Shoock to death
 

So twice yesterday this happened, I hadn't had any problem until then. Both bases I was droving along between 30 and 40 MPH. I hit a 'bump' in the road and the truck began violently shacking. Now these 'bumps' are questionable, one I didn't even notice.

The shacking made me think I blew or lost a tire. I slows down to a stop, and then began driving again. After coming to a stop, everything was OK. I took a physical exam and there is nothing I noticed that was out of order. Luckily in both cases I was on fairly empty roads and coming to a stop in the middle of the road wasn't an issue.

So, any ideas?:confused:

Do a search here for "death wobble" for much info on this problem

Will do, thanks.

Correct.


You have just experienced the infamous Dodge Death Wobble......... Join the club.

Usually faulty tracbars, steering stabilizers and camber adjustments are the culprits. You should find a ton of info with a search.

OK, so after some time of putting up with the Death Wobble, I ordered Luke's Link to rebuild the tracking bar. Luke's Link is a great kit and for the money a no brainer. With the help of Jon (1320) we got the tracking bar rebuilt. I headed out to get the truck aligned and on the way to the alignment shop, I took a Death Wobble on the freeway doing 65! Try stopping on the middle of the freeway to correct that wobble!!!:eek:

Now I am bummed out, thinking the tracking bar was not at fault, even though it sure seemed sloppy when we took it apart... I am still happy I fixed it. So the alignment shop agrees that the truck was way out, and they adjusted it. They tell me that my tires are really chewed up, and the truck is still going to pull to the right until I get the tires replaced (I'm thinking rotate until I decide what I am going to do about tires, but that is a whole 'nother story).

So I head out from the alignment shop and the truck is feeling good. But, I still am not sure the problem has been resolved. Well after a little driving around, it hits again, another wobble, luckily not on the freeway and only doing about 35.

So, where do I go from here? I don't know if this is pertinent to the problem, but Jon and I noticed I do not have a steering stabilizer. Could this be part of the problem. Could the death wobble be the reason I don't have a steering stabilizer?

Man I've had the death wobble when driving my tractor down the road. Definently isnt very fun. Just gotta smile and say, "yeah I was just checking something":D

A worn out steering stabilizer will cause the wobble, not having one at all will be worse. I use Heckethorn brand stabilizers from Napa, about $35.

I had death shake on my previous Dodge (1997 4x4 2500 CTD standard cab) and I went with a Skyjacker dual steering stabilizer set up. The track bar may have been worn as well but the stabilizers took care of it nicely. I can feel the front of my current truck getting a little wobble going once in a while so I will be doing both the link like you used and a Skyjacker set up like I had on my previous truck.

John

The tires can be a big factor especially with no stabilizer. Try the rotation thing and I'd add a stabilizer. I bet with the front and rear tires swapped your problem will either go away or be greatly reduced.

I use to get the same thing on a dump truck I used to drive. It was a five axle truck, w/the second and third axles(counted from the front to back)were air up/air down w/the second axle also a tracking axle(old steer axle off a wreck)that would be left on the ground in a turn to help support the frame when loaded(long truck). Anyhow it done this wobble/shake/fit with me twice before I had enough of it(kinda scared of it, really) It was the steering stabilizer. The shock was wore out and would let the tires get to shimmying back and forth real bad. I couldnt get it to brake out of it, pull out of it, nothing.:D

OK, I got the Skyjacker Dual Inline Steering Stabilizer on order and it should be here mid-week. If this doesn't solve my wobble, what would I be looking at next? The DSS? Doing something with the tie-rods?

I really want to get this resolved so the BOMBing can begin...

I was meaning to call ya, and find out how it turned out....Im not real surprized thatit didn t cure it, since it had no steering stabilizer at all. I bet (and hope) that takes care of it.

BTW, were did you get it and how much (pm) , I ve never had the death wobble, but I think its starting to get there, I have felt strange vibrations on a few rough roads.

PM sent with information. I think it is safe to say that I paid $98 including tax and 2-day shipping. While the dual setup may be overkill, I figured for the price I could afford a little overkill to try and rid myself of this nuisance.

