Death Wobble

notajeep · February 09, 2005, 09:06:56 AM

Driving to work this morning about 25 mph ans all of a sudden steering wheel starts to shake back and forth

whole truck starts to shake

... Pull over, check lug nuts, pitman arm, tie rod ends, drag link... everything seems fine. Happens again about 2 miles later... slow down and it stops. I get to work and look at the fron of the truck and the driver side front tire seems to be sitting at an angle.. I am thinking that maybe the bolts that hold on the spindle are loose or broken

Any input would be great, I can;t pull it apart till tonight, but the spindle is the only thing that I can think of.

Thumper · February 09, 2005, 11:59:44 AM

Myne did that for a while and ended up being tie rod ends were worn out and you just couldent tell when it starts doing the shakeing jerk the steering wheel one way or another not very far just enought too jerk you too one side of the road a lil and see if that helps.
I had the spindle nuts come loose on myne and it dident cause it too do any shakeing or anything just made it not want to enguage into 4x4 becuase the hub couldent spline into the hub.

notajeep · February 09, 2005, 01:04:59 PM

Good point,

I'll have to check the tie rod ends closer. One other thing that I didn't mention earlier that I think might be causing the problem. A week ago I put on a set of longer shackles on the front. 1 1/2 inches longer than stock, but they are currie yj boomarang shackles. These are not offset like the stock toyota ones so I just added some spacers to make up the difference. Maybe this is the cause of the DEATH WOBBLE?

fuglytruck · February 09, 2005, 11:23:36 PM

do u happen to run tsl's or boggers? they will do that when they are cold. also check ur tire presure. and last did u go out rock crawling lattly. u may have flat spots on ur tire lugs.

mr4x42u · February 10, 2005, 02:00:56 AM

You said somthing about a tire not sitting stright??If your trunion bearings are bad caster camber could be off causing the d/w.

WHITE_TRASH · February 10, 2005, 02:04:40 AM

Yup yup, Ill betcha got that one right Mr4x4. WHen the lower trunion bearing goes it will cause some serious shaking.

Prismo · February 10, 2005, 02:18:15 AM

Just replaced my trunion bearings along with wheel bearings. Solved similar steering problems for my truck. The wobble was not as pronounced as yours though. Check your wheel bearings to make sure they are not loose also.

Hyena · February 10, 2005, 04:29:20 PM

If it is the spindle nuts, you want to fix them fast. I drove on mine about a day not knowing. The brakes started acting funny. Got out and checked it. The rotor was gone, about 2 inched of the outside were scard, along the whole rotor. Bot the nuts were off, and the threads were screwed up on both nuts and the spindle. I had to have it towed home. But it could be the trinion bearings like they are saying.

notajeep · February 10, 2005, 05:37:57 PM

Thanks everyone! I'll tear into this weekend and let you know what I find.

Northern Runner · February 10, 2005, 05:46:38 PM

I had a serious case of the dredded death wobble as well. The only thing I found that worked on my rig was to change the caster angle to 2* from 4.5*.

notajeep · February 12, 2005, 09:28:49 AM

Quote from: Northern Runner on February 10, 2005, 05:46:38 PM
I had a serious case of the dredded death wobble as well. The only thing I found that worked on my rig was to change the caster angle to 2* from 4.5*.

Did you have really long shackles?

notajeep · February 25, 2005, 10:12:41 AM

ok... I think that I have found the cause of the DEATH WOBBLE.

I put on the new YJ shackles that had a 1/2 inch hole so of course I bought 4 1\2 bolts to replace the stock ones.

The Problem: The stock bolts are about 18mm or almost 3\4 inch....So I have 4 1\2 inch bolts in 4 3\4 inch holes, leaving 1\4 inch play in each hole causing the DEATH WOBBLE. Now the only problem is finding a 3\4 inch drill bit to enlarge the holes in the shackles, and a drill that will hold a 3\4 bit.

mplatzer · February 25, 2005, 10:19:19 AM

id still check your trunion barrings also

toybuilt · February 25, 2005, 07:51:12 PM

Sounds like its a good time to rebuild your axle.

notajeep · March 02, 2005, 01:13:05 PM

I replaced the bolts on my shackles.... no change. If the trunion bearing(s) are bad, wouldn't the DW happen all the time and not just sporatically between 25 and 30 mph? It seems to happen more often when I am slowing down rather than speeding up. And just so that I am clear, the trunion bearings are the ones that are on the top and bottom of the axle housing that is covered by the steering arem and knuckle? Right?

CTENG in KS · March 02, 2005, 01:38:21 PM

Quote from: Hyena on February 10, 2005, 04:29:20 PM
If it is the spindle nuts, you want to fix them fast. I drove on mine about a day not knowing. The brakes started acting funny. Got out and checked it. The rotor was gone, about 2 inched of the outside were scard, along the whole rotor. Bot the nuts were off, and the threads were screwed up on both nuts and the spindle. I had to have it towed home. But it could be the trinion bearings like they are saying.

Spindle Nut Spindle Nut...Don't drive, wheel will fall off!!!!! Ask me how I know!!!!!!

notajeep · March 05, 2005, 08:36:58 AM

Rebuilt front axle...the spindle nuts were a little loose, but still no change.

but I finally found it. The steering box was loose on the frame. I swaped to power steering last fall and I havn't checked the bolts since then. 2 of the bolts that hold the bracket to the frame were loose and 3 of the 4 that hold the box to the bracket were loose also. About a 1\2 inch play right at the box. I guess that would explain why the front end wanted to wobble like crazy bot I couldn't feel that much throught the steering wheel. But;.... I guess that the axle needed rebuilt anyway.

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Death Wobble