DEATH WOBBLE IT'S OFFICIAL BEST DRAG LINK REPLACEMENT
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 164
Likes: 26
DEATH WOBBLE IT'S OFFICIAL BEST DRAG LINK REPLACEMENT
on my truck,, it turned out to be the drag link and a tie rod end.
2019 f350 25k EASY miles. stock tires and suspension. never been in the dirt. i had posted about my experience a couple weeks ago when i got the death wobble. finally got around to checking this out. BOTH ends of my drag link are trashed and driver tie rod end is clearly got too much slop. the track bar rubber end that connects to frame has some movement but seems normal for the rubber, and the "tie rod" type other end of it which attaches to the axle seems fine" ball joints seem fine. once again, i am just shocked.
trying to find the BEST QUALITY TIE ROD ENDS AND DRAG LINK ENDS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS? i certainly can't keep replacing tie rod ends every 20k miles
""
2019 f350 25k EASY miles. stock tires and suspension. never been in the dirt. i had posted about my experience a couple weeks ago when i got the death wobble. finally got around to checking this out. BOTH ends of my drag link are trashed and driver tie rod end is clearly got too much slop. the track bar rubber end that connects to frame has some movement but seems normal for the rubber, and the "tie rod" type other end of it which attaches to the axle seems fine" ball joints seem fine. once again, i am just shocked.
trying to find the BEST QUALITY TIE ROD ENDS AND DRAG LINK ENDS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS? i certainly can't keep replacing tie rod ends every 20k miles
""
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 7,975
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Any brand as long as greasable will do the job. You could spend $$ for one only to find out it doesn't last. The amount of torture these parts endure with such a heavy truck is amazing. I used Moog parts, but since I sold the truck not long after, can't say how long the parts will last, but they were greasable and looked good.
Temporarily Deactivated
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 279
Likes: 125
Any brand as long as greasable will do the job. You could spend $$ for one only to find out it doesn't last. The amount of torture these parts endure with such a heavy truck is amazing. I used Moog parts, but since I sold the truck not long after, can't say how long the parts will last, but they were greasable and looked good.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 7,975
Likes: 4,048
Compared to say 40 years ago they do. It was quite common to replace ball joints and tie rods on cars and trucks with 30K on them. Then again if you got 100K on a car or truck back then you were extremely lucky.
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 164
Likes: 26
Any brand as long as greasable will do the job. You could spend $$ for one only to find out it doesn't last. The amount of torture these parts endure with such a heavy truck is amazing. I used Moog parts, but since I sold the truck not long after, can't say how long the parts will last, but they were greasable and looked good.
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 370
Likes: 178
on my truck,, it turned out to be the drag link and a tie rod end.
2019 f350 25k EASY miles. stock tires and suspension. never been in the dirt. i had posted about my experience a couple weeks ago when i got the death wobble. finally got around to checking this out. BOTH ends of my drag link are trashed and driver tie rod end is clearly got too much slop. the track bar rubber end that connects to frame has some movement but seems normal for the rubber, and the "tie rod" type other end of it which attaches to the axle seems fine" ball joints seem fine. once again, i am just shocked.
trying to find the BEST QUALITY TIE ROD ENDS AND DRAG LINK ENDS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS? i certainly can't keep replacing tie rod ends every 20k miles
""
2019 f350 25k EASY miles. stock tires and suspension. never been in the dirt. i had posted about my experience a couple weeks ago when i got the death wobble. finally got around to checking this out. BOTH ends of my drag link are trashed and driver tie rod end is clearly got too much slop. the track bar rubber end that connects to frame has some movement but seems normal for the rubber, and the "tie rod" type other end of it which attaches to the axle seems fine" ball joints seem fine. once again, i am just shocked.
trying to find the BEST QUALITY TIE ROD ENDS AND DRAG LINK ENDS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS? i certainly can't keep replacing tie rod ends every 20k miles
""
Also, because you've "never been in the dirt" that doesn't mean you've had easy miles on your steering. if you want them to last, the biggest killer on steering joints is turning the wheels on pavement with your foot on the brake and no movement in the wheels. You have a 4k+ heavy front end on two wheels. So if you're the type of person to do this in the parking lot, expect to replace joints often. If you just get in the habit of turning the wheel when the wheels are moving (even the smallest amount of movement makes a huge difference) everything will much longer.
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Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 164
Likes: 26
the xrf stuff has lifetime but i remember buying some lifetime pads or rotors at autozone one time for my astrovan,,,,, everyyear i had to replace them. got old. i think i found what i am going to get. i ordered a pmf track bar, and i think i will get emf ball joints,, and there are a heavy duty version of tie rods that xrf makes and will get those.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,641
Likes: 507
From: Phelan CA
Well of course the front end is going to be "sloppy" after a DW event. Not even 1" 4140 chromo heims will survive it.
