experience death wobble????
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experience death wobble????
ok i have a 79 ford f150 4x4 with a 6" lift, radius arm drop brackets and all new poly bushings new steering and all. i have some used 39.5x15x16 superswamper truxus sts tires on some 16x10" wide aluminum wheels. when i get up to a certain speed it feels like the truck starts shaking side to side and doesnt stop until it get to a lower speed. because the tires are so big and are not ballanced, am i experienceing the death wobble????? maybe i need to have my tires ballanced as much as possible??? i just need some input on this, thanks for the help. i just thought you got the death wobble when you had bad bushings and stuff. thanks!
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well i do live in south arkansas and a couple of people have told me it wouldnt help to balance a tire that big so i didnt, but my friend is opening a 4x4 shop in the next few weeks and he said they have a new technology using sand bags or somthin, he has them in his 37s and he said they ride like stock. i do have a brand new stabilizer, but its just a single one. when he opens i am gonna get him to balance them, cuz it is really bad!
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2006
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Does the truck shake with the other set of tires? Or does it do this with the rear tires on the front? A 39" tire is gonna be tough to balance, no matter what kind of new technology, you find. Many 150's and broncos suffer from this symptom when the panhard bar is loose. Check to see if the bushings and front assy is tight. When I say tight, I mean really tight. Gonna need a big "cheater bar" for this, but it may fix your troubles.
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i had a set of some normal 35x12.50 mud tires and it was smooth as glass. ill re-check all my bushings to see. maybe my friend can balance them enough to where it just shakes instead of death wobbles.
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Honkytonkville
you can't balance a tire that big- the amount of weight usually required to balance it is absurd. I think its time to invest in a set of new tires.
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From: Delavan, IL
My buddy had a set of old swampers that did the same. If he would accelerate just right he could get past the wobble and everything was fine. He either had to get up to speed real slow or real fast. If he went normal, at about 35mph all hell broke loose. I would suggest getting a new set of tires. If the tires have been sitting for a while, they may be flat spotted too. Might be able to just drive on them for a while and be ok. Who knows...Good luck!
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This has happened to me as well as a few friends. It boils down to, you need a front end alignment. You have to much toe in. The tires have a huge a amount of side wall and at low speeds the tires even though having toe in are able to slip and spring outwards with out disturbing you and generally at low speeds you are turning alote dispusing any built up tension. But at high speeds the tires don't have a chance to slip outwards instead they bind inwards until one side slips outward throwing you in one direction and then the other. The side to side death wobble is cause only by this. Haveing loose suspension components will make it worse but this toe in is your problem. People don't realize that when you change tire size you are changing the toe in settings dramatically.
There is no need to balance a tire this large you will not get the results you are hoping for. A small car tire need balancing 10x more than a large tire as the small tires rotate 2-3 times faster.
There is no need to balance a tire this large you will not get the results you are hoping for. A small car tire need balancing 10x more than a large tire as the small tires rotate 2-3 times faster.
Last edited by sixtyfive_ford; Feb 13, 2007 at 01:03 AM.
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2000
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From: SW Michigan
wobble....
SoArk, by all means balance the tires to the best of the tire guys ability- the fellows who think it does matter have no clue what is going on. You might look for a place that can shave tires, my ground hawgs ( 35s )were startlingly out of round. And make certain the front alignment is correct. I did all those things and the shakes were reduced, but they still happened sometimes and at certain speeds on a stretch of road I traveled over every day, I thought the whole truck was going to shake apart. It felt to me like the front tires were coming off the ground, although I have no way to see if that actually occured. As it turns out, the cab mounts behind each front tire were rotted out. After new mounts and bolts and some sheet metal repair to the part of the cab where the mount goes, the problem was solved and didn't come back. at least it hasn't yet. More than 10 yrs now. DF, on lunch @ work
