Front End Shakes

[twxsby]

I am having a violent shake at around 40-45mph. I just rotated my tires, and that did nothing. Could this be an alignment problem? I was hopeing it was my tires. Nothing obvious from looking at it. Any ideas?
Thanks

[old Rusty C10]

have you recently removed your rotors and overtightened your bearings? could the rotors be warped? rim warped( bent) im assuming its 2WD

[Grim Reaper]

Is it all the time or braking? I had some shake in mine that was rotors. Did a brake job and tuned the rotors. What's left I know is warped rims. Also check the ball joints, TRE's and idler arms.

[twxsby]

It happens braking or not. How does one check idler arms, TRE's, and ball joints?
It is a 4x4, don't know if that makes a diff.
Thanks for the input

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by twxsby
It happens braking or not. How does one check idler arms, TRE's, and ball joints?
It is a 4x4, don't know if that makes a diff.
Thanks for the input

Jack one wheel off just off the ground. tiwst the lifted wheel and see if you feel play in any direction. If you do try to figure out where that play is. You cau susualy look at the TRE (Tie Rod Ends) and see them shift when bad. Since you have a solid axle 4x4 (asuming your not asking about that ford in your sig) you don't had an idler arm. You do have a drag link between the steering box and axle. SHould be able to see any slop when you jack that side up.

The above should also let you see if you have problems wit hthe ball joints but I have done that test and not got any indication of a bad ball joint. Then took it appart and found the top ball joint shot.

Your symptoms tend to indicate bad ball joints.

I always align after replacing any parts in the front end. I align them myself. 1/8 inch of toe in. Unless you have a wedge shim there is no other adjustments possible.

What kind of miles on this front end? Your almost always need a rebuild by 100k. Can't lube the top ball joint with it installed so they are usualy shot by that time.

To completely rebuild that front end including seals, tie rod ends, ball joints, drag link and new brake pads your looking $500 in parts. That includes inner axle seals that usualy go bad when you pull the axle shafts if they are originals. Some get lucky and manage to get away with not changing them but I'm never that lucky.

[twxsby]

Thanks for the help. I don't have $500, but the truck is a definite keeper, so I'll work something out.
Odometer reads 95K, I bought it with 60K about a year ago. From the looks of the pedals, I'd add a 100K to those numbers. Don't know any history except what I have already done.
Guess I'll try and figure out which part is bad, and start with that.
Any harm in replacing a few pieces at a time?

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by twxsby
Thanks for the help. I don't have $500, but the truck is a definite keeper, so I'll work something out.
Odometer reads 95K, I bought it with 60K about a year ago. From the looks of the pedals, I'd add a 100K to those numbers. Don't know any history except what I have already done.
Guess I'll try and figure out which part is bad, and start with that.
Any harm in replacing a few pieces at a time?

No harm at all but there is a LOT of doing and undooing. To change the inner axle seal you have to remove the axle shafts. To replace the ball joints you have to remove the axle shafts. To replace the u-joints you have to remove the axle shafts. To replace the wheel seals and axle shaft to spindle seals it would only take 2 more seconds to remove the axle shafts. So basicly it a gamble if those inner axle seals or U-Joints aree going to be bad right when you swap ball joints or if your going to get another year out of them.

If you know what your doing you can pull a axle shaft in a half hour BUT that's knowing what your doing. Best time I have seen to swap a axle shaft was in a copm two guys knowing what they were doing with a spare shaft already assembled. On board air and air tools. 22 minutes start to finish.

Everytime I have redone a front axle on one of these trucks I pretty well write off a whole day and I know what to expect.

Yeah it's not cheap to go through a front end but it's a doit all now and forget about it for 10 years or so deal so that $500 works out to about $50 a year.

[twxsby]

I found out the part of the problem is the tie rod ends, like you said, and also my tires aren't exactly round. Crappy tires just go bad, and fast. 30k.
Have you ever heard of getting rid of the sway bar in front?

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by twxsby
I found out the part of the problem is the tie rod ends, like you said, and also my tires aren't exactly round. Crappy tires just go bad, and fast. 30k.
Have you ever heard of getting rid of the sway bar in front?

TRE's are easy to replace. Moog's aroe about $25 each so not even all that bad to replace.

Yeah you can get a big improvement in wheel travel with the sway off. On my Jimmy it's worth about an extra 200point on the ramp. Without the sway it will ramp 839 on a 30 degree ramp.

My truck is soft enough that you really notice the sway off. Some folks ditch it and never look back. Even though my 4x4 is mostly a trail truck I still have 1-2 hour ride to the trails.

I run www.offroaddesign.com sway bar disconnects. Stephen Watson from ORD is the GM 4x4 owners best friend. Hard to beat his prices and super guy to deal with. www.ck5.com members get a discount.