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 . 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.

 

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. weird. I had to slow down to get it to stop.

 

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.