Just returned from a trip to Fl with my camper on the truck and my 32" bumper pull trailer in tow .
This is a normal configuration for this truck (98000 miles) and has handled well up until this trip.
Shortly before leaving i had the rear U joint changed and noticed imediatly after hooking up the trailer the acceleration shutter, this is being addressed Monday by the dealer.
However in addition to the shuttr i am also expeirencing a "soft" wandering, noticably "bad" when being passed by trucks ect.
Just before i left i had a new set of 120R owl goodyear wglr silent armor tires.
Any ideas ?

 

May be tires, softer sidewalls (don't know this for a fact, just a guess). I do know I had problems with my TT and truck wondering so I changed my tires, put on supersprings and changed out factory shocks.

 

What was the weight rating on those tires? Ds or Es? Could be those. Also heard Ball joints wearing out start making it sloppy, don't know about it wandering?

 

Is it a 4x4? If it is check your track bar.

 

You might want to consider one of the many aftermarket steering stabilizers that are available. They add a bearing to the end of the sector shaft to alleviate the cantilever configuration. The sector shaft actually moves back and forth a bit as the gearbox wears. The stabilizers lessen wander.

 

i have bilstein shocks on it. wandering may not be the proper term as most of the problem is encountered when big trucks are passing me.

 

they are E's-----They supposedly are state of the art tires with kevlar constructed sidewalls

 

I put a set of silent armors on mine back in june last year. Had this wandering for about the first 400 to 600 miles. It went away after that. Guess they have to " break in " a little. They sure ride good now with about 10000 miles on them.
Wayne

 

i drove from Mi to Fl and back----------not sure the "wandering" is tire related alto it did start right after installing them.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....er+SilentArmor

 

Shake down your front end, pay attention the the sector shaft in the steering box, my steering box was just replaced by the dealer under warranty for the same exact thing, (wandering). You can check it be lying under the front of the truck, reach up and grab the steering shaft and move it back and forth, while moving it look at the pitmain arm sector shaft, look for any side to side play. There is usually a lot of rust coming from the steering box where the sector shaft enters it if there is any play. I guess this is a fairly common issue with these trucks.

New tires can also exaggerate the problem.

Good luck,

Tim

 

Two things I could think of. 1) Are you sure the trailer had the proper tongue weight? put it on a scale and see exactly weight distribution on each axle is or was. My boat gets a little loose when I have too much fuel, I then will move #50-70 lbs to the front of the boat and all is well. 2) I have read that some tires take 3-4k miles before they stiffen up. I never seen this myself because I usually replace tires with what the truck came with originally. But I have read in some places it has happened. You could talk with a dealer or Goodyear directly. Hope you get it resolved, just my $0.02

 

Am Considering Installing A Set Of Airbags . Anyone Put Them On A 3500 ?

 

It is the tires, plain and simple. I have been through this with tires twice now and have talked to many others with the same issues. give them some time and they will settle down. My worse set was bridgestone duelers revos. It took about 8000 mile before the trcuk quit wandering and it was way worse when towing.

yes bags will help keep the weight on the front end because that is why it is worse towing. I just put bags on my 3500 a week ago. Will be towing 12000 from Pa to Nc in 2 days. The install was super easy.

 

A front end problem can often go unnoticed until disturbed, like when you put new tire on or jack a vehicle up off the ground and upset the geometry of the suspension, installing new tires and towing is a sure fire way to find any underlying problems, and waiting 4-5k miles for a vehicle to stop wandering is just simply allowing the tires to wear to front end as it is.

Have you had any front suspension work done yet? An 06 with 98k on it something is probably overdue.

Tim

 

well, I agree to a point but a truck with less than 100 miles that does the same thing after putting brandnew tires on is the tires. just went through this a week ago. we even put the old wheels and tires back on to make sure.Yep, the wandering was gone after we went back to the stock setup. this topic has been covered quite a bit. some tires are worse than others.