Truck PROBLEMS!

[GobblerBuster618]

Sorry Guys Havent Been around much lately.. Read The Posts All The Time Just Am Not Posting Like I Should Haha. What I Got Is A Problem With My Truck. Its A 96 Half Ton Dodge Ram. I Have Ten Inches Of Lift On It Combined With 40 Inch Tires. Yes I Know When You Add Stuff To Your Truck Like That You Are Bound To Have Problems. Last Week I Had The Truck Start Violently Shaking In The Front End. It Shakes So Bad That It Could Literally Throw Your Head Through The Windows. The Shaking Is Left To Right. Ive Had The Truck In The Shop 2 Times In The Past Week And The Only Thing They Have Done Is Rotated The Tires Thinking That Could Be It And Adding A New Steering Gear Box. Neither Of These Have Solved Anything. Does Anyone Have Any Ideas What Could Be Causing This. This Is My Daily Driver And Need To Get This Fixed No Matter The Cost. Thanks For Your Time.

-Kyle

[popgun]

I'd look for loose tie rod, loose motor mounts, wheel alignment, wheel out of round, and also idler arm.

It could even be the air pressure in the tires, but I'm no mechanic.

I have heard that Dodge trucks are noted for this sort of thing.

....popgun

[buckee]

Check your rack-N-Pinyin (sp) steering assembly, where it attaches to the frame. I went through 3 in a little under 2 years, because Canadian Tire mechanics weren't bright enough to fix the terribly worn hole first, before putting in a new one. I finally (the 3rd time around, took it to a mechanic I trust, and he did a great job at fixing up the hole where it assembles. He welded it up, welded two big washer on either side, and redrilled the holes. Been good for years since.

I drive a 1989 dodge dakota

[self]

I have heard of this type of thing on coil sprung SFA jeeps so I am thinking that it is the same thing if I am not mistaken the 94-02 dodges are coils in the front, and I believe that 4WHEEL & OFF-ROAD has a little section on it called Death Wobble in the August issue I would read it again and tel you but I cant seem to find that one.

[Guest IL_HuNtIn_KiD]

i do believe your man to talk to would be nick

[GobblerBuster618]

thanks for the help so far... what month is the death wobble section in for the magazine

[buckee]

Got this off the web

Death wobble does not discriminate. It doesn't matter what year your truck is, how much lift or stock height, what size tires, etc. Death wobble happens when a part or parts of your steering system wear out and have too much slop, so the axle is able to move side to side while moving down the road.

The most common cause is the track bar wearing out, however it can also be caused by worn tie rod ends. Generally, the culprit will be the track bar, which is solely responsible for controlling the side to side movement of the axle. When it gets even a minor amount of play in it, you will feel it all over. The steering wheel will violently shake back and forth, the truck sways side to side, hops around, and the truck is not controllable for the most part. All you can do is get on the brakes and get off the road, hopefully there is nobody near you. Then you make the decision of spending $200 +/- and getting a stock replacement so you can go through this again at a later date, or you upgrade. I have a Thuren track bar sitting in my shop that not only is much stronger than the stock bar, but is also adjustable so you can get your axle centered just right after adding any amount of lift. His bar is not much more than the stock bar, but it is much more reliable.

Death wobble can happen to anybody... stock trucks, lifted trucks, whatever. The lifted trucks are more prone to display it because of the angle on the track bar and the fact that it has more vertical load than normal. Dodge tried to upgrade the track bar in 03 by using one that has rubber bushings at each end, but it still sucks. I'm on my 2nd one at 38,000 miles. The first one was gone with no lift and 31 inch tires. When you have movement in your steering like that (track bar is part of your steering), you are going to see exxagerated wear... once it starts getting play, it just gets worse and worse. Some people can use the same track bar for years before they get any movement, others replace them annually. What I'm saying is that it is not necessary to consider a track bar a "maintenance" item anymore. You can fix it once and have literally no problems for the life of your truck.

Also, stock trucks can have a worn out track bar and not even know it sometimes. It might only be noticeable in irregular tire wear up front, poor alignment or not holding alignment, and exxagerated body roll in certain conditions. The reason it doesn't show up immediately as death wobble is because the track bar is basically holding a horizontal load only. Even if the ends are worn out, it is still going to pretty much hold the axle in place under normal driving conditions because there is enough tension to keep the axle in place enough that you don't feel it moving. Lifted trucks, like I said earlier, have more of a vertical load... even with a drop bracket, you are still putting a vertical leverage on the bar itself and therefore it has to hold both horizontal and vertical loads. It's kind of hard to explain but lifted trucks do exxagerate the movement and are tougher on all steering components. Stock parts aren't made for those conditions. That is why when you lift a truck, you upgrade... don't just reuse stock parts and consider it safe. It's not. You need stronger parts because your truck is requiring them in order to be as reliable as a stock truck, or even more reliable.

You can have death wobble in vehicles without a track bar, as I have in my offroad Jeep. If I get going above 30 mph, it shakes so bad that I can't control it. I have hydro assist steering but the tie rod ends on the tie rod are extremely worn out and allow the wheels/knuckles to move back and forth a little. That little bit of movement feels like the whole earth is shaking underneath you. Death wobble is always caused by steering failures, and that could be the tie rod/tie rod ends, ball joints, or track bar if applicable. In Dodge trucks, 95% of the time, it's going to be the track bar. You can count on that.

http://www.thurenfabrication.com

[stevebeilgard]

you always have the answer, steve. good job