Mega Death Wobble

SITE TECH

SITE TECH

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Dec 26, 2008
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About 5 months after installing 2.5 inch leveling kit on my MEGA I started getting a death wobble type of feel, But is not the death wobble you may think. The left tire and only the left tire is hopping if I hit a sudden high spot in the road at speeds over 60 MPH. It is not the traditional left to right wobble you get when your dampener is worn out. Checked the dampener and it is sill a ***** to pull in and out, like new. There is no wobble in the steering wheel at all. This is up and down not left to right. Now the worst part and the one that throws me for a loop. It only happens when my 80 gallon fuel transfer tank is full. It is an L tank up against the front of the box, with high end to the rear. My tool box sits atop of it up against the front of the box. Now with a full tank of diesel and a full transfer tank and my tool box full of tools and a Fisher snow plow sub frame on the front and me in the seat It scales out at 10200 LBS. I way about 285 LBS. Yes it was aligned with a track bar ajustment right after the levling kit went in. Also 2.5 inch longer shocks not long after kit was installed.
So who has some thaughts.
Now just so you know I scaled my axles before the kit and after. The kit moved 670 LBS to the rear of the truck just by lifting the front 2.5 inches. Helps in ride and looks, but is it my problem.
 
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yes, it's your problem... cheap lift kits are cheap for a reason... believe it or not, engineers log hundreds of thousands of miles in a truck before it's finalized and offered for sale to the public
 
Forrest Nearing said:
yes, it's your problem... cheap lift kits are cheap for a reason... believe it or not, engineers log hundreds of thousands of miles in a truck before it's finalized and offered for sale to the public
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Wish they would have got it right then, had death wobble in two of my CR's both stock height 4x4's. One was brand new off the lot, the other had about 35k on it.
 
I wouldn't say the lift is directly the problem, it's most likely just a factor in an already bad situation. It was most likely on the verge of wobbling before. Ever notice when you have a shopping cart with a wobbling wheel if you'll add more weight it will stop the wobble? He may have done similar by shifting the weight to the back axle.

I would check and double check everything is tight and good in the front end, then start adding caster if it persists.
 
I would say most of the time it is a bad balance on the tires. Try rotating the tires, see if it helps. I sold my new tires and wheels the other day that were shaved and balanced, I have never had death wobble. I put on some turd stock tires and wheels, it would wobble like crazy off just about any bump in the road. I put two new tires on the front, hasn't done it since.
 
Ok first it's not a cheap lift kit that was improperly installed. It is a very well made metal leveling kit not cheap plastic or rubber crap. There are only 3 bolts on each side and you reuse the factory rubber. Further more I have personaly removed at least 5 sets of 037 (1850 lb ) springs and replaced them with new 039 (2250lb) and or 043 (2400 lb) springs in all of my coil front Dodges, You just have to for ride , looks and 1100 lb fisher plows. Now tire balance was addressed also, but good thought. This truck will go any speed up to 100 MPH with not a single shimi or vibration. I have also installed new rubber as it needed and no change.

If Detriot was so smart where were they when I was changing the fuel filter on my 06 F-350. studpid idiots had 10 feet of frame to mount it on and had to cram it next to transfer case, over the skid plate and next to the front drive shaft. Bunch of jack ass's. O ya have you looked for wires off of the uplifter swicthes. Right where you need them stuffed under the dash instead of under the hood. If I want to turn something on or off in the cab I can already reach it. Please don't get me started. Cause I have lots more.
 
if it's a pair of spacers, it's cheap... you alter the front geometry, pull the axle rearward and over to one side...

a real lift kit will have longer control arms and an adjustable track bar (and maybe even coils instead of spacers)

ALL of the popular leveling kits are "cheap" IMO
 
I fought it for 4 months on my 08 dually. Mine began after I put a leveling kit in it. After many failed atempts with so called miracle products. I installed a set of DT Profab cantroll arms. The top arm is 1" longer than factory and the bottom is 2" longer. Then I set my caster at 5 degrees. It cured the problem totally! Plus the truck tracks a hole lot nicer going down the road! Hope this helps ya!
 
The Pooler said:
I fought it for 4 months on my 08 dually. Mine began after I put a leveling kit in it. After many failed atempts with so called miracle products. I installed a set of DT Profab cantroll arms. The top arm is 1" longer than factory and the bottom is 2" longer. Then I set my caster at 5 degrees. It cured the problem totally! Plus the truck tracks a hole lot nicer going down the road! Hope this helps ya!
Click to expand...

gee, imagine that! ;)
 
Forrest Nearing said:
if it's a pair of spacers, it's cheap... you alter the front geometry, pull the axle rearward and over to one side...

a real lift kit will have longer control arms and an adjustable track bar (and maybe even coils instead of spacers)

ALL of the popular leveling kits are "cheap" IMO
Click to expand...

The control arms that came with my 4.5" lift were same size as factory and I've never had death wobble. Never had death wobble with a 2" spacer either with or without an adjustable track bar or an alignment.
 
BgBlDodge said:
The control arms that came with my 4.5" lift were same size as factory and I've never had death wobble. Never had death wobble with a 2" spacer either with or without an adjustable track bar or an alignment.
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my red 98 had a leveling kit on it when I bought it. I had no death wobble issues either... that must mean that leveling kits never cause death wobble issues
 
Thanks guys, never had this before on 4 different coil dodges. By the way the track bar is ajustable and it was. The truck runs strait and true at any speed. No crabbing here. Thats the puzzling part, I checked everything including some lift kits to check arm lengths some are stock length and some are longer and the amount of lift did not seem to be the contributing factor. I never had this problem even with heavyest mopar springs and some of them I had to cram in.
 
I have two trucks with the "cheap" spacer kits on both of them. If I was to re-do them, it would be with a coil style kit. It just seems like a better way of doing it. However, I haven't had and wobble issues, with either of them. My .02

-Rob
 
The "Death Wobble" is a pure geometric mystery.... I battled with mine for 2 years (bought it new 07.5). It didn't help that I was running 22's stock height. I heard everything from tire pressure to bad shocks... changed caster and changed steering stabilizers... The bottom line is... I S$$T my pants too many times at 70+ mph that once I had a kid come along I SOLD it. Ultimatly a good steering stabilizer is only a band-aid for the fix but it seemed to work for me for a couple of years. Good luck with your fix.
 
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