I have had it with Death Wobble

Howling

Howling

Soot Sniffer
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Messages
4,304
My 96 4x4 is driving me nuts,it has a case of death wobble that I can't shake.I have only owned the truck for about a month.And in that time I have replaced front rotors and pads,one hub assembly,new steering stabilizer,steering brace and converted to a 3rd gen track bar.

That seemed to solve my issues until I got the bright idea to put some 2.5" spacers on the front that I had laying around,it was snowing when I got done installing them at my shop so I drove home in 4x4 with no problem.Two days later my wife and I take the truck out(2wd) and sure enough it acts up again.

So now I'm pissed.I order new sway bar bushings,maxx sway bar links,and the HD 99 steering upgrade(all new tie rods and drag link)messed with the caster.Just got done with it an hour ago and took it down the road that always causes the DW and bam it shows back up.

The control arm bushing do not seem to bad but I'm probably going to replace those soon,I have jacked the truck up and stuck a pry bar under both front tires and the ball joint seem tight,I have an appointment with my buddy at the alignment shop on Monday.

I have never had an issue with DW on my 06,had it on my lifted Jeep Grand Cherokee and added dual stabilizers and it went away.

Sorry for the story just venting a little.
Any insight would be helpful.

Eric
 
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I've seen tires cause it. Control arm bushings might not look bad but can still be bad. Anything that is attached to the front axle can cause it and I mean ANYTHING. DW is a pain in the ass to track down.
 
DSS steering brace and Thruen crossover steering. Thats what my truck has and it drives straight as an arrow. Might try longer trailing arms with those spacers it might have changed the geometry enough to cause it.
 
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If everything's mostly tight in the front, get under it and add some caster. Add 5-10 degrees at a time until the wobble stops. Or you can just max it out like I had all my dodges :D
 
I did max the caster out.Still got DW turned it back a little and still have it.

Might order new control arms tonight.

This 96 is taking all my play money from my 06.
 
possible help

Theres a guy in canada that baha races a 3rd gen. dodge cummins. they also sell suspention parts for 2nd and 3rd gen dodges. the exsact parts they use in the baha races. ive been told these front ends fix the DW.
 
I wonder if 1/2" longer control arms will help.Wanting to run 295's or 35's on my stock 06 wheels.
 
I had a 99 with severe DW. After changing a bunch of parts with no luck, I balanced the front tires and it almost totally stopped the issue. I didnt think they were out of balance, they gave no sign of being out until I rebalanced them... That might be something cheap and easy to check.
 
Maybe I will throw on my 06 wheels with the little 265's on Saturday and see what happens
 
A high end steering stabilizer is worth it's weight in gold. A bilstein shock kit from carli suspension has solved dw on a lot of trucks I've worked on.
 
I run a Thuren stabilizer on my 06 along with some other stuff from him.
 
what about ball joints? I have the 3" spacer with 315's, stock control arms, stock shocks, and everything else only thing I did was convert to 99hd steering and took the factory stabilzer off, never have had DW. I just make sure there is no play in the frontend if any I fix it.
 
I ran spacers on a completely stock front end and never had death wobble. And the control arms on my 4.5" lift were the same length as my factory arms. It didn't death wobble even when I had a half inch of slop in the bushings when they went bad. Only time mine death wobbled is when the skyjacker track bar bracket loosened up. Thuren track bar solved that. Even when the pitman arm was completely shot it didn't death wobble. I had my caster maxed out though. No steering stabilizer either and never had death wobble. My college roommate had everything perfect in his front end and it still death wobbled. Turns out it was his tires.

Not bragging just showing you how inconsistent dw is in each truck.
 
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Chevycummins said:
DSS steering brace and Thruen crossover steering. Thats what my truck has and it drives straight as an arrow. Might try longer trailing arms with those spacers it might have changed the geometry enough to cause it.
Click to expand...

Ya. The front end on that truck is worth almost as much as the transmission LOL. Don't forget the Thuren weld in track bar and rock ram steering shaft bushing.
 
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there's a million different things that can cause/help cause death wobble. do you have bfg's? the spacer is not helping, what kind of steering stabilizer?(rancho and the like are an emultion shock that do nothing when laid on their side)
 
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