I've experienced this before while riding in another Cummins truck,well my '94 2500 started it about a week ago. It did it twice while on the busy four lane and about shook the doors off the truck. Today I had the 16ft trailer behind me and easing up to the store right up the road from the house to get a Coke,40mph,tapped the brakes and DEATH WOBBLE. It shook the truck so bad that the owner of the store said it sounded like a wreck had just happened in front of the store because everything on the truck was shaking and the car trailer behind it was shaking something terrible. I can't take it any longer..I have to fix this or I'm going to end up getting killed in this blame truck with it like this. I have the truck up for sale but still deciding on selling or not but this still has to be fixed even if it gets sold! The local Dodge dealer wants $448 for the track bar and I almost fell out off the stool. Local Oriely's parts store was only cheaper by about 20 bucks. Looked at the Luke's Links and I don't want to cut,grind,beat,bang and etc on the old one.

I looked at the Thuren Fabrication one and the price being almost half what factory wants and looks like it's 3 times as good. What I'd like to know is peoples thoughts on thee Thuren track bar. If it's good quality,fits easy,long lasting,stopped the wobble and other things. If yall say it's good and all I'm going to call and order one. Thanks

 

you can't go wrong with a thuren or DT track bar, never go back to stock.

 

I know it sounds expensive, but the 03TBK isn't a bad option either. If you have any type of lift mods or need clearance for an aftermarket front cover, the others may rub on it. This one does not.

An option...

 

Excuse my stupidity but which is the DT track bar? I know I remember seeing in Cowhands photo gallery pictures of lower links that were from DT..but who in the world is it and what all do they make :P

 

I've had my Thuren bar for over a year, and it's still as tight as the day I put it on. The OEM replacement bar is a straight bolt on, and it'll clear easily on a '94. If you're planning a Mag-Hytec front cover, it won't work unless the truck is lifted.

No gaurantee that a track bar will fix the DW, but it's a good place to start. Do you have a DSS? If not, you need one. Check the ball joints, TRE's, sector shaft play and put as much caster in it as you can get, at least 3.2*.

Unfortunately, there are so many weak links in a Dodge front end it could be any or all of them. That's why the only original part left in my front end is the axle....

 

Well I figure than my best bet would be to call Don up and get one on the way then. I don't plan on putting a diff cover on it,diff covers are mostly for looks anyhow and I don't really give a crap about looks I want function LOL

I'll check everything underneath the truck for play before I do order though. What is a DSS..seeing how I don't even know what it is than I'd say won't have one on this truck LOL

Yes I know the weak link on these trucks are the frontend and it SUCKS. I've had a few 1st generations but had MASSIVE wiring problems with the two I owned,underhood fires,headlights going off,radio quit working etc. So I don't guess the death wobble is to much to speak for,I can replace suspension parts..but I know NOTHING about wiring haha

 

If you want to see a video of a DW from the outside search for Death wobble and my user name. Farmer Joe hosts a video of one that I had. It was stolen before we got it fixed but it serverely needed Ball Joints and the TB was a little loose.

The 97 we replaced it with was clanking a nd banging enough from the TB that I replaced it. I went with Thuren because it is a direct replacement. No brackets or drilling. It is cheap to rebuild the ball end if it ever fails. It is also a very beefy hunk of metal to say the least. On top of all that he is great guy to deal with. I happened to order mine while he was on his honeymoon. He still responded to my e-mails and got the part to me as promised.

Randy

 

Randy I searched but couldn't find the video,I'd personally really like to see what the truck looks like outside when it wobbles! The upper door hinge bushings in my truck are shot and when the truck wobbles the doors clang and bang something terrible,had my arm proped on it when it done it and my shoulder is hurting from it now it was shaking so hard

 

http://www.firepunk.com/videos/deathwobble.wmv

Here it is. The first time it happened to me I had the cruise set at 75 and was relaxed for a two hour drive. It was the day after I bought the truck with 93K on it. The funny part was my wife was just falling asleep. To have a picture of that.