OK, steering stabilizer just arrive via UPS. Will try and get it on tonight and let y'all know how it goes.

Death wobble is scary, ain't it?

As far as ways to resolve this problem:
Steering stabilizer eh?

Mine is probably shot.. I've had the death wobble but I'm pretty sure it happened because my track bar became unbolted at the axle..

My truck has 182k on it and I'm sure it is shot.. Maybe I'll invest in a new one sometime.

I did a lukes link kit and this cured most of it once I made sure the track bar bolt was secure.

A steering stablizer will not cure the death wobble....all it does is mask the problem. I hate to break this to ya, but you wasted your money.

Two most common causes of death wobble are loose track bars and inadequate caster. Loose sector shaft, worn TRE's and out of round/out of balance tires will make it worse.

I know of several folks here who started with the Luke's Link and ended up with an aftermarket track bar.


I'd recommend DT Profab or better yet Thuren for the track bar....Thuren is a better bar and cheaper, but he has a 3-5 week backlog right now. Worth the wait, but that's up to you. If you're having this problem with your 03, Thuren has a track bar coming out for that in about 3-4 weeks (hence the backlog).

The technical term for DW is caster shimmy, I set my caster at 3.2*L, 3.5*R. .3 cross-caster. That usually takes care of it by itself. Find a shop that will align to your specs, not just set it within the factory range and call it good. Too much range in the factory specs.

I speak from experience, I chased the DW for the better part of two years. Now I run 37" Swampers under 6" of lift with NO steering stabilizer. I can let go of the wheel anywhere between 30 and 90 MPH and the truck tracks straight, no hint of the DW, and my tires wear dead even front to back.

Good luck with it.....PM me if you need any more info.

Conrad

OK, steering stabilizer installed. I drove it around town last night and this morning, hitting all the places that would normally have caused the wobble. NO WOBBLE. While this makes me happy, I would have to agree that the problem is not totally gone as I can still feel some play and slop in the steering and when I hit those areas, I can feel a slight wobble, but it corrects itself.

So Conrad, there was NO steering stabilizer at all on this truck, so putting this on wasn't necessarily a waste of money. And it is helping to at least make the truck drivable. I do believe you and still want to continue looking at other areas to improve upon. Let me hit upon your comments:

Loose Track Bar - I rebuilt the track bar with Luke's Link. It was shot and needed to be done. My '03 is only 2WD, does it have a Track Bar? In any case it doesn't have a wobble problem.

Caster - After doing the Track Bar I took it in for alignment. I don't have the printout they gave me at the moment, but all of the caster and camber values were within their tolerance specs. After doing the tires tonight, I wll see if I can't get it into an alignment shop here in town that I am told knows what they are doing and should be able to set this as I want it.

Loose Sector Shat - How can I check for this?

TRE's - Assuming this to be Tie Rod Ends, I am going to order Lukes Link to rebuild all of those as well. I am sure that they are in as bad condition as the Track Bar was.

Tires - This is a real pickle for me. The tires on it still have a lot of rubber left and I am wanting to upgrade to 17" wheels from the 16" currently installed. Not sure if this matters, but the tires are 235/85/16. When I go to 17" I want to go with something a little wider and taller, taller due to gears, wider for the looks. So I haven't decided on what to go with yet, and haven't put the money aside for those yet, I would hate to have to spend money to replace these tires when I won't be getting the ones that I want. I still need to go to a tire shop and have them put the best ones on the front and move the rest to the rear.

Thank you everyone for your continued help. This site is the greatest resource for these trucks and I am so glad to be a member. Maybe someday I will be able to impart my knowledge as all of you have.

I think most of what your feeling now is tires....those tires are probably not very good just by their design(off road tread pattern), plus they could be pretty old, etc....

I agree that a taller tire would be nice....maybe 19.5 or 22's are your your future........I d love to do them but I have my alcoas.....

Cowhand nailed it... the problem lies in the castor setting. Have them align it to those specs, and all should be good. One wierd thing is that I had death wobble due to a sloppy track bar, I put on a DT profab bar and it has never come back. I put it up on the alignment rack, and sure enough they were just a little bit off, I think they were .2 under the specs Cowhand had listed, but it is still safe.

