if it's just you two I have room and you can sleep in the trailer. We have a great time after hours.

 

Kevin,
As always I'm planning to attend but Family issues seem to trump my plans some times. Joe's a busy guy with kids in College and at home so I'm not sure if he'll be able to attend or not. I'll keep you posted.

 

I would love to go to super nationals, but family stuff is a priority at the moment. Next fall with only one living at home, I think it will be much quieter.

So, an update on my tie rod:
I got an original tie rod recently (Thanks Kevin! ) I got tie rod ends from O'Reilly, it took 4 tries to get the correct right end. First was missing the boot, second and third were lefts and the fourth was a winner. I finished getting it installed today. More on that in a minute.

The other day Jessie from MidFifty called me. They had studied the tie rod and determined that the threads failed. I believe she said they will be recalling 82 of them. Tn their study, they noticed that the ones they had in stock had threads that were a bit flattened. They assume it was from cleaning in the manufacturing process. The are returning all of those to the manufacture. I am truly impressed with how MidFifty has handled this situation. When I told them what happened they took very swift action. Because of this, they will be my go to supplier.

Now, back to today. I'm not convinced there is also something very wrong with my front end. I think whatever is wrong may have been a contributing factor in the MidFifty tie rod failing. I took the truck out for a spin today to see how everything was working. I got up to about 40 at one point and it started the shake again. Everything looks fine to me under there but something is seriously wrong.

Recently, I have replaced the spring bushings and shackle pins, but everything looks fine there. I have also added several hundred pounds of bed. I will get her into a local shop and have experts look at it and see what they have to say.

 

Joe have someone check your toe. Very well may be scooting your tires from too much toe in or out.
Does that mean you wanna go to truckstock?
I'm thinking about having Truckfest around St Louis. What ya think?

 

A truckfest in this area would be great! I should be able to make something that close no problem. Depending on the weekend family activities.
I'm still hoping for truckstock. If I don't get this straightened out, my truck sure ain't going.

I was hoping the place I will take it was open, but they closed at noon so I was too late. I will call first thing Monday and get it in this week.

 

Now that you mention toe in, it could be two different things.
If the MidFifty tie rod was failing, the tie rod end could have been sliding in the tie rod causing the probelm.
For this time, it could be that the toe is incorrect and causing the same symptom.
It will be interesting to see what the alignment check has to say.

 

Glad you got it put back together. Sad you're are still having problems. I know when I removed my tie rods, I counted the number of turns it took to remove. Then when I re-installed them the same number of turns back. I know you didn't have that luxury. I'm sure they will get it right for ya Joe. There's not a whole lot adjustments on these front ends. I'm surprised a knowledgeable member hasn't stepped in and given some advise on a "rough" alignment process. Any way, you'll be cruising before you know it.

 

I measured the front and back of the tire and thought I got it straight, but I'm sure I'm off somewhere. After my latest incidents, I think I'm best served having someone else take a good look at it.

 

I hope CPP doesn't get theirs from the same supplier..

 

There are several things that can contribute to "death wobble".
- As mentioned alignment has to be correct first.
- One weak front shock or different valving on one side vs the other, particularly evident by wobble happening on bumps like railroad tracks that cross the road at an angle.
- Tires that are too big for steering components
- Looseness in steering components including steering boxes.
- Air in the power steering system (rack & pinion)

Sometimes after checking all that the best solution is to add a horizontal steering dampener.

 

A pretty darn accurate toe in check can be made with a couple pieces of lightweight pipe or pipe and a dowel rod. Anything that will fit snuggly inside a pipe can be used to check this adjustment. Much easier than trying to use a tape measure. My current tool is a piece of 3/4" rigid PVC with a dowel fitted into one end.
Check everything that Pete mentioned just above. 40-45 mph is when wheel balance starts to become important.
Edit: From your account of your current problem, it does not sound like death wobble. Death wobble is the violent shaking of the front end back and forth so violently you can loose control of the steering wheel. You believe the vehicle is going to come apart. Usually, the only way out of it is to brake hard, reduce speed.

 

The reason I said check the toe is because until the tie rod end fell off the truck drove well. Granted when it came loose something may have bent but the toe is a cheap and necessary thing to be done. Most frontend shops will check all the frontend parts before they adjust the toe.

 

Death wobble happens in varying degrees usually more severe on big tire 4WD trucks but can be less.

 

Shucks, Pete, anything less than full scale out of control death wobble is just a little bit of shimmy.

 

I did some quick google searching on death wobble. It seems common on Jeeps.
From the videos I watched, I think death wobble would be a good description. Although, I don't plan on testing it out again.

Great ideas folk. Pete's mention of steering box got me thinking. I need to check that out. It does have a slight oil leak.

A question on the front shackle pins. They have castle nuts, so I tightened them just enough to get the cotter pin in the hole. Is that correct, or should they be tightened down?

Tires are original size, but radial. No power steering. Shocks are new, and the problem occurs on smooth roads when I hit the right speed.

I seem to get so many opportunities to learn new things. I'm hoping I can time the inspection so that I could have the mechanic give me a walk through with the truck on a lift.