stutz

Before Sunday I didn't pay much attention to the death wobble posts because it seemed to me that most of the people having the problems had modified either the lift or the tires on their trucks.

I have a totally stock (only because I am broke) 2004.5 truck. Even the tires are the stock highway tread that came with the truck all with 45psi (I checked them after I got home). My wife drove the truck last week and she told me that while going around a corner that had a large dip in the middle of it, the truck almost shook her off the road after hitting the dip. That is out on the I-80 where they have been working on the road (CalTrans don't even get me started).

After hearing her story I thought it might be the death wobble that I had read about on this site but figured that it most likely was just a big bump that might have just shook the truck real hard. That is until Sunday when we were headed in to town traveling down the same freeway that my wife was driving on a week prior. About a mile before we got to the place it happened I decided to see if I could recreate the problem. I set the cruise control at 75mph (the speed my wife said she was going) got in the same lane as her. Luckily there wasn't many cars on the road that morning or we would have been buying a few of them.

I do have to say that the dip wasn't a small dip but it wasn't anything that would have slowed you down either. I had went over some much worse that that before with the truck but they were not on a corner at freeway speeds. After this dip Sunday morning, the truck just started juke side to side very quickly. I tapped the brakes to shut off the cruise and that just seemed to make it worse. Within a few seconds the truck had slowed down and stopped shaking. I regained control 3/4 of the way into lane next to me. After letting go of the seat with my butt cheeks I looked over at my wife and she had one of those -I told you so- looks. I tried not to give her to much satifaction and calmly told her I would have it looked at.

If the dealer gives me any stink over this I will personally give him a ride up there and show it to him.

Has anybody had this problem fixed by the dealer? I would sure would like to go in there knowing what they need to fix. I would rather not have them 'Easter Egg' the problem until they get lucky and change the right part.

Thanks for any insite you can offer.

Stutz

John Rodriguez

Check the track-bar bolts and make sure they're tight.

v8440

Try raising your tire pressure too, not to fix whatever's wrong, but to help prevent it from happening again until you can get it fixed. I seem to recall somewhere that running higher pressures tends to delay or prevent the wobble.

Pearce

Check you ball joints too. Anything loose in the front end steering can cause it.

stutz

Thanks for the input.

I will jack the truck up and shake the front end out this weekend. I will make sure nothing is loose. I will let you know if I find anything.

Would a set of aftermarket stablizers help you think?

Stutz

Mike67RS

The condition you describe caused my death wobble too. Slight right turn, high speed, bumps that get it going. It is rare with a stock truck though. I wouldn't buy another Dodge till DC does something to address this problem.

TRAVIST

To fast for a corner with a dip? It's a truck not a ferarri.

Mike67RS

Yeah...whatever...It shouldn't kill you for going too fast.

joel

ARRRRGHH!! It's just I-80! Not THE I-80. I mean, is the sky "the blue" or just blue?

I don't know where Californians picked this up, but I'm sorry, it's just wrong. The rest of the country just laughs at people when they do that.

Sorry... pet peeve.

I hope your dealer doesn't screw with you and gets this fixed right away. It's great that you can reproduce it and hopefully scare the crap out of your dealer so he'll jump right on it.

Good luck!

Mike67RS

Stupid Californians

mestdagh

the "South of France" he says ... I say "You mean Southern France, right?"

JamesP

Stutz, so how many miles on the truck?

I had a old chevy with a D60 frontend that would do that with super swampers when they weren't balanced just right. That truck was 15 years old, had over 250K miles and 16" wide tires.

I kind of expected a few weard things like that, but no on an essentially new truck with stock tires...

cquestad

Check the caster...5+ degrees should fix it.

GregBoardman

I had experienced the DW many times when my truck was new. The dealer up here has replaced every part under the front of my truck. I finally went out and put on www.koreperformance.com suspension and it fixed it for me. The main problem is caused by not enough caster. Factory specs read 3-5* + caster. Set the drivers side at 4 and the the passenger side at 4.5 and then drive the same road. It might just cure it. Also crawl under the front of your truck, with it running, and have your very correct wife( see I told you so) is a common occurence, move the steering wheel about 1 inch back and forth. You will then be able to see all of the parts that have play in them. I have seen factory ball joints with up to .125" of play. Not good!!! Then take it into the dealer now that you are fairly edjimakated about the front end. They will want to throw parts at it, tell you it is in specs, and even try to tell you that it is a normal occurence. Don't put up with any of that. Read in the back of your owners manual about lemon laws and that you are keeping count!!!! Very important. Three times back for the same thing and you get a new truck. Keep us posted on what is happening, and good luck. If I was a betting man, I would guess that the caster is off and the a tie rod end is shot. Just guessing but let us know. Any help we can get to combat DW is greatly apprieciated.

Greg

pullin hard

i just put my 2" leveling kit in , and noticed that i have a bad tie rod on the drivers side. i ordered one 2 days ago , and still not in. i now have the wobble, but not real bad as i don't seem to speed with his truck. i raised my tire pressure from 40psi to 50 psi up front and left the rears at 40 psi. i think that this made it worse, or the 2"spacers did, i changed both things at the same time, and the tie rod has been shot for some time now judging by how bad it is.
i just bought the truck too, don't know how a mechnic could replace 4 ball joints but forget the tie rod?????
anyway, i have since held back from putting the 315's on the truck as i want to get the problem solved before it is too late, and i hope my tie rod shows up soon.
i think that when i do get it put in , the alinment should be done, as i know the 2" spacers changes the front end.