I am getting as the title says death wobble , I have replaced the inner and outer tie rods, track bar ball joint and bushing and stabilizer!

I have the truck getting an alignment done now , but wondering if I need to invest in a dual stabilizer setup ?

 

Check out the list of the many things to check in post #22: https://www.powerstroke.org/threads/wobble-fix.1404888/

I think I'm going to print out that list, so that the next time I'm doing an oil change I have a handy list of things to inspect while I'm waiting on oil to drain...

 

the list is a good start but not all inclusive


you can get a death wobble if your rear leaf spring bushings are worn

 

Have them increase the camber to +4 degrees. Then you wont need any bandaids. Factory limits is 3 degrees max, adding 1 degree can prevent DW from happening with worn parts, when it does happen, its with REALLY worn parts.

 

I have 2.5 bushings to drop in but I need to replace ball joints and spindle to get to them they are frozen from the topside

 

No doubt, but at least it's a good place to start for troubleshooting.

 

You shouldnt need to replace the spindle, the bushings can be driven out. My 2012 was a rust bucket, so I know what it looks like on yours. Just a good soaking of Liquid Wrench and they come out with a little persuasion. The ball joints will be more work to remove than the shim. LOL

 

Since this is the latest DW thread, I wanted to post this link from One Up Offroad... I've posted it before but since S&B bought them, the article and their website is now gone.

A user in the 99 to 16 Super Duty section posted a link of another website with OUO's DEATH WOBBLE article..

Its one of the most in depth death wobble articles I've seen... very detailed with lots of information.

https://www.injectedmotorsports.com/how-do-i-fix-death-wobble-one-road

Thanks to @99.5_Superduty for providing the link...

 

Here's the link copied/pasted... IIRC, there was more to it as it talked about caster angle and alignment as well, unless it was a different blog or article.

I noticed the link isn't live...

Submitted by admin on Sun, 01/03/2021 - 23:44


We wanted to help share the information here from OUO, as it provides a great list of what to look for if you get the death wobble in the fords and similar with the Dodges.

If your truck is having a death wobble event slow down as safely and as fast as you possibly can until it stops wobbling.
Do not keep driving it with it shaking really hard, something could catastrophically fail and kill you.

Any death wobble event could cause damage to other parts that were not damaged before the death wobble event.
That happens every time you have an event, new damage can happen.
One or any combination of these reasons can bring on the Death Wobble.
1/64" of slop in any component can get death wobble started.

1-Track Rod bracket to frame bolts are not torqued.
2-Track Rod bracket joint bolt is not torqued.
3-Track Rod bushings or joints are worn.
4-Steering box frame bolts are not torqued.
5-Steering box does not have its lash adjusted correctly.
6-Steering rag joint is worn.
7-Steering column U-Joints are worn.
8-Steering column connection is not torqued.
9-Steering box damaged internally or was rebuilt with non-optimal parts.
10-Steering box has a worn or damaged power steering control valve.
11-Steering Box it too loose internally from the factory.
12-Steering box is out of adjustment.
13-Pitman arm nut is not torqued.
14-Pitman arm is cracked.
15-Pitman arm splines are compromised from being loose.
16-Steering stabilizer is worn / defective.
17-Steering stabilizer is not torqued.
18-Aftermarket dual steering stabilizer bracket is low quality.
19-Drag link joints are worn.
20-Drag link coupler is not torqued.
21-Tie rod joint is worn.
22-Tie rod center link is not torqued.
23-Ball joints are worn.
24-Wheel bearing is worn.
25-Radius arm Frame Mounts are not torqued / loose Factory rivets.
26-Radius arm bolts are not torqued.
27-Radius arm bushings or joints are worn.
28-Castor is less than 4 degrees.
29-Tow is too far towed out.
30-Tires are cupped, worn or just randomly stopped working on your truck.
31-Brand new tires have a side wall / belt construction that is not compatible with a solid axle truck.

Even if your parts are “new” that does not mean they are good.
A new track rod will not tighten the nut on your pitman arm.
Your bump steer will not get better until you fix the “close enough” geometry.
Let’s say your track rod bracket is loose, you don’t check it because you would never think that it could be a Friday truck and the assembly line torque wrench was not functioning correctly. You have a death wobble event from the loose track rod bracket bolts that destroys your track rod Joint. You can see that the joint is bad so you change it, but do not check the bracket’s bolt torque, then.. it hammers out again… that damn joint. But really it was another loose component causing the joint damage.
“Just put in cams” will NOT fix your problem.
There is no “Just do” that will fix your truck.
If anyone is selling you an end all - be all fix to death wobble, buyer beware, they are not to be trusted.
Remember, just because someone has a social media account does not mean they are qualified to be giving anyone guidance.
If it is bad information, it is of no consequence to the internet experts if it costs you time and money.


If you are buying a new truck.
Be aware, drive that truck for 15 – 30 minutes at all speeds before you take possession of the truck. Be extremely mindful of the steering. Do not let the salesman talk to you when you are driving it. Focus and be critical of every bump.
If that truck has any bump steer or chatter, do not buy that truck. Do not take possession of it even if you special ordered it. That new truck is a defective unit.

We have 20 years of experience specializing in Superdutys suspensions.
We have many patents, inventions, original designs, and event wins.

 

Great response Dave. There are many possibilities. There is one kind of a misconception about what “Causes” DW. There is only ONE cause. That is Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of physics……..For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Get a bump or a thump one a wheel on one end of an axle and it immediately transfers to the other end of the axle and wheel.. The issue is actually what do we need to do to stop the wobble. The few times that I have had to deal with it I did all diagnosing myself. Relying on someone else just ended up being money wasted.
The first thing I would do is get an assistant, then I would get under the vehicle, have the assistant rock the steering wheel about 120 degrees back and forth while I put my fingers on EVERY possible connection in the steering system for anything that had ANY movement. Your fingers can feel movement that your eyes can’t see. Once I get a notion of where to start, I then REMOVE the damn steering stabilizer and get the vehicle to drive properly without the stabilizer.
Once I am there, THEN install a quality stabilizer. Extensive and time consuming, yes. One may even have to have another rig for daily driving. But IMHO is the only way to fix it!
Bestg of luck getting this rectified!
And for those that blame it on solid front axle vehicles, just watch a motorcycle with DW. And if you think fixing DW in a truck is bad, try fixing it in a Corvette when it happens to one of them!!

 

No problem Don... felt it was important to get this out there as it's more in depth than anything I've run across...

Glad to see you got yours worked out... just wow on it correcting itself from actually TAKING OFF the steering stabilizer... great call... and thanks for your input.

I may have posted and copied the other blog article in the past, so I'll see if I can find and re-post here.

 

^^^^^^^^Since I used to also play. With Jeeps n old Broncos I have had some fun with DW! There were some very good info on Jeep forums too!
That is where I learned most of my info!

 

I think you mean castor. That much camber would not be good.

 

@99.5_Superduty provided newer links on Death Wobble and front alignment information from S&Bs website in the 99 to 16 Super Duty section, now that they own OUO, so here they are.

Death Wobble – S&B

Alignment Specs – S&B

Thanks again to him....

 

Sometimes it's the driver. That would be me. I adjusted my Rancho 9000XL front shocks down too low, thinking I wanted a softer ride. Too low! I got death wobble. Then one of the first times pulling my camper I didn't have the WDH configured right and it wasn't transferring weight back to the front axle. So far, each time I've had DW, it was something I did that made it possible. Both of those times were before Ford replaced the steering stabilizer under warranty/recall, so that could have contributed to the problem.

I'm not saying that the list provided above isn't useful. Just that sometimes, it's operator error.