Randy

 

Wow that’s a lot of movement


Every once and a while my drag car used to do this when the front wheels land after the wheelstand. The car always leaves with the wheels 3 to 5 feet in the car and carries them like this 60 to 80 feet (check out my photo gallery ),and it seems to land the same every time, but sometimes I would get that exact same wheel shimmy. But in my case, it really didn’t move the car much and I really couldn’t feel it too bad in the wheel, if you can believe that. My friends have told me about it and I have seen it in a few video playbacks. Anyway, to close up this long story, I increased the toe in another 1/16" and it has not done it since then. Not sure if that is even relevant with our trucks though, but I mention it here for your consideration nonetheless.


KP

 

I'm posting this on all threads related . My search words were simply 'DEATH WOBBLE'.
Track bar & Death wobble.
Well the Thuren track bar is on. It was a little slow getting to me , Not Don’s fault, but more so UPS. I’m here to give it to you straight because of several reasons. First I have no affiliation with ANY company that produces parts or advertises here. I am not an ASE certified tech or any type of auto mechanic for that matter, and certainly not a Physics major that understands the harmonics of frame design. I have been working on 73-87 Chevy trucks for over 20 years as my side hobby and I , at one time, had Nuclear certification as a welder.. I worked in a heavy steel fab shop and I have fabricated my share of parts and probably have a few inventions for those year GM trucks that I should market, but I don’t. Anyway the bar comes unfinished so the first order was to tape off the ends and spray it with chassis epoxy so it won’t rust.. The one end comes with polyurethane bushing installed and the right side end comes with an adjustable heim end in it and two special spacer/bushings. I parked the truck with wheels straight and both bolts are tight!, And are locktited from the factory. It took a breaker bar to break them loose and then the impact gun would finally spin them. My Impact gun is 25 years old , but trust me those bolts were tight. The bolt heads are 18 MM. The right side bolt has some clearance issues getting at the head and then coming out and it takes a few trips back up to the steering wheel to get the tie rods positioned just right where that bolt will come out. If you get the front wheels off the ground safely and leave the key on then you can move the wheels from below or use a helper behind the wheel!. I then measured the center to center on the factory bar and came up with 38-13/16 and that’s where I tried to set the new bar. Do not tighten the jam nut on the adjustable end yet. Dry fit the bar up in place and make sure the bolts pass through easily. On the last dry fit I marked the position of the heim end in accordance with the bar itself with a sharpie pen. Unfortunately the jam nut is not accessible when the bar is up in place so it has to be removed to tighten. Make sure the heim and fixed end are at the same mounting angles or the heim may be twisted when it is installed. The custom bushings allow for a little imperfection here, but I pulled mine back down a few times and adjusted it before I was happy. Mount the bar in a vice and dog that jam nut down good. I loctited it, because like I said, if it backs off you cannot tighten it while in place. DONE. Another 15 minute job that took 2 hours!! Remember there is nothing associated with the steering or suspension here so nothing will pop out at you or fall down. No Lift, jack stands or special tools needed. ***NOTE*** the nut on the backside of both bolts is fabbed up from the factory with a locking arm on it. It’s like a 3” long wing welded to the nut. It jams against whatever it can and allows you NOT have to use a wrench on the nut. If you are using an impact gun DO NOT get your hand up in that area or you’ll be missing a finger when that wing comes back around to jam in the other direction.

TestDrive- As a note the truck has been feeling worse than ever before I installed this bar. Truck has 9,000 miles on it. I instantly felt something different. Not sure how to explain it, but it seemed stiffer and steering feedback seemed sharper. I took a ride down several side roads that are in bad shape and purposely hit every road repair I could fid and a lot of the ‘flutter’ is gone. I’m still not 100% pleased that I am feeling any of that at all ,especially considering that a friends 11 year old Ford F350 4x4 with solid front axle still doesn’t have that ‘flutter’ although it truly does ride like brick. I was determined to try a few high speed roads that caused great lumps in my throat before, and I tried one in particular on the way to and from work and the rig is a lot better. I ‘powered on’ across a few of the bad sections and it never started the death wobble, but was a little unstable, maybe just due to stiffness. I’ll purposely try another road it didn’t like this week. I will come back and comment more when I get the front end aligned and have the caster set at Don’s recommended 5* of Caster.

