So I now know what the death wobble feels like, the question is now...how do I get rid of it?
Its a 2005 2500 4x4 with a 3" fabteck lift with 57000 miles

And has there been any recalls on this problem?

Any help/links would be greatly appreciated as its my wife's truck and she doesn't like the way "DEATH wobble" sounds

 

In order of usual causes:

1. Tires - balance, wear, and make. BFG's equal bad news. Cupping and scuffing are indications something is not right.

2. Steering damper - MUST be good or it will wobble.

3. Alignment - caster is extremely important and a lot of lifts do NOT account for the chnages.

4. Trackbar - ends must be tight.

5. Shocks - high quality and valved correctly or they bounce.

6. Tie rod ends.

7. Ball joints.


There is no silver bullet to fix DW. You have to find the source and correct the problem. Since the lift was added that suaully means bigger tires which leads to out of spec alignment and\or extra pry and wear on the componenets.

 

Thanks no_6_oh_no

Last night I ordered a BD steering box stabilazer
http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/d...zer/index.html

I hope it fixes the problem, but like you said there could be more wear.

The wheel bearings have a little play and there is about 1.5" of play in the gear box/wheel.

On my 93 I can remove play in the gear box, is this the same with the newer trucks?

 

I feel your pain. I went round and round with DW, until I finally realized that i needed to get rid of my BFG A/Ts. (I was a lucky one in this respect, as you will find there are many memebers here that have spent MUCHO coin on fixing this same problem). For the most part i feel like no_6_oh_no gave you a good place to start.

For your reading pleasure:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...le-t94076.html

Good luck...it's a frustrating problem to say the least!

Wife wouldn't ride in the truck for 6 months after it happened to us on the interstate (but I'm not sure if that was a blessing or a curse )

 

Thats a good start if you have bigger tires and getting walk in the whole system. What size and make tires is on the truck?

The steering box can be adjusted to take excess wear out, to a point. All you can really adjust is the lash on the worm gear. If the wear is in the shaft bearings where it is a lot of times you will need a new steering box.

If the wheel bearings have play at all they are shot and need replacing. That will definitely contribute to DW and excessive tire wear which contributes even more.

 

The tires are pro comp extreem A/T 35"
I talked to the dealer where I bought it and they said they would replace any work parts for free

Also talked to a friend who has a 06 2500 that has the DW bad, and he said that Dodge has issued a recall, and they replaced almost his entire steering setup!!
First I've heard of any recall for the DW

 

Well I too now can say I've had that DW nonsense. This morning at about 70 mph hit a bump and there it was. Had been noticing a little bit of bounce now and then but this morning it was big time. Slowed down a little and it stopped but got to work and ordered new shocks. These have about 60K miles on them and still should be good but will replace them first. Then take a look at the steering stabilizer. The tires are about half tread so that could be adding into the equation. Ball joints only have about 50K on them and were replaced when the hubs were installed so am hoping those are good. I haven't had the tie rod recall taken care of yet but that will be done in about 3 weeks. Alignment seems good, no strange wear nor drifting or pulling and it was done about 8 months ago. I'll take a look at the track bar tonight but is there anything else to think about?

 

The majority of trucks with DW have two things in common. Big tires and a lift. Solid axle and coil spring ends bring out DW by their design.

 

i have a 2005, 2500 2 wheel drive,

Is this death wobble only a 4x4 problem?

my truck has 50k miles, with std size michelin tires, it drives and rides like great, so far it has been a fine truck.

when i ask my mech about installing grease zerks in the front end, he said no plugs to take out to install the grease zerks.

Told me to just bring it back at 100k and he would replace all the worn out parts, all he could do,

why would they build a big heavy truck that you could not grease the front end joints??????????

took a little shine off my dodge truck!

 

Highway 4X4 hit the nail on the head. Lifts and bigger tires invite the DW. A friend has a totally stock 2007 and was only running 35 psi and had the DW, told him to up it to 55 psi and no more issues.

 

Not so, my neighbor has had the DW since the truck was new, never lifted or increased the tire size. Mine has gone away with new tires and an alignment and I have 35" tires. I have one theory and I believe im right-so when dodge had the problem with the frame cracking at the steering box the fix was to have the passenger tire be the "master" and the driver tire as the "slave." But by creating the extra length in the steering components it gave to much flex to the entire system. So when the truck hits a bump it starts the flex, goes past the center line and over corrects, back and forth back and forth.....
Bigger tires do contribute, but it seems that ANY play will eventually end up in DW to some degree. The key is to eliminate the play.....