Death rattle, HELP!

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Aug 31, 2011 | 05:29 PM

nothercrash

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From: Norton, MA

Death rattle, HELP!

Was driving on the hiway a couple minutes ago, hit a little bump at about 55-60, and all of a sudden DADADADADADADADAD! Death rattle. It felt like the front end, and braking or accelerating didn't affect it. When I went to change lanes though, it stopped. Then it happened again, this time at an expansion joint in a bridge. And again, changing speed didn't matter, but it stopped IMMEDIATELY when I turned the wheels to get into the breakdown lane.

It felt like the front wheels were just resonating against eachother, it was a serious amount of movement, like the wheels were probably coming off the pavement.

Please help asap.... I'm at my friends house, but still need to get home.....

My upper track bar end/bushing/mount is VERY loose, I actually have new bushings coming in tomorrow. Could that be doing this?

Thanks, AleX

Aug 31, 2011 | 05:37 PM

nothercrash

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From: Norton, MA

Ignore what used to be in this post, that would be my friend. The issue still stands though.....

Aug 31, 2011 | 07:50 PM

nothercrash

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From: Norton, MA

Well I made it home, but it happened again, every big bump, EXCEPT ones that I was turning through. I was also able to completely stop the shakes by just flicking the steering wheel, every time. SO, with that, and the scary condition of my track bar bushings in mind, I'm fairly confident in saying that that is the issue. I see it as more or less, one wheel hits a bump, punches the track bar, which punches the frame on the opposite side of the bumped wheel, which tugs the spring on that side sideways, which pulls the axle, which makes the track bar punch again, and the whole cycle just feeds on itself and repeats. When I steer in either direction though, the track bar is no longer free to bounce around on every bump, since it's pinned to one side of its play zone.

I'm assuming it's something along those lines, and since I already had new bushings on order, we'll find out if that was the issue tomorrow.

Aug 31, 2011 | 08:04 PM

74ford4x4

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I would say the trac bar mount is most likely your problem.

Aug 31, 2011 | 08:22 PM

raytasch

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From: W. Central FL.

Slop in a trac bar is a very common reason for death wobble. Probably the most common reason.

Aug 31, 2011 | 08:43 PM

hairyboxnoogle

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Mine would do this after i put the 33s on before i got a steering stabilizer. Same effect different parts. When you hit a bump the slack allows the axle to move under the truck sideways, moving the steering then it just sits there and wobbles back and forth against itself.

Aug 31, 2011 | 08:44 PM

nothercrash

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From: Norton, MA

Cool! Perfect, then hopefully I've seen the last of it! And good to know I'm getting a little better at figuring out the issues myself.

It happened just once a few days ago, with my little brother in the car, and it felt like a wheel falling off (yes..... know what that feels like), I'm glad it's only some bushings! Hopefully the eyelet isn't damaged..... too much.

I'm a good welder/fabricator, but I'd be nervous about part of this HUGE stress component being non-tempered.....

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Sep 1, 2011 | 03:09 PM

nothercrash

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From: Norton, MA

Whew, perfect! Haven't taken it on the hiway yet, long trip to come this afternoon, but I replaced that upper track bar bushing and WOWWWWW what a difference! Cut my steering play from 4 or 5" on the wheel, to around 1! No exaggeration! And I can see why: the upper bushing was LITERALLY almost nonexistant in the contact surfaces. AMAZING pictures are in my garage/gallery for any who want to see, and a much more detailed description of what I did, and what I found is in the lost post of a thread on this board titled "What are all the sources of play in the steering?".

I recommend that ANYONE having ANY trouble with their steering check and change their upper track bar bushings before anything else! It's cheap and fast! More specifics in that other thread as I said, but GOD that blows me away.

Check out the pics, and thanks for the help! And all the metal parts, save for the locknut, which I always replace, were actually in remarkably good shape!

AleX