I’m not here to bash or promote, but I disagree with one of the opening statements to this thread that the bar is much heavier than the stock one. It’s only 1/8” heavier. I believe the difference in ride is because the new bar is constructed of heavy wall tubing and not a solid rod. I don’t build race car roll bars, but the theory there has always been that the round tubing is lighter, yet stronger, than an equal diameter solid bar. I also think that the solid bar may be one of the things that contribute to the ‘flutter’ feel that you get up in the steering wheel. Maybe the tubing helps to absorb the harmonics. Regardless it has helped.
Am I happy, YES & NO.
GOOD=$300( actually $280 with shipping right now) is a small price to pay if you are one of those guys that parked your rig already because it shimmys so bad. $300 is a small price if you paid $35K ++ for a rig you are not happy with or can’t feel safe driving(ARE YOU LISTENING DODGE??). Don Thuren was indeed a good man to deal with. He’s willing to talk to you directly and sent UPS tracking number upon request. The new track bar is a quality piece of steel with good craftsmanship. I wouldn’t have spent $180 for two front shocks if I would have tried this first. I know the stock shocks are lousy, but they worked fine and I felt no difference in ride at all with the new ones. The rear shocks are another story altogether, I’m glad they’re gone.
BAD= Another $300 spent trying to correct something that Dodge has darn sure known about for years and something that should never stop a person from driving their new truck. I CAN still feel something that I don’t like, but it does not scare me like before.
**ANOTHER NOTE*** If you think you are one of the lucky ones that does not have this problem you may be right, but you may also just be a lightfoot. This problem with mine is a LOT worse when I am hard on torque pedal and hitting bumps at the same time. TRY YOURS to be sure so it doesn’t catch you by surprise when you least expect it.

STORY TIME- You finally get 200 yards of road to pass grandma & grandpa in their 1976 Plymouth Volare that still has the original air in the bias ply tires. You know you can make it on power level #5 so you kick her up and wait for that last car in the line coming the other way, you’ve been following them for 3 miles and that was 2.5 too many. You anticipated the turbo lag and are already at FULL PULL and then you whip out seeing an 18 wheeler is headed straight at you, but you knew that and thought you had plenty of room. ALL of a sudden the washboard in the road, that you are going against the grain on, starts your truck into a violent front end shimmy and you don’t know whether it will stop or not, you have to hammer the brakes and dive back behind the Volare as the Peterbuilt roars by blaring it’s horn and shooting you the bird. It will ruin your day and maybe your boxer shorts! Plus you also took a few years off grandpas life. (based on a true life story!)

 

This is the first time I have heard of the Thuren products but it looks like a good piece. Any of the aftermarket track bars are improvements over the stock junk dodge used.

I spent many hours researching all the track bar options for my self and a few local Ram owners, and although it costs a little more than some of the others I felt the best route for me was the 03 track bar kit from Solid Steel. The main reason I chose this was because it uses an eyelet with rubber bushings on both ends. Heim joints are strong, but they do wear and need rebuilding from time to time, I say this because I have to replace them alot on the desert race vehicals I prep and pit for. The rubber bushing seemed like it would last alot longer (how oftten do most people replace their leaf spring bushings as an example) Anyhow I have been really pleased with it on my truck. I also highly recomend the steering stabilizer both are excellent products and greatly helped the steering on my truck.

If you choose to go that route its easier to buy that stuff from a company in the US I bought mine from Piers Diesel. and if you don't care if you have the adjustable track bar you can get the factory 03 track bar (Chrysler part # 52106795AC) cheeper from some dealers I got mine from Wyckoff Chrysler Online. Check out the links below.

http://www.solidsteel.ca/
http://solidsteel.biz/index.htm
http://www.piersdiesel.com
http://www.wyckoff-mopar-parts.com/


As for the death wobble make sure you have your alignment checked. I can't remember where I found the info but there was a artical on the web from a dodge alignment tech that went to a 9 hour class on the ram trucks and they found the main cause of death wobble is insuficient caster. Most shops don't even look at caster and if they do then they go by "acceptable" specs wich are something like 2.8 to 3.8 degrees. Here is what that tech said are the optimal settings for the Ram pickups

