Death Wobble
 

The last couple of times I've had my truck over 60mph and hit any kind of rough spot in the road I've experienced the "Death Wobble". The first couple of times it was pretty severe. I took my truck to local shop that deals with mostly heavy duty trucks. They found some worn steering parts which they replaced. Things seemed to better until the last time I got over 60, I hit a rough spot and had the wobble again.

The shop owner said the next step would be to replace the tires, which goes along with some things I've read. Has anyone else had any experience with "Death Wobble"?

For what it's worth, I drive a '05 Ram 2500, 4wd, with 6" lift. The truck has about 156k miles.

Thanks for any input that might help.

The 6" lift can't help. [roll]

Take it to an allignment shop and have them raise the caster a few degrees and that should help somewhat. You might also try to get a drop style pitman arm to lower the steering linkage back to a more normal working angle.

Do a search under 'death wobble' here and start reading the hundreds of replies. Had it on mine from very early. It got worse once I switched to the large tires. On my 3rd set of ball joints.
Try moving the front axle as far forward as possible. (caster angle)
I have the extra steering stabilizer, the BD steering box dooddad and they helped, but still once in while with the right kind of bump, still get it a bit.

Thanks for the input on my issue. I know the lift can't help, the truck had the lift when I bought it. For what it's worth, it was done professionally, and has the drop pitman arm and dual steering stabilizers. I've had the truck for a couple of years and the problem just started, until recently it's been as solid as a rock.

Really can be anything from tires, to suspension, to alignment and lot's of folks got tired of spending money before resolving. I personally agree with a previous post that said with the right bump or series of rumple strips that any of these trucks can exhibit this behavior. They are solid axle, heavy duty trucks and aren't really designed for high speed driving common today.

I might swap out the ball joints, the rest of the steering was checked and a couple of parts replaced. My tires are getting worn but still OK. I may have to replace them sooner than later.

I agree with your thoughts on the high speed, heavy duty truck thing. I really don't drive that fast, usually keep it around 65 on the highway.

Thanks for everyone's input.

As I am from the world of jeep I can't give you the best place to start, but death wobble is very common on jeeps and this is my process for figuring it out.

On a flat surface with your truck idling, turn your steering from lock to lock, then center the wheels and have someone turn the steering wheel about a quarter of a turn back and forth pretty rapidly. While they have the steering going back and forth, be under the truck and feel all moving parts, start at the steering box and work your way out through the drag link and track bar and tie rod ends and so on. Any play or pop in any part can be the cause of death wobble. Again coming from jeep world, Track bar is usually 90% of the issue.

I second the track bar, and it's easily overlooked. My tires were worn out and turned out to be the culprit on mine, but the track bar bushings were worn out and I believe that contributed to it.