Ultimate Death Wobble Thread
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 169
Likes: 9
From: College Station, Texas
Thanks for your reply Y2KW57 - very informative. It does sound like the track bar bushing and ball joint have to stay pretty tight so not to stress the rest of the steering linkage. I have a stock, unlifted F250 (4x4) and crawled under the front to view the track bar bushing and ball joint when the steering was turned back and forth, stop to stop. It looks like there may be about 1/4 inch play at each end. Do you think that's loose enough to contribute to or initiate the wobble?
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 169
Likes: 9
From: College Station, Texas
But in practice, if the old track bar is being replaced due to being worn out, with wallowed out end points, and the truck was previously aligned with a track bar having worn out, wallowed out end points, then the new track bar will have a tighter tolerance distance between end points than the broader range of random distances afforded by the looseness of the old track bar.
Hence, it might be beneficial to get a new alignment after all the front end work is completed.
OK - I've replaced the front shocks, the steering damper, and the track bar (and ball joint) - one at a time, in that order. I still got the wobble after the shocks & damper but, it looks like the problem was solved after replacing the track bar; at least I haven't had the wobble since the bar replacement, The shop did do a re-alignment after the bar replacement.
So far, so good ....
Thread Starter
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6.7 Weight Loss
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,141
Likes: 5
From: Woodbury CT
May have found a fix
I haven’t posted in a while, hope everyone is doing well. I needed to share this with you folks.
My 2013 went through another set of tires. I guess I’m lucky, my truck only experiences the death wobble when it needs tires. I really thought I had it fixed.
Being extremely bummed out because I thought I had it was just searching around the internet I came across a YouTube video of a Ford dealer diesel mechanic talking about them finding a fix for the death wobble. When he said ‘we are installing this on our customers trucks and have yet to have someone come back complaining about the death wobble after the installation’ I figured I would give it a shot:
https://superlift.com/product-detail/92742
It ain’t cheap but I immediately felt a difference in my steering wheel. It’s hard to describe the difference, extremely rough roads are smoothed out but on a ‘normal’ road you ‘feel’ the road like you normally would. I really like the way it makes my steering feel. There are zero sharp wheel jerks. I’ve got a while to go before I need tires so I won’t know for sure.
My 2013 went through another set of tires. I guess I’m lucky, my truck only experiences the death wobble when it needs tires. I really thought I had it fixed.
Being extremely bummed out because I thought I had it was just searching around the internet I came across a YouTube video of a Ford dealer diesel mechanic talking about them finding a fix for the death wobble. When he said ‘we are installing this on our customers trucks and have yet to have someone come back complaining about the death wobble after the installation’ I figured I would give it a shot:
https://superlift.com/product-detail/92742
It ain’t cheap but I immediately felt a difference in my steering wheel. It’s hard to describe the difference, extremely rough roads are smoothed out but on a ‘normal’ road you ‘feel’ the road like you normally would. I really like the way it makes my steering feel. There are zero sharp wheel jerks. I’ve got a while to go before I need tires so I won’t know for sure.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 350
Likes: 99
From: Huntsville
>> UpDate <<
OK - I've replaced the front shocks, the steering damper, and the track bar (and ball joint) - one at a time, in that order. I still got the wobble after the shocks & damper but, it looks like the problem was solved after replacing the track bar; at least I haven't had the wobble since the bar replacement, The shop did do a re-alignment after the bar replacement.
So far, so good ....
OK - I've replaced the front shocks, the steering damper, and the track bar (and ball joint) - one at a time, in that order. I still got the wobble after the shocks & damper but, it looks like the problem was solved after replacing the track bar; at least I haven't had the wobble since the bar replacement, The shop did do a re-alignment after the bar replacement.
So far, so good ....
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 350
Likes: 99
From: Huntsville
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 169
Likes: 9
From: College Station, Texas
Which trackbar did you use...Ford...Kryptonite...BD Diesel? I'm experiencing the same issues. The only things I haven't replaced are the tires and the track bar. I had recently stated I replaced the track bar, but it was actually the drag link that I replaced. My tires do have about 50K on them...yet still have good tread.
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Thread Starter
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6.7 Weight Loss
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,141
Likes: 5
From: Woodbury CT
Originally Posted by PatrickStapler;[url=tel:20951179
20951179]I just looked at this kit the other day and saved it in my Amazon cart
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 350
Likes: 99
From: Huntsville
I ordered a Ford trackbar and ball joint this morning. I'm going to install those and new tires (as soon as Costco gets them in stock again) and see if that fixes it prior to installing the SL kit. Everything else in the steering system on my truck is new.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 350
Likes: 99
From: Huntsville
Replaced the track bar and track bar ball joint yesterday. They were the only two items I didn’t replace a few months back. Hoping to decide on tires this week. And hoping those changes finally resolve my truck’s excessive DW. I will say the ball joint and the track bar bushing were worn slap out at 205K miles.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 350
Likes: 99
From: Huntsville
Happy to report that I seem to have conquered the DW with the replacement of the trackbar and ball joint. I also finally replaced the tires which has definitely improved the ride. I recently drove over the section of interstate where the truck always experienced the DW and even at 75MPH, the truck steering was rock solid.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 169
Likes: 9
From: College Station, Texas
Hey great! Did the DW go away when you changed the track bar only or did you have to also have to get new tires before it stopped? I've still got my 5 year old tires and the wobble is gone with the track bar replacement but I still get a bit of a rattle when I go over the pavement where the DW used to occur.
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