Death Wobble

[79c25]

So today I decided to get some work done on my K5. I replaced the brake pads and since the front tires were off I did a rotation. I made sure that everything was tight and went to town, no problems. On the way home the truck decided it wanted to dance going 40mph and it's stopped at 35mph. When I got home I double checked the lug nuts and the axle nuts, everything is tight and if I lift it up in the air I can't move the wheels by hand (side to side). I'm thinking that the spring bolts might need tightened up, would that cause a death wobble, or am I missing something here? Front axle is an 8 lug 10 bolt with 33 12.50 r 15 bolted to them.

[nonstop]

Sounds like out of balance tire(s) since it started after the rotation.

[andrewmp6]

Like said swap the tires back and drive it,If its not the tires then it could be ball joints or tie rod ends.

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Steering damper.

[mattcrp1]

Do you have a track bar?

[79c25]

I have a sway bar and the bushings and mounts look new still I just replaced the tie rod ends and found the upper left knuckle joint was loose so I tightened the nut down on it, looks like the PO just got impatient and forgot some things and the unbalanced tires woke the problems up. Now for a test drive to see if I fixed it. I did have the tires balanced and it seemed to help till I hit the dirt road by my house.

[79c25]

Well it seams that I fixed it. There was no wobble what so ever and I got it up to 50 on dirt and 70 on hard ball. Thanks for all the input, it was much appreciated.

[andrewmp6]

A Steering damper would be band aid and mask the true problem.I'm glad you found the problem and got it taken care of.On a leaf spring truck death wobble is kinda easy to pin point something with links and coils like a jeep is a nightmare to pin point.

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

A Steering damper would be band aid and mask the true problem.I'm glad you found the problem and got it taken care of.On a leaf spring truck death wobble is kinda easy to pin point something with links and coils like a jeep is a nightmare to pin point.

Real Jeeps have leaf springs all around
Most of the time death wobble boils down to caster related issues. Like lifting a vehicle without compensating for the caster change or bad kingpins or ball joints.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Would bad sway bar bushings cause this also? My truck started the same thing recently. Nothing has been changed in the suspension or steering and the same tires are still on the front axle. Just started it out of the blue one day and only happens when I hit a bump. Also it seems kind of severe too for it to just be a missing wheel weight.

['68 Newtricks]

If a missing swaybar doesn't cause it, bad bushings wont either.

Time to go through everything and check. Have someone saw the steering back and forth while you look things over.

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

Would bad sway bar bushings cause this also? My truck started the same thing recently. Nothing has been changed in the suspension or steering and the same tires are still on the front axle. Just started it out of the blue one day and only happens when I hit a bump. Also it seems kind of severe too for it to just be a missing wheel weight.

No, sway bars or sway bar bushings would not cause a death wobble. Death wobble has been around long before sway bars were even installed on vehicles.
wheel balance or their weights will not cause a death wobble. Which is totally different than a tire out of balance. With that being said out of balance tires can affect a death wobble.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Thanks for the tips. I wasn't sure how bad bushings or a removed sway bar would affect it. First time dealing with a wobble like this. All my other tucks I had have never did it till now.

68' Newtricks- I'll have my dad take a look at it with me when we put the transmission and transfer case back in it. Thanks!

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

Thanks for the tips. I wasn't sure how bad bushings or a removed sway bar would affect it. First time dealing with a wobble like this. All my other tucks I had have never did it till now.

68' Newtricks- I'll have my dad take a look at it with me when we put the transmission and transfer case back in it. Thanks!

I noticed you sig says lifted. did you have the front end aligned after? lift springs will mess up your caster. You need about 6 to 8 degrees positive caster.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Im pretty sure it was I cant say for certain though. I was pretty young when my dad lifted it an easy 12 years ago. A fresh alignment has been on my to do list after I correct the steering. My dad had to sell the truck a few years ago after the place he worked for went bankrupt and I recently bought it back. The guy he sold it to probably did something to it and that's the issue cause it was driving fine when my dad had sold it.

['68 Newtricks]

Anything and everything that can wear/loosen/or stretch can create or add to death wobble.

Spring bushings
rod ends
ball joints/ king pins
wheel bearings
caster, camber, toe (not normally camber/toe, but can add to the "darty" feeling)
U-bolts or or broken spring pins (normally broken pins can cause "dog tracking" or wondering loose steering)

maybe etc
and notice I didn't say steering stabilizer, it just helps soften "jerks", doesn't hide DW

[Ol'_Blue78]

Spring pins make a lot of sense because my steering is awful at the moment but I think a lot of that is due to a bad steering gear.

[Ol'_Blue78]

If ya have any other tips just shoot me a PM I dont wanna take over his post.

['68 Newtricks]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

If ya have any other tips just shoot me a PM I dont wanna take over his post.

Sounds like he fixed it, either way it's at least the same topic

Bad steering "feel", however, has another list entirely

[Ol'_Blue78]

Very true lol

[jjzepplin]

These axles were not designed to run 35"-40" tires and that's a lot of extra rotating mass. Couple that with lifts and other steering geometry changes and then hit a decent bump at 35 mph and boom-death wobble. Steering stabilizers work like shocks. They do not mask the issue-they fix it. Ever wonder why that Chick just flew past you on the freeway with those 40" tires and she seems so stable? Check out the dual stabilizers on her front axle. Sure, all those other things can help to cause it and everything needs to be as tight as it can but when it comes back it can be catastrophic. Get the stabilizers and possibly save a life. You will be amazed at the new ride quality.

[79c25]

^good info
Dual stabilizers are on my to do list after I replace/rebuild the steering gear.

[nonstop]

Stabilizers don't solve the problem though. As said it just masks it. I had death wobble on mine and threw dual stabilizers at it. Proved just as bad. Once I aligned it properly, new bushings, and made sure the wheels were balanced, death wobble went away. The dual stabilizer also went away and the factory one is working great!

[jjzepplin]

I guess that's why they were installed at the factory level and improved upon and made bigger and better. My stock one worked ok too til it blew out with the big tires. I think that is why they call them S T A B I L I Z E R 's cuz they stabilize the steering by masking death wobble. HMMM. Better to be safe than death wobbling!

[nonstop]

I was of the same mindset until dual stabilizers didn't work. There's a lot of people running around with 1,2, or 3 or more stabilizers that still have death wobble. You will be time and money ahead finding and fixing the problem. They are hard to chase down at times, but it is great peace of mind knowing it's done.