1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Dentsides Ford Truck
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death wobble

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Old 08-25-2014, 01:15 PM
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death wobble

Hey everyone, well heres my situation lol.. i have a 1973 4wd f250 (highboy) with a dana 44 closed knuckle front axle With manual steering., It has always wobbled pretty bad but not too bad from about 36 to 40mph. I have 16 inch 265/75 tires that i usually run, and yesterday i put some 37 Inch parrnell jones tires on it. It wobbles horribly from about 30 to 40, i mean it is hard to keep on the road. I think i have heard it called death wobble.. what do i nedf to do to fix it? Has new inner and outer bearings, new greased hubs', and good bRakes. Any ideas on what i need to do?
 
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Old 08-25-2014, 01:43 PM
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Ck all steering components, steering box for excessive play, and being bolted tight to frame, tie rod ends, that axle got ball joints? Ck 'm. Steering shaft, rag or u joint? Borgeson make a nice $ replacement.

Double ck the wheel bearing torque, since new, have you re-torqued lately?

Borgeson Universal Company :: Ford Truck 1970-04

Ck the tires for broken cords (side wall bulges) and are they balanced? Do you have a single or double steering stabilizer on it? That might help a bit.

A little wore out here and there and that play will come out like it is. To ck if its the tires swap front to rear and vice versa, DW still there?

Rims bent?
 
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:01 PM
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A steering damper might help but won't override the need to replace worn parts.
 
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:20 PM
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after all is said and done with what the two previous posts said have the front end aligned. with the truck turned off i had someone work the steering wheel back and forth while i checked the front end and every tie rod end had play so i replaced everything, cut off the rag joint, had a buddy weld a u-joint end in his lathe so it got true, got a red head steering sector, all new tie rods, new steering damper, gave it a backyard alignment and it is really good and tight now.
 
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:38 PM
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That's what im talkin about, no shortcuts! Death to the death wobble
 
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