oaborbag

Lately when coming to a stop every once in a while the steering wheel will jerk back and forth causing the whole truck to shake, goes away when I let off the brakes, I've had warped rotors before, and they will shake everytime you brake, this doesn't happen all the time, and seems to lessen if i get on the brakes harder, any idea what the problem is? sometimes its really bad and i HAVE to let off the brakes.

oaborbag

anyone know what could cause this? should I check all the joints? or just take it to a front end shop? or is it most likely brake related? it does pull to the ri ght when braking, but also shakes like mad then, thanks.

oaborbag

ttt, just wanted to add, I have taken it to a local tire/brake/alignment shop...as i got there, they pulled it into their shop, then the foreman i guess, some guy that thought he was a hot shot comes over to me tries to be my best friend and tells me that since its lifted....3" leveling kit....and has big tires there isn't anything they can do, I don't even think they looked at it, so i got my truck and left,

Since then its gradually got worse, I just had my brakes checked out a few weeks ago, passenger caliper was replaced and a lot of the pull was taken away,(it was really bad, as in slam on the brakes your in the next lane) but it still does the VERY bad shake about 30% of the time when you brake, goes away when you let off the brakes, and still pulls to the right a bit, whne i stop i have to turn the wheel to about 10 o'clock to stop straight, I really just want the truck somewhat normal, I know with the tires and leveling kit it won't ride perfect, but its just getting out of hand. thanks in advance for responses.

jiMMyCTD

leval kit and big tires shouldnt matter. mind goes fine. i would rotate the tires. have the rotors turned and get new pads. get a new trac bar... also jack the front up on jack stands and look at the ball joints for excessive play as well as the steering box....

jiMMy

BigDodgeBigHart

Finally someone has felt the same death wobble I have had. I drove a 94 Cummins Ram Tow Truck and my boss at the time would not believe me that the steering wheel would violently shake and almost cause a serious accident! I could not even control it at times, finally I refused to drive it and he ended up replacing ALL front end parts, everything, and it cost him huge, but it fixed it. Although it had 400,000 klms on it. So I hate to say it but before it gets as bad as I had it, replace things till it is fixed one at a time or all at once if you can afford it.

oaborbag

okay thanks for the replies, I'll start with the brake pads/rotors, as those are easy to replace, and the rotors have hot spots on them anyways, and my mechanic said turning them probably wouldn't do much, then I'll start at all connections up front to see if any are bad, but as far as I can tell, its a braking thing, since it ONLY happens when i'm braking, but it doesn't feel like rotor warp since it doesn't happen all the time, which makes me wonder what the heck is wrong, o well, thanks for the replies thus far.

pull-do

Sounds like to me your brakes do need tending to, but it sounds like the brakes just tend to set things in motion, ie: loose front end parts, somewhere, or all of them are worn, IMHO

megamac

Hate to say it, but your problem is most likely the ball joints. Been there, done that. As one said before, check them. On my truck, it was the inner tie rod that was bad. The brakes might start it to wobble, but it is happening because of the play in the ball joints. Not fun!

BigDodgeBigHart

I believe it is the ball joints, tie rod ends and tthere I think is a steering damper? This I believe has to be bigger and tougher than the stock one, then of course there is the bearings, rotors and calipers too, but when we replaced all of it, it did not haoppen again, for a couple thousand!

oaborbag

Just went outside and started jerking on all the bars up front, none of them seemed to move much, I could see the tie rod ends move like, 1/32"? or so, enough to see a little bit where it connects to the wheel, but other than that nothing really moved much, what i did notice tho, is that on the driver's side wheel seal I could see a little grease on the back of the bearing, and the other side was clean, Not sure if thats a leak or not just noticed that its greasy on there, guess i'll have to take it to some alignment shop that will actually look at a "modified" truck, hard to find in the california valley...everyone is scared of something that isn't stock, Kind of sucks.

badme

Check the left caliper for your pull to the right. If the pistons stuck the left brake will not apply as much as the right causing a pull to the right. The shake is more than likely a hard part such as ball joints, panhard bar, or control arm. The control arms and panhard bar can be removed and check if the bushings are worn. I have had them look good in the vehicle and be junk when removed.

jiMMyCTD

did you jack it up on stands and play with the linkages or just yank on them with all the weight on them thus not letting the worn item show their face.....

oaborbag

Just moved them while on the ground, Haven't had time to get the jack out there and crawl on the ground yet, doing that tomorrow Morning, hopefully I can find hte problem and a local parts store has it, otherwise not sure If i want to go to the dealer...they always seem to be at least, 10 X more money than anyone.

pull-do

You'll have to take the weight off the front end to check the front end parts, support the truck where the suspension just "hangs" down in limp mode.


Front end parts require very little movement to be "worn" out, I don't know the specifics on the 2500's yet because mine is still tight, but with my past experience with other front end parts, look for up and down movement where one part inserts into the next member, most of the time when it is worn and you move the tire on one side while looking from underneath you'll see the movement, you'll more than likely need some help.

That's about as simple as my pea brain can put it, I sure there's alot more experience on this board than I can offer. but this has worked for me in the past.

tony597fitter

When you jack up the truck, grab the tire, and try to move it up and down or side to side. If you can feel any play up and down it could be ball joints or wheel hub assembly.
when you move it side to side and feel any play that will be steering parts, tierods, trackbar etc.
When my trackbar went out, I could have the truck running and look out the window while turning the steering wheel back and forth, you could see the body of the truck move first and then the wheels.
If you are doing the job yourself, get the parts from rockauto.com, they are the cheapest around for quality parts.