drove the company 06 sb/qc down to mobile for work only 37k on it and experienced death wobble or what felt like tank slap on a motorcycle, what would cause this,all lugs are tight, tires are balanced and didnt notice any obviuos tie rod end problems it persisted every time we got on rough road or hit bumps going onto overpasses

 

3 good things to check, 1 track bar, 2 ball joints, 3 BFG AT tires.

 

Get the tires computer balanced and make sure they are not wearing unevenly. Balance sets it off, play in the system fails to stop it. Or a bad bump in the road can set it off, and again, the linkage is not strong enough to get it under control. BFGs seem to be especially bad because they don't seem to be very round or evenly balanced.

Look into the new '08 steering linkage upgrade including the new damper or an aftermarket damper. This is really important and should be done on all third gen trucks that don't already have it!

Adjust the caster to the max at the eccentric adjusters on the lower links.

Then it's time to check and replace the trackbar bushings or just get a new stronger bar.

Finally, adjust the steering box.

With only 37,000 miles you probably are not overdue for ball joints, but maybe. Check the play while doing the other work and, if you do need them, DON'T get stock ones or Moogs. Get something else like Dynatracs or another quality brand.

With all this you are good to go unless you have very large tires or out of round tires.

 

Could the "death wobble" be caused by a seperating tire?

Less than 2 years ago I experienced something like that on my 2004.5, which I first thought was bad roadwork. OEM tires still had a decent amount of tread on them, but the tire seperated and blew. I intalled my unused spare at that time. Last month, same thing happened to it after less than 30,000 miles! At 55, it felt like a consistently uneven road. At 70, it felt like the truck was going to fall apart!

The seperation isn't readily visible until you take the tire off and/or run your hand around the tread surface.

 

I think this is happening to my truck. I just replaced both front lower ball joints with Moog (i didn't know there was anything better), as well as the right control arm. it felt good and solid for about 3000 miles. Now it's back to the "normal" feeling-- like it is constantly trying to readjust itself.... I had the front end aligned. I didn't do anything to the steering damper....

 

thats probably from the moog ball joints, there most likely binding up which is why you always have to keep adjusting the wheel.

 

It sounds like your truck is wandering as opposed to death wobble. Wander is usually caused by poor alignment but in you case it may be the ball joints as the above poster mentioned.

 

Replace the steering damper.
Replace the track bar bushings with urethane bushings.
Set caster to a minimum of 3.5.

I had death wobble so bad I couldn't drive the truck (with BFG's). I did the above and fixed it. You all do what you want, but there's a lot of the new 08 steering set-ups that are having DW problems. Some guys throw thousands of dollars in joints, bearings and steering. Try my easy cheap suggestions first, you can always spend more money later.

 

I'll definately start with the steering damper 1st... I just clocked over 191000... i'm sure it needs replacement... couldn't tell you when it was last replaced....