I've never had death wobble on any of the Super Duties I've owned, but I have found the hardest worked component are the drag link ends. The stock ones use a coil spring for preloading the sintered steel bushings that surround the ball joint. It's not the bushings that wear out, it's the spring.
I cut my old one open and found the spring was crushed into the cap, which caused the up and down movement and play.
Get a PMF drag link with the steering box heim joint. That gets rid of one of the OEM style joints. You also need to either correct your geometry or damping issues to move your front end out of that resonance mode to avoid getting DW again.
I've never had death wobble on any of the Super Duties I've owned, but I have found the hardest worked component are the drag link ends. The stock ones use a coil spring for preloading the sintered steel bushings that surround the ball joint. It's not the bushings that wear out, it's the spring.
I cut my old one open and found the spring was crushed into the cap, which caused the up and down movement and play.
Get a PMF drag link with the steering box heim joint. That gets rid of one of the OEM style joints. You also need to either correct your geometry or damping issues to move your front end out of that resonance mode to avoid getting DW again.
Thread Starter
|
Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 164
Likes: 26
Well of course the front end is going to be "sloppy" after a DW event. Not even 1" 4140 chromo heims will survive it.
I've never had death wobble on any of the Super Duties I've owned, but I have found the hardest worked component are the drag link ends. The stock ones use a coil spring for preloading the sintered steel bushings that surround the ball joint. It's not the bushings that wear out, it's the spring.
I cut my old one open and found the spring was crushed into the cap, which caused the up and down movement and play.
Get a PMF drag link with the steering box heim joint. That gets rid of one of the OEM style joints. You also need to either correct your geometry or damping issues to move your front end out of that resonance mode to avoid getting DW again.
I've never had death wobble on any of the Super Duties I've owned, but I have found the hardest worked component are the drag link ends. The stock ones use a coil spring for preloading the sintered steel bushings that surround the ball joint. It's not the bushings that wear out, it's the spring.
I cut my old one open and found the spring was crushed into the cap, which caused the up and down movement and play.
Get a PMF drag link with the steering box heim joint. That gets rid of one of the OEM style joints. You also need to either correct your geometry or damping issues to move your front end out of that resonance mode to avoid getting DW again.
you certainly did bring up a good point, and one that I was wondering about, since I had not really checked any of the steering stuff because it was such a new truck and drove fine, I didn’t know if anything was loose before the death wobble, so I don’t know how much damage the death wobble did versus from before the death wobble
Lead Driver
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,308
Likes: 250
From: Hartford, WI
I did order a PMF track bar, but I didn’t order the PMF drag link because they were too stupid to put a hole in there for the steering stabilizer, instead I have to buy a goddamn $100 clamp-on bracket.
you certainly did bring up a good point, and one that I was wondering about, since I had not really checked any of the steering stuff because it was such a new truck and drove fine, I didn’t know if anything was loose before the death wobble, so I don’t know how much damage the death wobble did versus from before the death wobble
you certainly did bring up a good point, and one that I was wondering about, since I had not really checked any of the steering stuff because it was such a new truck and drove fine, I didn’t know if anything was loose before the death wobble, so I don’t know how much damage the death wobble did versus from before the death wobble
What hole would you be looking for in the drag link? The bar spins when adjusted so if they put the hole in there, you can't adjust it except by the heim joint.
I don't know either but I didn't want to play that game. I don't want to get an alignment and steering adjust with the track bar and then find out something was bad and go in. I changed the ball joints and was done with it. After it was all installed, the steering wheel was about 45 degrees off although it went pretty straight so I had them straighten the wheel and do an alignment after driving it for a few days.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 7,975
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Drag link is fixed to the pitman, so the taper hole for the dampener would be on the drag link. The tie rod end is sleeved and the only adjustment is to center the steering wheel with the sleeve. You might be thinking of the center link that ties both tie rods together, that one rotates to adjust the toe.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 2,969
Likes: 2,407
From: Ridgway, CO
If you are doing the drag link, just do both tie rod ends with it. The parts will last longer when replaced in groups.
I plow snow with my trucks, have for decades. The ball joints in these trucks last really well, 150k abused more than most, before I had to do them on my last truck. Steering parts do not last as long when leveraging 1000 extra pounds over the front end. I was getting around 60k and two seasons of plowing on the drag link and tie rod ends. Keeping a decent stabilizer on the drag link helps so don't skip that either.
I would also agree that the hardest thing on the steering parts are tight maneuvers on grippy surfaces.
I plow snow with my trucks, have for decades. The ball joints in these trucks last really well, 150k abused more than most, before I had to do them on my last truck. Steering parts do not last as long when leveraging 1000 extra pounds over the front end. I was getting around 60k and two seasons of plowing on the drag link and tie rod ends. Keeping a decent stabilizer on the drag link helps so don't skip that either.
I would also agree that the hardest thing on the steering parts are tight maneuvers on grippy surfaces.