horselady

When I first bought my truck, I replace the front end with all new Moog components due to wear from large tires. It was just very sloppy, never had any vibrations. I have been feeling a vibration for a while- can feel it a little at all speed most of the time. Bumpy roads set it off. Was thinking I had a u joint going bad. A few weeks ago, I experience minor DW- slowing down smoothed it out. I had to pick up a few things from Home Depot yesterday on the way home, about 2,000lbs hit a bump and the truck started shaking badly! Didn't try to wander all over the road, stayed straight, was bad enough to make everyone around me back off and stay away!
I know my rear springs are worn out, I was pricing replacements just due to the ride comfort and ride height. My husband has seen this issue on a Nissan- turned out the be worn spring bushings.
Anybody heard of worn rear suspension components causing Death Wobble??
The vibration does not feel like it is coming from the front end,- you feel it more in the floorboard, and even yesterday it does not feel like it is coming through the steering wheel. We are going to try to check it out today, any ideas about where to start in the rear?

G1625S

Except for the lack of steering wheel shake, that's classic death wobble syndrome. The fact that It got worse with a load points to bad alignment, specifically the caster setting. Weighing the rear of the truck heavily effectively 'lifts' the front and, as the front suspension unloads, the caster angle changes. Because the factory specs are so wide, riding empty can be on the ragged edge of wobble and a slight load can push the suspension over that edge. The constant slight vibration points as evidence toward that situation on your truck. I just recently (yesterday) was finally able to remedy the same problem with my truck by dialing in more caster. I experienced death wobble after installing a 2'' leveling kit. Hope this helps.

G1625S

Here's some advice I got on another forum after describing my problem:

When you lift the front of the truck with taller springs or coil spacers, you pull the front bolt of the lower control arm toward the back of the truck which plays with caster. To correct this, you need to push the lower control arm forward which means having the large part of the cam toward the back of the truck (which sounds like the opposite of what you posted).

That being said, that amount of adjustment may not be enough. If you want to keep the truck as it is now, longer lower control arms will help.

Chris Taylor

Check your tracbar from my experience most all DW issues lead there.

horselady

My ride height is stock. I'm going to replace the rear springs with factory equivelant. But right now due to the wearing out of the springs, it does sit level when empty.
We aligned it not long ago- husband took it to work and put it on the rack there.
Alo the vibration did not start when the fron axle went over the bump- it was the rear wheel going over the bump that set it off. Could that still be the track bar? I did use an oe replacement- not an upgrade since I had sooo much to do to this truck when I first got it. Was running out of money fast!

Chris Taylor

Was the rear wobbling or the front?

horselady

It felt like the rear, NOT the front.
As stated in first post, I KNOW my rear springs are fatigued. I had bought a 97 new ( not this truck), and I remember the rear sat high compared to the front. This truck sits level at best- maybe just a tad lower in the rear unloaded.

nickg

DW is in the front, if rear is hopping/bouncing, I highly doubt worn springs is the cause of the issue, shocks control spring occeliation, so if the rear end is "bouncing" remove the shocks and check them. also an out of balance tire(or broken belts) coupled with bad shocks will cause hop.

the DW is usually started as soon as the front wheel hits a bump, and the sensation is as if you suddenly had square wheels

mrclean

Based on your description, your problem is not the classic death wobble. DW is worn front-end components combined with (usually) a lift and poor alignment.
With that said, your issue could be caused by worn or non-existent bushings, combined with the worn-out springs. Also, check the shackles.....I've seen more than a couple of these trucks (including my own) with shackles broken in half. Actually, you'll want to check everything back there......a broken spring u-bolt would add some instability as well. And if any of the front-end components discussed above are worn, it would only make things worse....