So after roading my truck for a bit after my rebuild I am still getting some death wobble instances (only has happened twice). I took out my steering stabilizer as it was bad - much better performance without it. I was going to run without it for a bit before replacing, but I think it needs done.

I am scanning around to look at stabilizers. Fox looks like they have some decent ones. Bilstein has always had a decent reputation on shocks, so I presume their stabilizers are decent also. Any thoughts on going dual vs. single? What has been your experience and would you do something different than what you have?

 

 

How old is it and how many miles with it? Your info shows you are in Indiana. That is a similar climate so you deal with road salt also like I do.

 

Quick note... I headed out for another road trip earlier today. After driving around all afternoon then over 100 miles to my destination this evening (mix of freeway and state routes, some pretty rough) - not one wobble instance. I did push the front tires back to the rear and the rear tires up to the front (the front tires had been swapped side to side a month ago before the rebuild, very few miles that way but I wanted to try to balance out the feathering of the tread before I put them on the back).

In any event, I am still looking for feedback on steering stabilizers - if you have any input I'm all ears.

 

I run the Bilstein 5100 steering stabilizer on my rig to help stop the death wobble that only shows up under load, and I have a dually! Actually, what we all think is now happening is that I have slightly warped rotors on the left front and right rear that really act up when they get hot. However, with the truck being unloaded, you never feel the slightest wobble. That's the consensus for now anyway.

 

 

I put a Bilstein single one on last year along with a full set of Bilstein shocks. I'd had a few instances of DW and hoped to put an end to it. Naaa, no such luck. It still happens once and awhile. There is another thread about this so take a look there. My F-350 is currently in the dealers now having a ball joint on the track bar replaced. Seemed to show a slight loosness and Ford offered to replace it under my xtended warranty. So we'll see. I'm also in need soon of new tires so that will take care of the balance and alignment contribution to the wobble. I took it to an independent front end shop the other week and they recommended installing a double stabilizer in place of the single so that will happen soon also. So doing a bunch of things so likely will not be able to put a finger on any single contributor but hope to end the death wobble soon.

Good luck with yours,
Roger from NJ

 

Steering stabilizer won't stop the death wobble if that's not where the movement is. The steering stabilizer is designed to absorb horizontal movement of the tires as they turn left and right (when they are pushed by the ground) so it doesn't push the steering wheel as hard. I had the beginnings of death wobble too and had it fixed before it was full-blown. The part replaced was called the track bar ball joint. The shop said the test for this was to park on solid ground (concrete/asphalt), have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth (not to move the tires, but just to put tension on the steering parts underneath), and watch for movement from the track bar ball joint.

There's another thread in FTE which talks about it too:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...bar-joint.html

There's an "anti-wobble" part that fixes this, basically changing it back to a bushing from a ball joint.

 

Thanks for the info Roger.

In my case, the track bar, track bar ball joint, upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, entire drag link (from the pitman arm to the knuckle), stabilizer bar links (not the bar, just the links) and hubs have been replaced with new. The track bar ball joint was the hardest to get out/apart of any part on the job - but its done. There is no play in anything up to the pitman arm and I can't detect any play in the upper and lower radius arm bushings where they connect to the front axle.

The steering gear box does show some play at the pitman arm when forcing the steering left and right (laying on my back on the floor with the front end off the ground pushing the drivers side wheel left and right with my feet). However, this is also rocking the steering wheel in the cab an amount that seems to be as much as I am moving the wheel with my feet back and forth. There is quite a bit of backash in the steering wheel when the engine is off, but when the engine is running and creeping along the steering does respond to minute changes in the steering wheel position - I can watch the drivers side wheel making adjustments as I do with the steering wheel.

I would be curious if you swap the rear or front rotors side to side what would happen. Any thought about that from you or the dealer?

Having replaced both the track bar and track bar ball joint already, this is surely not where the movement is.

I bet the steering damper kicks mine in the bucket.

Now, if I could get a camera underneath the truck and catch DW in progress that would be really cool to see. That way we could tell for sure "what" is moving.

Though, as I said in my last post - I am on a road trip now and there hasn't been any DW yet even without a steering damper so trying to "catch" it in the act on camera would be very difficult if I am not able to reproduce it. I could swap the front/rear tires again to try to reproduce, but that's just more work at this point and I don't have a camera to use to record underneath the truck.

 

IMHO, a steering stabilizer is a poor band-aid for wobble, and isn't going to help. A dual stabilizer is just 2 band-aids stuck one on top of the other.

I have the Bilstein stabilizer, Doesn't perform any better than the stock one.

I would focus on the steering box.

Good luck, please post solution when you find it.

 

To be honest, never thought about swapping rotors to the other side. Matter of fact, never even heard of it.

 

I made it back home from my travels here this evening. After a couple hundred miles - and truth be told, the freeway headed back up north this evening was very rough for about 30 miles - I didn't have one wobble instance. That is still with no steering damper/stabilizer. I thought for darn sure I was in for a ride when I got in to the crusty highway section. That's not to discount the fact I still need a part, but I am very happy with the driving as it is now vs before...

 

Well, Here goes my hard luck story. I got my truck back on Friday from the dealer where they installed a new ball joint on the track bar. Service mgr. felt it was the likely candidate and culprit in my saga of the death wobble. Every few weeks I travel a section of highway with a high speed sweeping left turn with some rough pavement that would bring on a shimmy in the front end of my '15 F-350. Every now and then this shimmy would evolve into the infamous death wobble requiring me to quickly slow to about 35mph to stop it. Not always but often enough to be a concern and this has been ongoing since about 30k miles. My truck now has 66k miles. So since getting the truck back today was the day to give it a go on this troublesome bit of road but alas, it was not to be. In the past 2 weeks since I last traveled it they have re-paved and there is no more rough spot. So my opportunity to attempt to replicate the wobble instance is gone. On the bright side the steering feels tight and like new but it felt pretty good for the most part before also. SO, if you experience a slight shimmy in the steering and especially if you have the DW don't overlook the small ball joint on the passenger side of the track bar. With the suspension on the ground climb down there and while someone wiggles the steering wheel back / forth look carefully for any play in the joint. Mine was barely discernable but definately there to see. I'm sure there other contributors to look for also such as tie rod ends and ball joints so look very careful at all these suspension joints.

ThanX all,
Roger from NJ