Author Topic: Death Wobble (Read 5539 times)

WHITE_TRASH · « **on:** Jun 04, 2004, 03:04:58 PM »

Ive heard some of the cures. Such as loose parts like knuckle bearings, wheel bearings and steering arms. I know that having the toe set wrong will also cause this as well but Im having one hell of a time trying to get rid of a serious case or it. The front axle came from the 81, I didnt adjust anything at all considering that the 81 had absolutely no death wobble at all. The first time I drove the 90 it wobbled but it was sorta controllable. I made the mistake of airing up the tires and it got so bad I did about 30 mph all the way home from town! It was absolutely undrivable. Since then I have changed the tierod as the old one was bent, and adjusted the toe to first 1/8th in then 3/16ths and finally 1/4, no change. I put ShawnB's 35's on today and no change at all. I am at my wits end with this thing Im thinking on just trailering it everywhere I go and never put it on the road again! I have checked everything I can think of except caster, which isnt all that bad in the first place. Everything is tight and seems to check out just fine, what should I try next?

Hyena · « **Reply #1 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 03:25:10 PM »

When i installed my dual cases i had a death wobble in 3rd and 5th gears. I had no idea what it was. One day it just stopped. I decided not to tough anything incase that would make it come back. I don't know in your case though.

lowgeared · « **Reply #2 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 04:04:14 PM »

I hate weight so I was cutting away eveything that didn't matter....sway bar, brackets, front anti wrap bar, steering stabilizer...got it out on the road and had to drive under 15 to get it back to the shop. Put the stabilizer back on and problem solved. Now that I have the hi steer setup from Marlin, the wobble is back, but not nearly as bad, and I have no stabilizer, but plan to get one. Most of the trails we run require a small amount of road driving at 50+ to get there, so I need something. Before I removed all the factory stuff prior to the hi steer swap, I measured rotor to rotor and put it back exactly adjusting the tie rod with the new stuff. So I'd say my problem lies in the stabilizer. Hope this helps.

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #3 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 05:19:30 PM »

I put a stabilizer on it using the stock frame mount and a aftermarket mount on the draglink. Thats about the only thing that was changed from when the axle was in the 81 so Ill have to give that a try. Thanks

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #4 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 06:44:44 PM »

Just an interesting bit, I traded tires between ShawnB's truck and mine.We cured his case of death wobble last week but with my 38's on it it has come back. Hmmm Its sorta strange that my tires would do that as they are on a 7" wheel and he runs his 38's on 12" wheels and they dont do it. Just another thing that is driving me nuts!

BigMike · « **Reply #5 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 06:58:10 PM »

Quote from: WHITE_TRASH on Jun 04, 2004, 06:44:44 PM

I traded tires

When I was reading your opening post I was thinking your front tires must be way out of balance. The larger the diameter of a tire the more leverage any off balanced mass has to work (torque) your axle.

Get your tires balanced and let us know if that helps-

Also, are you using any wheel spacers? If so the wider the spacer the more affect an off balanced tire will have through feedback of the steering wheel.

really dumb question, but you did remember to put rubber or urathane bushings in your front spring pirches, right?

BigMike

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #6 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:01:32 PM »

Yep Im using 94 springs that have built in bushings, so yes I have bushings. I figured that the death wobble came from things being loose so I went through and torqued everything down good and tight but it is worse than ever! I have ShawnB's tires on my truck and they are radials at least and they wobble too.

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #7 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:01:47 PM »

38's on 7" wheels,, lets think lateral stability/ cheap way to start is a stabilizer, maybe two, i see lots of trucks with twin stabilizer shocks,

you might think of some 15x10's

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #8 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:03:45 PM »

Ive ran these wheels and tires on 3 different rigs and no problems ....yet. I like the narrowness of the combo as it keeps the tire inside the fender.

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #9 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:08:19 PM »

hmm, well if it works cool,, did those other trucks weigh the saME,?? AND DID THE HAVE STABILIZERS??

oops sorry caps

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #10 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:10:42 PM »

The 84 had a stabilizer on it so does the 90 but Shawns truck does not

BigMike · « **Reply #11 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 07:22:33 PM »

Quote from: Glen on Jun 04, 2004, 07:08:19 PM

oops sorry caps

YEAH RIGHT

oops

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #12 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 09:24:40 PM »

Hah I found the problem with my truck! Someone on one of the forums I frequent I cant remember which one but I think it was here, said to use a tack in the tread to measure from. I used a staple and started measuring I had about 1 3/4" toe in! Talk about a high schooler mistake! I was using a short piece ot flatbar c-clamped to the rotor. Duh I couldnt get an acurate measurement

I used the tread measurement and finetuned it to near perfection! Thank for all the tips, they kept my mind spinning and Im sure that this will help someone searching someday.

Prismo · « **Reply #13 on:** Jun 04, 2004, 10:33:26 PM »

Glad you found it. It is my opinion a steering stabilizer just ends up hiding the original problem which is still there. The cost ends up being in parts & tires in the long run due to just covering the problem.

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #14 on:** Jun 05, 2004, 12:24:40 AM »

Yep it doesnt drive all that bad now, just some driveline vibes. But who would have thought Id have any vibes beings I built my own driveline? It looked kinda straight when I welded it.

SWAMPER · « **Reply #15 on:** Jun 08, 2004, 10:46:17 PM »

I also had a deadly wobble but then I found the missing bag of marshmellows cought on the spring perch! :bull crap:

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #16 on:** Jun 23, 2004, 12:31:08 PM »

Here you go E-9

E-9 · « **Reply #17 on:** Jun 24, 2004, 09:30:33 AM »

Thanks for pulling all that info back. I am running 36" TSL's on 10" beadlocks. I plan to pad balance the tires, spin balance after that. Next, will it will get an alignment. All the bearings are new and set properly, all rod ends are tight, and the stabilizer is new. I am hoping that the alignment will be the final cure for this problem.

WHITE_TRASH · « **Reply #18 on:** Jun 24, 2004, 11:21:38 AM »

Ill bet your toed in too much. Its funny Ive helped a few friends get rid of their death wobble and it almost always comes down to the toe setting and making sure that everything is tight.

E-9 · « **Reply #19 on:** Jun 28, 2004, 03:32:33 AM »

I found the problem. An alignment didn't help the wobble so we centered the tires on the beadlock side of the wheels. Then each tire was balanced as close to perfect as possible, now it drives great at 60 mph. Thanks for all the suggestions.

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