a little history- leveled 08 with 70k at 62k had death wobble, replaced drag links, 1 tie rod, steering stabilizer, and trac bar and bushings. 5k ago new tires (stock size) 1k ago replaced shocks. i have been chasing a squeek from the suspension after bumps to no avail. i noticed the front tires outer edge were feathered, last night truck goes into massive death wobble on a slight curve at 50mph after hitting a small bump. this am i feel 2 small wobble episodes and 1 large one that forced me to wobble to a stop..... jacked truck up and grabbed top and bottom of tire= no movement, grabbed each side of tire and wiggled= small amount of movement in linkage- very small...... before i drop at dealer again what could i be missing? truck rode perfect when new, then had issues- fixed them and nothing for 8k and then again?

 

With all that other work done already, I'd be looking at Ball joints. And double check that steering stabilizer.

 

you can always go for a dual steering stabilizer as well...after all other items have been verified good.

 

so in the dealer yesterday they said front end checks out ok and they didnt hear a squeek while driving. i asked about the feathering of the front tires and they said the front end rack was down (i did see techs working on it to repair) and they looked like they just needed to be rotated.

went home changed oil and rotated tires (done at all oil changes) couldnt find anytrhing myself.... now i feel the start of the wobble happening at 50 mph on smooth road, if i speed up or slow down it goes away but if i hit any slight bump hold on............. waiting for a mech to look at it on the side.....

 

You should check the hub bearings for play, had to have my right front hub bearing replaced at 73,000

 

Gwilkrrs- When you leveled the truck, did you change out the track bar bracket to retain stock steering geometry? "Death wobble" is very often caused by an issue with the track bar and/or bracket. Can be other things too, but anything that is starting to wear can be contributing factors. I would take it to a shop that is experienced with lifted/leveled 4x4's and see what they think.....

 

truck is at 79k and getting worse. into dealer days ago and told all good- but maybe i should replace the steering stabilizer once a year to help out-----
when leveled the the truck did not recieve any steering components. when tires were put on and a host of other frontend parts awhile back i put on an adjustable track bar and new bushings.......

going into another dealer that has a good front end shop.......

where to find dual steering stabilizers? if they go horrizontal low do you keep the stock upper high mount for a total of 3?

 

Leave the factory one there.

Skyjacker is what I have run for a dual.

 

Changing out steering stabilizers once a year might make it feel better, but you're treating a symptom rather than the cause. I'd be looking really hard at that adjustable track bar. You probably should have gotten a lower track bar bracket & used the stock track bar instead. My truck has the Readylift which came with the panhard (track bar)bracket. Got almost 112K miles on mine and it's as firm & steady as it was when new.

 

good point on the adjustable bar. i will be checking that it is adjusted correctly- if it is adjusted wrong and the front axle is off to the side alittle this may be part of the issue. i know something is wrong and need to find it and then add the extra stabilizers to help smooth things out but not to try to solve the issue (i dont want to put on a bandaid on an amputated limb)

the tires started feathering on the edges, i rotatated them and they feathered them again- then started the shake again....... something is going on here.......

price shopping dual set ups in the mean time! thanks!

 

nice smooth road 50mph truck suddenly goes into a massive shake while pulling a heavy trailer. ended up in the fast lane grass median on an interstate...... not happy. no damage just eased into grass...... get back out on road and abs light is lit up on the dash and wont go out.......... off to another shop tomorow for a look hopefully-
now to figure out the abs light and the wobble.......

 

ok- i ordered the dual rough country set up....
while looking under the truck i noticed the adj trac bar has worn a shiny spot on the main bracket just behind/above it.......... that shouldnt be.....

 

By chance when you had that trailer hooked up was your truck sitting nose high?

If so, there is at least, if not all of your problem?

David

 

the trailer had squatted the rear some but it wasnt what i would call nose high. i have had the rear planted making it nose high without issue before......
and looking at the abs light on makes my blood boil

 

Sorry it has taken me a bit to get back.

Two words as to why it can affect your truck - Frame slope

All trucks are designed to sit level with a normal load, NOT rear down, squatting or anything else.In the case of our spring sprung trucks, without making the rear spring back breaking stiff (or adding something like air adjustable air bags), the rear end MUST sit higher unloaded.

Even semi's have this same limitation. Except that rather than use back breaking "camel back" spring suspensions like they used to use years ago (to keep the rear end stiff enough to never sag), they use a adjustable air ride system. You will NEVER see a non overloaded, properly functioning semi squatting or nose high. You will also never see any newer semi sitting rear high either, due to the air adjustable suspension.

Why? because if you are to imagine a imaginary line front to back, in order to get proper front end alignment, as well as close matching suspension roll centers the rear of the line has to be at least even with, if not slightly above the front.

People put "leveling" kits on there trucks, but do not put any form of adjustable rear suspension on at the same time, and really what they have created is "form over function" IE they have taken a real truck than can safely haul a load day in a day out and turned that very same truck into a toy.

Can a leveled truck drive ok? YES. Is it suspectable to unstability when loaded and squatting or sitting rear down? YES again. Is a leveled truck more prone to woble or other forms of unstability? YES again. Everything must be 100% not to have unstability rear its ugly head. You simply do not have that extra "grace" with a leveled truck that you have with a stock raked truck. So a truck that might run 150k without front end work, may only run 75k leveled, due to a lesser "grace" Big tires only accentuate this, but why overly big tires should never be used on road without other upgrades is a whole new topic.

So why is this the case? Well from a sound enginering aspect, as well as from a as built design point, having the rear end higher than the front increases caster, that means that the front wheels tend to be self guiding. That is why your truck, as well as any other trucks loaded stability decreases with a load. Go to far and it can bite you.

Does this mean that the infamous "death" woble cannot occur on a stock truck, nope, just that it is much less likely to occur, if at all.

Just my two cents

David