Ramdriver15

Alright, ill try to mark the caster and then make some adjustments.
The box was repaced witha factory new! It was not rebuilt or anything as the last one had 8k on it and failed as a rebuilt box, ugggg...

scuzman00

I remember one member, a long time ago, had the DW something fierce. He worked on it for what seemed like months. He finally replaced the Lukes links and his problem totally went away. He had a whole new front end on his truck when he was through. Do a search on Lukes links and see what you come up with.

Good Luck

Gary

mmurray

Well I got my truck back last night... and after driving it 150 miles this am I have not experienced any DW or strong right pull... But now my steering doesn't correct back to center... Basically I have to turn the wheel left to change lanes and then turn the wheel right to stop it, then it travels right and I have to turn the wheel back left to correct the over correction... It usually takes about 4 times to find center and get the truck to stay there. I called the Mechanic and alignment shop and they both believe it to be the new ball joints are just so tight that it is preventing the truck from self correcting. They told me to drive it for a few days and it would smooth out in a few days.
I personally am thinking possibly Caster was not set propberly maybe not enough positive. Any Ideas?

Ramdriver15

ok, took my truck for a ride today, i maxed the caster forward as suggested. The truck, drove smoother than ever. Turning is super smooth and comfortable, and then i made the trip on the highway where i noticed the death wobble always occured. I did not get it to shake, but it felt like it wanted to. Now i know i am paranoid about it coming on again, so im gonna drive it for a while see if it hapens and if it doesnt then yippee, if it comes back then ugghhhh\..... THANKS FOR ALL OF THE HELP!!!

As for You M, i see you have an 05... do you have an aftermarket stabalizer kit on it?? I know that binds the steering....

mmurray

No the only upgrades to the front suspension is the 2" leveling kit. Everything else is OEM...
4 new ball joints and a front end alignment...

I am still leaning toward either Caster, toe or a combination of both...

Ramdriver15

im sorry i wish i could help, but i as you can see threw parts at mine, well the most obvios parts that were bad...

DeDecker

I had 96 2500 v-10 4x4 ext. cab long box that i drove to 205k and it had problems with the DW a few times. First of all that truck "ate" front end parts tie rods, ball joints u-joints, brake pads and rotors, don't know why but it just did, my long trusted non dealer mechanic couldn't figure it out either and keept replacing them for me NC untill it finally quit doint it. The DW I had also happened after a bump and would only stop by stabbing the brake pedal very hard to transfer the weight up front. After i had replaced all new front end parts and new left front u joint, pads and rotor, the DW was still present, but somewhat better. The next and last thing I did was buy a good steering stabilizer and swap that out. Both myself and the mechanic agreed that the stabilizer was good, but the DW was gone after the new stabilizer. I was also running 285/75/r16s on that truck on aftermarket aluminum wheels, never had any crazy alignmet problems just always had it reset when new parts went on. I also ran the original shocks till about 185k before I finally replaced them with some Napa Gas Grande's not sure I will use them again they made the ride pretty rough. That old truck is still going strong these days, good luck with your DW woes, let us know how it turns out

Ramdriver15

sounds like something may be binding in your front end murray, check ur power steering fluid, and also ur tirs may be the culprit. i know my dad's 1500 does this with 33"s...

HOHN

The BFGs in that size are WELL KNOWN to cause death wobble. The 3rd gen guys running them on factory wheels or h2 wheels have had TONS of problems with them..You'd be very shocked just how many times ditching the BFGs will fix DW.

For the love of Pete-- why you put the SAME BFGs on if they gave you death wobble? Try another brand!

Ramdriver15

i like the bfg, and i got a good deal on these, 400 for four with original stickers still on them. a buddy bought them for his h2 but decided with his 3" lift they were to smalll. besides, bfgis the only tire my family, my dad, my uncle, me, and anthony have ever used....

mmurray

My experience with the DW was with the Original Michelins... I still blame my DW on the Accident... Once I got an alignment and maintained slightly higher than recomended (but still within the limits of the tire) Air pressure the DW went away... Although even after the alignment the truck still pulled to the right... Had it aligned twice after that and it still pulled to the right... Now I find out the ball joints are bad (why wouldn't the alignment shops notify me?) which will prevent a proper alignment from holding.... which explains why the pull gradually got worse as the days went by...

I brought the truck back last night and told them to align it again with the caster at max tolerance and see if that fixes the steering issue... I was fighting the truck to stay on the road on my 100 mile ride home!!! So we will see... I am off work tomorrow so I will drive it and see and I'll be going to the alignment shop and getting their messurments.

Does anyone have what the factory specs for Caster and Toe are supposed to be?... and Camber (even though it's fixed) I'd like to know if this is one of those under the radar issues stemming from the wreck.
BTW, 2005 Ram 2500 Quad Cab Short Bed 4x4 W/ 24v Cummins 5.9L

cranked_dodge

We had DW in our race truck and it is not lifted or anything, running new tires, and the same trire pressure. We found the fix. We made the castor a positive instead of a negative caster. and then we put on the KORE racing steering stabilizer the one with the fox shock. What we found with the stabilizers from other companies was that they were an emmulsion shock which were not made to be run horizontaly where as the fox is a nitrogen filled shock made to run horizontal.

I hope this helps a few guys out.

Ramdriver15

this explains a lot!!!!!!!! my truck is leveled out and the steering shock is perfectly level on the horizontal axis

kawi600

don thuren sells some fox damper kits if youre looking for one. i have whats probably an emulsion type on mine thats got no problems.

mmurray

Got my truck back today and so far so good... alignments good.... Steering is good... No Death Wobble.... and went and had tire rotated and balanced...

Running like new now... Hopefully it will last!!!