Well, I've got death wobble every time I hit a bump going over about 35 MPH, and living in the mountains, I hit a lot of bumps. If I hit a bump the truck starts to shimmy down the road, and if I don't quickly reduce speed the problem is exacerbated to the point of getting the whole truck to do a crazy shaking death roll that I am very much not a fan of to say the least.
I tried replacing the upper bushings in the front shackles, as they were toast, but its hasn't helped. I've read that this can happen with a bad steering stabilizer or bad shocks....seems questionable.
As I'm pretty broke at the moment I'm not in the position to replace every little thing that is wrong with my work truck, so I'm hoping to narrow down what needs to be replaced. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ALSO, this ONLY happens after hitting any large bump at speed, so tires out of balance and things like that really aren't the problem, if I don't hit a bump I can go 70 MPH just fine, no vibrations, etc.
My power steering pump or the steering housing seems to be leaking more than normal as well, could be related (?).
THANKS!

 

Sorry, its a 91 f350 4x4

 

Check tie rods, trackbar bushings, and kingpin bushings. What size tires are you running? Steering stabilizer helps more they you may think

 

The truck is stock suspension, stock tire size, etc.
If the stabilizer is bad, will it just move freely back and forth like a blown shock when I unbold it?
The tie rods could be better, they have torn boots and therefore do not retain grease like they should. I can TWIST the rod back and fourth with minimal resistance, but it doesn't seem to wobble from side to side at all, which is what I would think would make the axle/ front tires wobble. I'm really not sure how much resistance should be in the tie rod's ball joint, I don't have another vehicle here to compare to.
I just read about this happening A LOT in 05-06 superdutys, and the fix is a duel steering stabilizer and proper front tire pressure. I'll check both.

 

Look closely at the track bar bushings. Start it up and have someone rock the steering wheel about 1/4 turn each way back and forth while you look at all the steering and suspension. You should be able to detect whats worn and what isnt.

 

Good news: I found the problem.
Bad news: evidently I'm retarded.
SO, I took a look at the track bar, which I hadn't even looked at because it is behind the axle and I was convinced that the problem was in the steering, etc in front of the axle. The bushings are completely shot, I mean the upper bolt was loose, and when I unbolted it I LITERALLY pushed the metal bushing sleeve out with my FINGER! There was basically no rubber left. STUPID! Hahaha
In my defense, having only owned vintage solid front axle trucks (a '76 Scout and a stock '55 ****** pickup), I am not used to even having a track bar. BUT, looking at it I'm guessing the sole purpose of that piece of metal is to keep the axle from doing exactly what its been doing, wobbling back and fourth. I'll get new bushings tomorrow, Thanks again for all the help!!!

 

i am in need of a steering stableizer seeing as i dont have one. anyone know any that are compadable?

 

Well, I'll be back under the truck later today, so I'll get whatever numbers I can off mine and post it on here for you, its nothing fancy, just like my truck.

 

If you'r rig is as redneck as mine, it will be more than enough!

 

Just a note, steering stabilizers don't fix the problem they just hide it. And they shouldn't really be used on a stock truck unless you ride on rough (dirty/rocky) roads nearly as much as smooth.
Rollin.IH.Coal check out Jeffs bronco graveyard, there are a mess of steering stabilizers there for almost all years of f-series.

 

if your really paranoid about death wobble...go this route!

<a href="http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i463/91dirtydiesel/?action=view&amp;current=steering.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i463/91dirtydiesel/steering.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

I had some bad death wobble and was able to eliminate 99% of it by shimming the kingpins. About the only time it comes back is on one crappy frost-heaved road I occasionally drive down. I'm not running a trac bar, so that could be part of my issue, although with a shackle reversal many people say a trac bar isn't needed.

 

Sorry, that shock is OLD, can't read anything of use on it. Local parts shop could look it up pretty easily.
As for my truck problem, it was in fact the TRACK BAR BUSHINGS. I drilled what was left of the old ones out, sawzalled out the old sleeve,popped some new ones in and BAM, what a difference! Not only is the death wobble GONE, but the steering is much tighter, probably on account of the body and axles moving together.

 

Glad to hear that fixed the problem, I've been contemplating putting the trac bar on my truck (I did get it with the Dana 60 axle I swapped in). Only thing really setting me back is the PO cut half the bracket off for some reason, so I didn't bother when I put the axle in.

 

Agreed......