John. is this death wobble typical on 4wd only or 4 and 2wd? I'm still watching for a decent price on an 06 Megacab 2wd dually somedayand don't want to deal with the DW. I hope you get it figured out! Also HAPPY NEW YEAR to all you east side guys!...Augie

 

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Augie:

Happy New Year to you too Buddy!

Augie, I don't think that the DW is an issue on the 2WD Trucks but I will ask my Technician about that. The front ends on the 2WD trucks is set-up differently. I will let you know though.

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John_P

 

Heres a update on our front ends, A local dealer has found a fix that "WORKS" they had a truck ( a 2008 ) that was in the shop for the last time before it was going to be turned in under the lemon law. The Mech at the dealer using his head tried a rancho steering stab and it fixed the problem. They had put the TSB on the truck and it still had the problem. A friend of mine came to me today and told me that they had done this to his power wagon yesterday and it fixed his wobble also. (His power wagon is lifted and it still got rid of the wobble)

I just want to give everyone a update on what I think might be the cure for our wobble problems.

 

That's odd in that the Rancho ss I compressed for an '05 was mush compared to the stock one.

 

What the mech found was that the stock steering stab would push in and out just a little with no resistance, but was stiff the rest of the way. That little bit of movement was just enough to cause a wobble. The rancho was stiff all the way!!!! I'm not saying that the rancho was stiffer then the stocker just that there was no movement.

 

My '96 wanders and was told that the steering assembly from a '99 was a T-style (rather than the Y-style on mine), and that swaping that in would help... Anybody try such? I guess your experience doesn't give me much hope.

 

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/dev/ram:

I also have a 1996 Dodge CTD 12 valve. Although I have NEVER had ANY DW or "wandering" problems with that truck, I have had the front end get "loose"
as the parts have worn out.

To answer your question, I do not think that the front end set-up on a 1999 is any different than our 96's, but I will definitely chek on that for you. I also had a 2002 and the components on that front end looked identical to my 96.' Besides my 2006, I never had ANY front end problems with the three (3) other Dodge CTD Pickups I have owned. I know many owners of the second generation trucks have experienced DW and the "wandering" you describe,..... fortunately it has NOT happened to me.
I still believe that the "hydroformed frames" on the 2003-2009 Dodge CTD CR Trucks "aggravate" the DW,.....but that is strictly my opinion. As I have said before, I am pretty disappointed in my 2006.

I will get back to you on the 96'/99' front ends.

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John_P

 

I'm running a dual front stabilizer from superlift and I have never had any issue with it either, so maybe it does help.

 

I would sugest for you guys to try swapping wheels. I've had 3 trucks with DW and It sure as heck is scary. I spent thousands trying to find the cure. I tried everything you guys all mentioned to no avail. Then I read of a dealership that had two identical truck. One had DW and the other didn't. The swapped wheels and the problem switched to the other truck. All three of my trucks were stock with no lifts etc. ( 97, 02, 04 ) The last one was my 04 and I went crazy trying to fix it. I bought everything that was recomended online and it did nothing. I was running steel chrome wheels with new tires and freshly balanced. After everything else failed to make a differance I switched wheels to an old pair of alloys I had and it was like I got a new truck. A lot of the cures I tried before would only dampen the wobble. I could still feel it try to start when ever I hit the expansion joints etc. Well with differant wheels I can't make it happen anymore. I'm not saying this is the alltime cure but I'd be very surprised if many guys have tried this. I'd like to hear how many guys have tried switching wheels and what the results were. A lot of guys I know are only patching the trouble and it keeps coming back when ever everything is not perfect. Just my $.02

 

John, we have the same truck basically and mine has done it a few times. there is no doubt it is scary. im glad to hear you are starting to get it lined out.

 

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ramdslpwr:

Good post, thanks for your input Sir!

 

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Jesse:

Yeah, me too buddy! It is definitely better than it was, but at about 90-95 MPH, if I hit a bump or expansion joint in the road, I still can feel a very slight vibration there, almost like it wants to wobble but doesn't.

I am going to take the advice from everybody here and get my Front End Tech at my Dodge Dealer to help me put a second steering stabilizer on the linkage.

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John_P

 

I think the 99's and the 98's have that T steering I know for a fact that the 98 has it because I have 2 buddies with 98's and both of them have the good steering. I put duel steering stabalizers on mine and then a big single one on the long rod that goes across the front the duels didn't help as much as the single one I added on the bottom bar.