Caster left-3.2 right-3.5
Cross Caster -.3

Camber left-.10 right-.10
Cross Camber 0.0

Toe - standard specs, (maybe a little out if you tow a lot, they will pull in as the front end lifts up).

just about anything worn in the front end can make the death wobble show its ugly face, but the actual cause is said to be a caster problem

Hope this helps...Josh

 

Well after sitting here reading all these comments and opions(which I greatly appreciate) I've began to notice something. For everyone else it seems that the death wobble happens when you hit a bump only. Well on my '94 it's happened once when I hit a bump in the road and the rest of the times it happened when I had to hit the brakes. So I'd hit the brakes and when I began to ease off the brakes then the death wobble reared its ugly head. I've done checked the brakes and everything is fine on them,rotors aren't grooved or anything like that to cause the frontend to "shutter"

Now it really has me to thinking,I do like this truck but do owe some money on it and still have thoughts of saleing it. Now the big thought is that my best friend(more like a brother to me) wants to buy the truck and has cash in hand and I told him of this problem. He said it the Thuren bar would fix it than no problem he'd buy it. But now I'm worried that a lot more crap might be wore out in the frontend!! Seriously wondering if I should sell it to him or not as is..I'll drive it just about anywhere but I refuse to tow a trailer with the truck anymore!!

Just really pisses me off that I feel "stuck" with the truck cause if I have to spend so much $$ on crap on the frontend to get it to not wobble that I'd have to keep it or take a terrible lose to sell..GRRRR

 

Hey mopar kid

Do your self a favor. Take it to a good alignment shop and have it checked out. They will have to check it all out and inform you of anything bad before they can align it. Then either you can pay them to fix the stuff or you can take it home and make the repairs your self and take it back afterwards. Just make sure they check and set the caster as metioned above, ask to see the specs before you take the truck. Possible things they will say need replacing are, first of course the track bar, then tie rods, then maybe ball joints. There shouldn't be anything else. and you can have them show you the stuff so you know they aren't BSing you. Also if and when you replace the track bar get one of the after market ones. Thuren, Solid Steel, DT Profab, Lukes Link, Linkstad, ect... anything but the factory replacement. They're all good products its all personal preference as wich you choose

Death wobble can be fixed, and I hate to see someone sell a good truck just for that.

Later....Josh

 

Ok truck done the wobble again and was horrible,come within inches of hitting a county cop car so this truck is parked until I can fix this. I want to address the specific areas of the front suspension that wears and want options and opinions.

--Track bar: I'll be calling in the morning and ordering a Thuren track bar so the track bar shall be fine.

--Tie Rod Ends: Ok I need help on this,there looks to be only two detachable and adjustable "tie rod ends" on the front suspension,one on the tie rod itself)which has absolutely tons of play allowing me to grasp the tie rod and litterly flop it back and forth SEVERAL inches) and one on the drag link right close to the pitman arm,actually it seems that the "tie rod end" bolts into the pitman arm itself. The thing I want to know is,the drag link AND tie rod themselves have balljoint style joints in them,the tie rod one bolts to the drag link and the drag link one bolts into the passengers side knuckle. Would I have to completely replace the drag link and tie rod themselves to fix and replace those specific ends? Or should I just buy and replace the two detachable/replaceable tie rod ends?

--Steering Damper: Alright this truck still has the factory damper on it from what I can tell,while I'm buying things should I buy another to put on this truck?

Alright so if the track bar,steering damper and (2)tie rod ends are replaced should that help the frontend quite abit? I know after doing that I will have to go to the alignment shop and get everything aligned. Wanting to know for CERTAIN..isn't it the caster?? that needs adjusted to a certain degree to be right? If so what degree is that?

Also I believe I'll go ahead and get them to rebalance and rotate the tires front to rear and I hope to GOD that this will fix all the death wobble and wondering problems...

After that I want to see how much it helps and most of all just how $*)$*# deep I am money wise into this truck. I'd like to look into buying a DSS to go on the truck because I figure that would help it greatly but I don't think I'll have the $$! But please get back with me and tell me yes or no on the specific areas I asked about if you could..I'd GREATLY appreciate it