rotors on these would be your issue but just to point out how difficult these issues can be at times to figure out.

I also have learned that any new tires placed on a vehicle should always be placed on the rear of the vehicle, due to under steer in hydro planing situations. Trust me it is always better to have under steer than over steer that would happen if the rears hydroplane, there has been a lot of research on this and has been proven by Michelin at their proving grounds. Your mismatch on the fronts could also be a factor as well as worn suspension parts in the front. I hope it helps. Good luck! I know I needed it when I was trying to find the problem with my car

 

Have you new tire road force tested on a proper balancing machine. It will confirm how out of round your tire is. I just had 2 new 18" Michelin tire that were way out of spec. I think any number over 15-20 they are bad.http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoRideMatch.dos

 

Yes guys. I bought my tires from discount tires. They did tat. Also, I changed out just about everything on my frontend already. Even new shocks and new coil springs. New drag link, new steering dampener, new tie rod ends, etc. just about everything. Also, they weren't bent. When the truck got hit, it got hit at the passenger side rear door. Nowhere near the engine.

 

Check your track rod bushing, will cause problem you have. A new bushing cure my death wobble.