Where did you get your dual stabilizer setup?

OK, so I took the truck to the tire shop last night, can't get in for an alignment for a couple of days. I wanted them to evaluate my tires and put the two best ones up front. Turns out the front passenger side's tire had separated from the "cap?" and this would be causing some problems.

Thinking I would just replace it with my spare, we find out that whoever owned this truck before had left the spare stock, so it wouldn't work with the current tires! Glad I found that out now...

They said that the best place for it would be up front, as it would really play hell in the rear. So, now I am having to search for my new tire setup sooner than hoped for... I guess I need another thread...

Although I understand where Cowhand is coming from on this I can tell you that at the end of the day, when you drive home with a new steering stabilizer and your DW is gone, does it really matter WHY it was doing it? The bottom line is that if the dual stabilizer fixes it then you'll be driving home all :D :D :D . Not trying to flame anyone here I just think that if you have a problem and a part makes the problem go away then it is fixed. The fact that you may have slop in your steering box or several other front end components is definitely an issue that should be addressed no matter what. I also think that an alignment is a good idea and setting it to as much positive caster as possible is a GREAT idea but if you are going to run bigger tires then the stabilzer would be a good idea anyway.

John

Can't say I follow your logic here....that's like saying if I have a tooth ache, and I take a pain killer, everything is okay because it doesn't hurt anymore. You still haven't fixed the problem that caused the symptom. The DW is not the problem, it's the symptom. Now you've spent money you could have spent fixing the problem to cover the symptom.

All the steering stablizer is doing is masking the problem. If you fix the problem, you don't need the steering stabliizer. I can almost guarantee the DW will be back, steering stabilizer or not.

I'm simply trying to pass on my experience with chasing the DW for two years, I'd hate to see you throw as much money at it as I did. ;)

OK, new tires on the truck, and replaced my spare with the same size as the rest... The wobble is gone, truck is tracking correctly.... I am still taking it in to get the alignment spec'ed as Cowhand recommended...

Viper,

Glad to hear you chased it down without too much trouble..;)

OK, so I went to the alignment shop this weekend with the specifications in hand that I have gleaned off this website. After about 20 minutes the technician comes in and tells me that the truck is already set to those specifications and there is nothing for him to do. I asked specifically about the caster, and he said that there really isn't an adjustment for the caster on these trucks, but per the "design" of the truck, the caster is just over 3 degrees.

So, it would appear that MY wobble was finally resolved by the replacement of the bad tire in the front.

Thank you everyone for helping me get this resolved and for the education you have imparted on me. I have learned a lot more about the front end than I knew when this all began.:D

He's an idiot....of course there's a caster adjustment. That's what the cam bolts on the lower control arms are for.

Then again, if it ain't broke right now, don't fix it.

mine turned out to be thr track bar, moog replacement lifetime warranty. replaced once under moog warranty. 200,000 on truck. Yes it is scary especialy with your head out of the window trying to see what the - in going on. stabilizer was not at falt. I think cowhand is on to something with the caster adj, I will look into that.

I found i had this issue the first time I drove my truck on the interstate. On local roads I never got above 60-65 mph, which was too low for my case. The first trip on the highway after purchasing my truck, (on a weekend trip that totalled over 1200 miles), I hit 75 and got DW. I'm into 4x4s, and know what it is, so besides puckering up my cheeks a bit, I wasn't too scared (although I have to say, DW with a Ram feels a lot different than in a Jeep!), but the other drivers gave me plenty of room. Anyway, I found that my track bar was VERY loose (and kicked myself for not checking the front end better while at home). I replaced that during the trip at a friend's house with hopes of a full cure, but the next day during a ride out of state, I got it again at around 75. This time it wasn't nearly as bad, and instead of having to slow to 30 mph for it to go away, I only had to slow to around 60. After I got home from my trip I changed the tires and wheels with some others I had, and tested them on a 500 mile round trip ride to Albany without any problems. I checked the old tires and the right front had a spot where it was starting to bubble.

