death wobble woes....
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death wobble woes....
2005 PSD 290k Stock except for the EGR delete.
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
Logistics Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,138
Likes: 7
From: South Weber, Utah
2005 PSD 290k Stock except for the EGR delete.
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
Cargo Master
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,113
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From: Iowa
Has this been a problem that has persisted through multiple sets of tires? If it's been with the same tires I'd guess that the front right tire was out of balance, 60 mph is about where you will start feeling the wheel shake and usually only gets worse with time (the tire wears unevenly from bouncing). Try swapping the front tires to the back and see if it changes.
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I had the front hub lock out and it was still there. I didn't think to check the ball joints but they look in good shape. I will have check them tonight.
Has this been a problem that has persisted through multiple sets of tires? If it's been with the same tires I'd guess that the front right tire was out of balance, 60 mph is about where you will start feeling the wheel shake and usually only gets worse with time (the tire wears unevenly from bouncing). Try swapping the front tires to the back and see if it changes.
I think there was a vibration before I put the current set of tires on but never a hop while steering left and hitting bumps. I will rotate front to back to see what happens... The track bar ball joint is new as well.
I did re-tighten the drivers side bushing on the track bar. It wasn't loose but I was able to crank it down tighter....
Thanks fellas
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update:
Rotated the tires front to back. The bad shake at 60+ is gone. It still has a vibration and it still jumps when steering left and hitting a bump in the road at the same time, but only at speed. I was unable to reproduce a death wobble here on my local roads. I noticed some movement in the new upper bushing I installed on the track bar when turning left to right and vice-versa. There should be none, correct?
Also checked the ball joints. The drivers side is questionable.
Thanks.
Rotated the tires front to back. The bad shake at 60+ is gone. It still has a vibration and it still jumps when steering left and hitting a bump in the road at the same time, but only at speed. I was unable to reproduce a death wobble here on my local roads. I noticed some movement in the new upper bushing I installed on the track bar when turning left to right and vice-versa. There should be none, correct?
Also checked the ball joints. The drivers side is questionable.
Thanks.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,952
Likes: 117
From: Upper Left Coast
2005 PSD 290k Stock except for the EGR delete.
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
I've been having a vibration around 60 mph and while running at speed and left hand turns the front end would hop and shake something horrible. So I finally decided to do something about it. First I replaced the front Ujoints since they were beyond need of repair and I also replaced the front right (passenger) bearing and hub assembly since it was toast. Still had the vibration and the jump but not a big deal because I ordered my tie rod ends as well. I replaced them and still no change. I read some more, talked to some people and they all said to replace the tracking bar bushings which I did and now this thing is worst than ever. Tire pressure is good. I have never done an alignment on this truck but never had the need for one since the tires wore evenly and I get about 80k out of them. I'm about due for new sneakers, but want to get this sorted out. I'm not sure what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks,
M33
Thanks in advance
With 290,000 miles, I would look closely at any tie-rod ends you DIDN'T replace, ball-joints and maybe the steering-box and pitman-arm.
Also, if it changed when you rotated the tires, look for out-of-round tires, lost wheel weights and under-inflation or a combination of all.......
If you're using 12.5 x 16.5 or larger tires, you may have the bead slipping on the rim making them go out of round.....
I had an 86 F-250 4x4 that had 12.50 x 16.5 tires on it and I never could keep them to stay in one place on the wheels.
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Senior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 253
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From: L.I.
Remove the steering damper. compress the piston if there is any free movement in the damper replace it. 8 outta 10 times that's whats causein it.
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All my tie rod ends are new but the drag link by the pitman has some slop so that is getting replaced along with my ball joints, steering dampner and all 4 sneakers. I'll follow up with an alignment. Lets see what happens. Luckily I can do all this work myself except for the tires...
I have read that even tough I replaced the track bar bushing that the trackbar itself could go bad.
I have read that even tough I replaced the track bar bushing that the trackbar itself could go bad.
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update:
Still haven't been able to reproduce the death wobble. Still have the hopping over big bumps at speed while steering left. I will replace the steering stabilizer and center link this weekend if I get the chance. I'm thinking of trying a different tire, maybe go back to the original Pirellis.
Still haven't been able to reproduce the death wobble. Still have the hopping over big bumps at speed while steering left. I will replace the steering stabilizer and center link this weekend if I get the chance. I'm thinking of trying a different tire, maybe go back to the original Pirellis.
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Shocks are pretty old...... I should order some new ones but want to get some of this stuff replaced and new tires thrown on. I'm going to go with the General Grabbers AT2 I think. I've used them before and got about 90k out of them.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 269
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From: Albuquerque, NM
Have you considered adding a dual stabilizer set up to the front end? With a stock set up, you shouldn't have to, but they do make a significant difference in the stability. They're easy to install, not that expensive, and it's nice knowing that when you hit a bump in the road, the tires stay glued to the road. 
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Joined: Jul 2009
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Have you considered adding a dual stabilizer set up to the front end? With a stock set up, you shouldn't have to, but they do make a significant difference in the stability. They're easy to install, not that expensive, and it's nice knowing that when you hit a bump in the road, the tires stay glued to the road.
I just ordered the KYB heavy duty stabilizer from Rock auto and probably do the heavy duty shocks from them later. Thanks
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