Does death wobble “go away”?
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Senior User
Joined: May 2017
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Does death wobble “go away”?
I had an experience on the highway today that can only be explained as death wobble. I got to the office, ran in for a conference call and then headed back out on the highway to test and go straight to my dealership. On the test trip, I experienced none of the symptoms that I had just dealt with an hour before hand. The truck seems to be performing as it should? I did not take it to the dealership.
We had a big snow this morning and I was in 4x4. Right before the DW started I shifted into 2WD while on a curved onramp, traveling about 40mph. Could it have just been an issue with a hub not disengaging properly?
Can DW be intermittent or does this just sound like a fluke?
We had a big snow this morning and I was in 4x4. Right before the DW started I shifted into 2WD while on a curved onramp, traveling about 40mph. Could it have just been an issue with a hub not disengaging properly?
Can DW be intermittent or does this just sound like a fluke?
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I just drove home, 40 miles on the highway at speeds between 55-70mph. No issues whatsoever. The truck seemed completely normal again. Would DW be so intermittent that I could go for distances like this without seeing any symptoms? Or is it more of a case that once it shows up, the symptoms are pretty consistent?
Just trying to figure out how concerned to be. I'll be towing my fifth wheel to the Smoky Mountains next month and would love to have a trouble free trip.
Just trying to figure out how concerned to be. I'll be towing my fifth wheel to the Smoky Mountains next month and would love to have a trouble free trip.
Mountain Pass
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It’s interesting that you would ask this... When I walked out to get in my truck, I noticed that it looked like the guy plowing the lot pushed snow right up against my truck. The front driver’s side wheel was almost completely covered up. I was annoyed. Plus, I had just driven for an hour in heavy snow covered roads and then parked the truck for a few hours. I can’t swear that snow was “packed” in the wheels but I wondered if that could be it as well.
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Elder User
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Minnesota
Mine went away after installing a 2” Fabtech level with 4 new Skyjacker shocks, a Skyjacker steering stabilizer, new tires and wheels and an alignment. When they threw my truck on the alignment rack it was initially out of alignment, I cant find my spec sheet anymore but it was toe’d out and the caster was at about 1.3 and 1.4 degrees. Now they have it set around 1.6 -1.7 and the toe in is set correctly.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Dec 2012
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From: DFW
Snowman’s right. It usually takes a certain set of circumstances to make it wobble, the road, the tilt of the wheel, the influence of the balance of each one, etc. All of these outside influences have to hit the truck just right, which will only happen on specific occasions. I’d check alignment 1st, balance 2nd, then move on to joints, sway bar bushings, etc. Hate it for you - that uncertainty sucks and, if someone’s never experienced it, it can be very unnerving.
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Joined: Oct 2005
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Snowman’s right. It usually takes a certain set of circumstances to make it wobble, the road, the tilt of the wheel, the influence of the balance of each one, etc. All of these outside influences have to hit the truck just right, which will only happen on specific occasions. I’d check alignment 1st, balance 2nd, then move on to joints, sway bar bushings, etc. Hate it for you - that uncertainty sucks and, if someone’s never experienced it, it can be very unnerving.