From my experience with Jeep Cherokees (with the same front suspension design as a 4x4 Ram), DW can be caused by any number of things. Just a partial list from memory:
-Tires out of balance or out of round. Bent wheel(s)
-Worn tie rod end(s)
-Worn track bar
-Caster out of spec
-Bad wheel bearing(s)
-Bad shock(s)

And I'll add another vote for the steering stabilizer being just a mask for a real problem, not the cure. A stabilizer should help dampen the steering while on rough roads. You should be able to drive the truck just fine without one if there are no other problems.

Jim

I think the Death Wobble is designed into the Dodges. I had an old 72D200 318 4-spd granny gear, I would hit a bump and the truck would do the same thing you guys are mentioning.[eyecrazy] weird. I had to slow down to get it to stop.

DW
 

Everytime I think the DW is fixed it shows up again. I am still looking for a fix.
For review I have used Lukes link on track bar which wore out. Replaced track bar with lynstadt track bar. DSS installed. New shocks. New steering stabilizers. Caster adjustments 3.2 L 3/5 R. Ball joints replaced.
The convsation is interesting because all these items seem to mask the problem. As the death wobble seems to always return. The caster adjustments made a big improvement but they only mask a problem in the front end. I can speak with authority as there is no death wobble when disconnected from my large boat trailer. As the front end is lifted by the trailer the alignment changes and allows the DW to return. A previous poster hit the nail on the head, when turning the truck to the right the steering feels tight and no DW occurs. WHen turning to the left the steering feels slightly loose and a very small metal to metal contact can be felt through the steering wheel, and the DW can occur. Making a fast stop on a corner or hitting a bump can both start the death wobble.

I personally can vouch for this. If someone can tell me where to host a large mpeg I will post slow motion video of our truck. The ball joints were wasted and the dealer kept throwing shocks at it and the the Stabilizer. While it did dampen the wobble it would still shake a few times before stopping. There is a reason the original one was destroyed.

Randy

Re: DW
 

It's still caster....think about it. With a 4 link front end, when a load is placed on the back of the truck, the front end lifts, changing your caster. This also causes your front wheels to toe in a little bit more because some of the load is off on them.

Try cranking a little MORE caster into the front and set the toe dead neutral (0*) when unloaded, so that you end up with a slight toe in condition when loaded. This *should* clear up your problem.

At 0* toe, your steering will feel a little "twitchy" unloaded and have a tendency to follow the crown in the road, lines in the pavement, etc., but it should straighten out the DW when you're hooked up to a trailer.

Try checking all the bolts that connect the front suspension.

I ran into a problem on a ford ttb front end. It would do the same thing, but it was so bad that the steering wheel would jerk back and forth a full turn each way when it was doing it...on it's own.

After having it in the repair shop 2 times, and supposedly fixing it, it was still there, but not quite as bad.

I looked under it while someone cycled the steering back and forth. Yep, all the ball joints and tie rod ends were tight, but the bolts that held the ttb's to the frame were so loose, I could almost take them out by hand.

once the shop fixed that,. the probelm was solved.

This was on a work truck I had to drive...not my own truck BTW.

ViperSBT,
Sent you a PM.

Randy

cowman
 

Cranked all the caster possible, will check and set the toe to 0 Deg. Even if these changes work, the concern remains that if you load my 27' boat on a new truck, the front end lifts changing the alignment but drives without DW.

Replacing the tires every 30,000 miles will fix it, or new shocks or new track bar, lukes link. new stabilizers, DSS. My point is that all these things that work for a while, mask some worn component that has not been identified yet.

My friend who hauls new truck Campers with new tagalong trailers behind had the same problem when the truck was loaded. Stepping on the brake could set it off, or hitting some bump would set the DW off. He ended up trading for a new pickup, because we were unable to stop the DW which seemed to eventually return.

Look at your steering set up....is it the inverted "Y" or "T"?

Inverted "T" has a solid tie rod that goes from knuckle to knuckle, drag link attaches to the tie rod near the right TRE. Inverted "Y" has a link that goes from the pitman arm to the right knuckle and the left side goes from the center of the tie rod/drag link to the left knuckle.

The "Y" set up causes the front tires to toe in when the front end lifts.....

That's why I went to x-over steering.