BossHogg

Is there anything to prevent this? My truck has been starting to violently shake more and more as my tires wear. Also its starting to wobble closer to 75mph. I know some evenly worn tread would help, maybe a stearlng dampners, etc?

Stealth Mode

check the alinment boss.. all these trucks arn't built to the same specs.. if it's death wobble should be in the caster adjustment. i always thought it was in the toe in out? are your 315's balanced out at 0??? just trying to help

Patriot2500

Does it happen when you hit a bump? I was getting in at 80MPH with my 35's and my shocks were bad. Added a set of Rancho RS9000X's and problem solved.

JWash1

Am I mistakin in the thought that most of the guys that encounter the death wobble are running BFG 315s? I had a set of 31X10.50R15 BFG TA/KO 's on my last truck (2000 Dakota 4X4 V8 Club Cab) and I was impressed with them, until they were worn to about the halfway point. Thats when they began to require more often re-balancing than normal. Just a thought.

goose2

I had the stock tires on my 04.5 with a 2 inch lift and I had the death wobble thing happen. So it just ain't a sertain brand of tires that cause it.

ramhardv8

Slow down to the speed limit........

IdleChatter'n

My response to the DW was a set of Thuren Track and Cross Bars. Still need to have the truck aligned but should prevent this from happening again. Cross Bar directly connects one wheel to the other and would prevent toe in / toe out in rapid secession. My 2 cents worth.

BossHogg

idlechatter'n,
where can I get a set of these and how much do they run?

IdleChatter'n

Performance and Accessories 3rd gen only

THURENfab.

Sorta...

They are really common tires so if you have 315's, and have death wobble, there is a good chance you have BFG's so that's where the blame lies. IMO, they are great tires and contribute nothing more than any other tire brand to DW. The main problem is ballance and diameter where a larger tire being out of ballance will be about 5 times more prone to DW than a stock tire out of ballance the same degree. For the most part, an out of ballance tire, is an out of ballance tire, and BFG 315's are no worse than most other brands when it comes to required ballancing weight...

-Don

abc4yew

Ya gotta properly rotate the tires, reverse tire direction and front to back often and check balance everytime. The 2nd last time 1 wt was added. This time 2.5 pounds of weight was added. Next time I am going to deflate and rotate the tire on the rim to see if I can drop some of the weight off. I had an intermittent big vibe at 65 to 80....balanced and gone. The mud and debris in the duallies exaggerated the problem.

Don, Love your stuff. ks

pullin hard

hows the front end parts ????
are they starting to go????

crossy

I suggest you go through this entire thread(eeeeek). link
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=95732

My truck is an 05 and my problem was alot worse at higher sppeds. i wrote out some lengthy replys. I waited a while to get the front end aligned but it was worth it. If you want just go through and look for My replies. happy reading. DAVE

bigbrowndog

My 97 4x4 has had this problem 3 times in the last 2 months. Typically I am going the speed limit (75 mph in CO) and hit a bump. Then the whole front end starts to violently shake and I have to pull over to a complete stop for it to quit. Truck had the ball joints replaced at 80K and how has 190K. It may be way out of alignment, need new shocks, or a new steering stabilizer. Installing the new stabilizer next week.

There is no movement in the tire when jacked, so I am ruling out ball joints...alignment and shocks I hope will fix the problem. My wife is scared to death to ride in this truck right now!

John_P

BossHogg:

Awhile back, I posted a very long thread on this subject here on DTR. You can do a search under my name "John_P" if you want to read any of it. It is pretty long.

I wanted ou to know that the Zone Rep. for D/C here in our area (eastern N.C.) gave my dealership (National Dodge) a "Zone Bulletin" on a repair procedure for "Death Wobble" or "Front End Shimmy" and so far this seems to be working on the trucks my Dodge Technician has repaired with the dreaded "Death Wobble."

For your information here is what the Zone Bulletin said:

1.) Ensure the steering damper is operating properly throughout the entire stroke. There should be some resistance to motion in both directions.

2.) Alignment (Toe Only):
Set the front toe of the vehicle to +0.15 degrees (toe in) per side for a
total of +0.3 degrees.

3.) Tires: Inspect front tires for abnormal wear. If tires are abnormally worn,
recommend new tires to the customer.

4.) Knuckles: Replace the left and right steering knuckles on the front axle.

FWIW,........the trucks that seem to have the worst problems with this are the ones running the larger 315/70R/16/17 inch tires. IMO, it may be caused by the increased weight/wear from the heavier tires on all of the front end components.

Hope this has helped you some.

-------
John_P