Well I guess I just experienced my first death wabble. Boy was that kinda scarry for a few seconds. I was running about 60 mph towing a 30' flatbed gooseneck unloaded. I was in a tight turn on a small county road and I hit a rough spot in the road. I travel this road regularly and have never had this happen before. The entire truck began to shake like crazy including the steering wheel. I hit brakes and slowed down the shaking continued, it continued until I straightend out of curve(seemed like forever). For a split second I thought I was going to loose control of the whole thing. It just would not stop shaking. Do you think the curve, the trailer, or what else may have caused this. Here in rural Ala. all the roads are pretty rough; I sure don't want this to happen again. Thanks for any input.

 

Caster angle will contirbute. Look for something worn. Broken belt in tire contirbute also. Stablizer shock will cause also.

 

Look at track bar bushings, ball joints, axle ujoints, tie rod ends, or hub bearing assemblys. Could be one or combo of all of these becoming worn over the years. Steering stabilizer is usually not the culprit but can mask the underlying problem.

 

I have experienced a slight death wobble twice! Both times was due to a binding up outer U joint! But, not to undermine the other suggestions wich could also be the cause! Just my 2 cents! Good luck!!!

 

I was in need of new tires when it happened to me. It scared the poop out of me. After replacing the tires, I've had no more issues. I was running 315 BFG A/T at the time.

 

caster angle was the cause when i had death wobble i got it when i put on a 2" leveling kit then i put 2" blocks in the rear and the wobble was gone and mine was so bad i couldn't drive down the interstate above 60mph the smallest bump would cause it but now the truck rides as smooth as the day i bought it. hope you get it fixed becuase it is pretty scarry.

danny

 

I had it happen to me towing a 36 ft 5th wheel with my old 96 just south of Dallas. Scared the crap out of me! Luckily I spotted a dealership just up the road and pulled in. I described what happened and speculated that the shocks were probably shot. Without even knowing what colour the truck was, they said it's not your shocks it's the steering dampener. They were right. This tells me that while there may be other causes as discribed by others, these experienced people at the dealership were saying that the steering dampener is the most common cause.

 

I just pulled a leveling kit off a 06 last week that was on a used truck that a guy bought that had death wobble. He called back and said so far so good. Next thing in line to get rid of was his D rated 315 tires (toyo if I remember correct).

I have another 05 with the issue but the owner has "show pony" syndrome and can't bear to part with his level kit or 315 BFG tires. Being this one has 97K on it we noted a couple of sloppy tie rod ends so we are going to start there and try to knock as much caster in it as we can. We also ordered a dual shock steering stabilizer. Guess we'll spend $$ until it's gone. Next in line will be his D rated 315 tires. Time will tell.

 

Getting rid of the soft OEM trackbar bushings is a big help too.

 

Totally stock truck, father original owner me second. Death wabble only when braking. Towed a fifth wheel (to 72k mi)and never abused, hardly off road!?! Now I have drove it to about 190k. Still a fine truck although wabble is scaring wife (and me)!!

 

When was the last time the brakes were serviced?

 

Toyo doesn't offer a D rated 315. Theirs is an E. Most others are D rated.