Topic: Death wobble

[BONER]

it could also be bad tie rod ends, and possibly some mtr's. i had a set of them on the old ladys rig and they shook like hell @ 40 and 60 mph. got bfg's balanced them and its great.

[RRMike]

Death wobble is caused by tires usually.  If the rig is tight the tires have a harder time making the front wobble.  Put some 29" radials on it and see if it wobbles.  It won't so it's obvious that the truck is not the source of the wobble.  The tires are.  (except in the case of a loose driveshaft or other rotating part I guess)

Balancing only helps so much.  The tires behave differently with weight on them and on the road surface.  I've heard that road force balancers do a better job but dynamic balancing is the best method to fix wobble.  Throw a couple or 3 golf balls in each tire.

My balanced 35's will try to wobble a little bit at the critical speed range but my unbalanced out of round 38 TSL's never do.  The 38's have 3 golf balls apiece in them.  The 38's rattle the truck due to flat spotting and being out of round but even with all that they never wobble at all.

[miks85yota]

i still don't see where a driveshaft would cause anything but a driveline vibration, not anything like a death wobble, unless u dont have a tight bolt on ur entire frontend.

[Stinky]

ya, shafts cause vibes n tires cause a shake....i might just have to head to the local driving range n "borrow" some weights....that dynamic is useles on a tire over 35"....my roommate had it in his 35 trxus mtr's...the tires werent that  out of balance, but that dynamic made it hop pretty bad...got em balanced on the $25,000 balancer in the auto shop here at school for free, their like a factory ride now.....mine get that thing next...hopefully this week...

[eightyfive]

i had a 1987 4runner that had a loose driveshaft and it shook like hell at 45-50 anything else it was smooooooooth.

[beater82]

Shot too hell shackle/spring bushings could wobble you around a bit. I'd just check everything that everyone here is tellin' you to check.

[miks85yota]

yeah the driveline shook like hell, until it balanced itself out, but it didnt cause ur sreering to wobble, just a bad vibration is all u get from loose driveshaft

[pickemup81 [OP]]

well when my runner is on jack stands I can move the wheel up and down. It seems to have alot of slack

[miks85yota]

wheel bearings r out,

[Stinky]

ya dood...wheel bearings will do that....any thing that will wear out will cause it...

[79coyotefrg]

well when my runner is on jack stands I can move the wheel up and down. It seems to have alot of slack

trunion bearings are WAY too loose,  you gotta remove a shim or two

i'll did some up  i swear i will  and get them to you

[RRMike]

Is the knuckle moving or just the hub?  If it's just the hub the wheel bearings are loose.  If the whole knuckle is moving the trunion bearings are probably junk.

[Tallchevy]

I had death wobble in my 83 at the same speeds that had a 6" lift. It started at 35 & quit at 45 mph. When the rear pinion shaft broke & the driveline shot out like at torpedo from under it at 75 mph, the vibration quit. Had to lock the front hubs to get it off I-80 in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Drove on the front axle for about 5000 miles & it didn't vibrate anymore. My guess was the driveline was out of balance causing this problem. Couldn't really tell cause when my buddy ran back to get it, it was in the shape of a "J".

[miks85yota]

theres a difference in a death wobble, and a vibration, wich one was it, the only thing i can think of that would do that is if ur rear u joint broke but didnt come all the way  out of the flange, and was off center with pinion shaft, till it broke, seen that a few times, but a rear drive shaft causing the steering to wobble is a new one on me

[TexJeff87]

Seems to me that most of these items could, in conjunction with tire issues, cause a death wobble. The fact that you put on a steering stabilizer and it seemed to "fix" it points to the tires being the issues. If it were the trunion bearings, I"m not sure the stabilizer would change that. Bear with me here...if the tire is out of balance and the trunion bearing( or wheel bearing or rod end, whatever) is loose, then the stabilizer is not going to dampen that. Know what I mean?

[4corredor]

I have a dead wobble between 35 and 40 mph, any other speed seems to be smooth.  I have 37's Goodyears  MTR's and I read somewhere that these tires do wobble at this speed .  My temporary solution to this is to try to stay away from this speed range to minimize any long term problems to other parts.  Check everything you can everybody else has mentioned above and if still does it, because of a tire problem, then speed up and break fast through this speed range.

Good luck,

[Stinky]

im rollin on 36 tsl's, bias...it starts at 32 n shakes horribly till 41 or so...

no other speeds....weird....