Death wobble

[deecorpse81]

The other day my truck started the death wobble which someone told me its called, it randomly shakes like its going to fall apart I have to slam on brakes for it to stop and it looks like tire wobbles on driver side when it happens when I looked out window. It happen 4 times coming home first time only 10 miles and it broke my front axle and ripped pout bolt to caliper too. fixed both of them thought it was because broke front axle but no its still doing it. I had some one look at it they said ball joints my ? is would bad ball joints cause it to do the death wobble and feel like its going to fall apart it shakes so bad. I don't have money to take to shop and would like any suggestions what it could be. I put a lot in this truck so far and had it for 3 weeks.

[Jsdirt]

Just remembered having an '85 or so 6.2 diesel K30 dump body here with that same issue. If you hit a bump at around 20-30 mph, the wheel would go into a violent side-to-side wobble that wouldn't go away unless you nearly stopped. That started after we replaced that 5' long tie rod - all correct parts, installed to the same length as what was removed.

 

I added 10 psi to both fronts, and the problem mysteriously went away! That was a strange one ....

 

Truck was a rotted out POS, so throwing money at it was not an option. Probably in the junkyard now - this was 2-3 years back. I don't miss working on that turd, I can tell ya that!

[Doug_Scott]

but one side goes in and out bad compared to the other side maybe 1/16 of inch or less it has way more play then other side and I noticed today both tires on back must been on front and the outsides bald and inside has tread still pretty good tread. and when I let jack down the tires tilt toward outside there not straight its very noticeable is that a problem? Im taking it in to shop tomorrow but I never trusted them cause my mother in law took her jeep cause it had death wobble at 60 when u brake only at above 60 not 58 it would be fine they replaced 850 worth of parts and still did it come to find out belts were blown in both front tire form it sitting for years not moving .,I just don't want to spend a lot of money and not have it fixed and I got all new skyjacker shocks coming next week cause I ripped one rear shock out the day I got it taking kids in field and doing donuts cause they wanted to. and when I had one side jacked up yeaterday I had bad play in front with tire rod and what ever its connected to but when I jacked it higher when both were up it had very little play.

 

Sometimes people think too much about stuff they don't really understand and end up trying to use the knowledge they have against an issue it does not apply to, and get an answer that sounds solid to them. But it is not.

 

Your truck has a solid rear axle. There is no provision for any camber adjustment, and caster does not apply. Any angle you see in the rear wheel after lowering from a jacked up position is an illusion. Roll the truck forward one wheel rotation and see if you still see it. At most you may be seeing that the truck is not on level ground, and after letting jack down the truck has leaned over to one side while being dropped. The axle end play is completely 100% normal. All vehicles with that type of rear axle have end play. It does not create any issue, does not create any vibration, and will not create a noise.

 

If you have an issue with a defective tire, you would be getting a vibration or steering wheel wobble from a dead stop as you pull away.

 

Tire wear on outside edge, both sides is usually caused by excessive toe in. Reason I say that and not excessive camber is that having both sides with excessive camber is not common, where as excessive toe-in is applied to both front tires in order to keep truck going straight.

 

The reason you do not get the play in the tie rod end with both wheels off the ground is that it is easier for the other tire to move than it is for the play in the tie rod end to move. Check front end parts on one side at a time with other side on ground until you get enough experience to understand what is happening.

 

Just because the shop looks at it does not mean they have to fix it. Get the estimate, go home, think about it, then decide about what to do. If the shop wants to charge for the estimate, ask if that will be credited back if you get the work done later.

[racer36]

My truck did this. Make sure the pitman arm and idler are tight.

[Mahalla]

We have a 2001 Chevy 1500. It has a major death wobble. We replaced the tie rods, pitman & idler arms,  steering stabilizer,  u- joints and it still does it. A mechanic is telling us it's the abs brake module & pump, others are saying steering box. Thoughts? We've had the truck 7 yrs and have had good luck with it until now. We've already dumped over $3k into fixing things and it still about throws you into the barrier shaking so bad. 

[Jsdirt]

I hear you there - same here in MA.

 

Didn't think there was a caster adjustment on our trucks - only camber .... but what do I know ...

 

Camber, looking at the front, is whether the top of the wheel is angled outward, or inward.

 

Here's some pics of alignment terms to help you - click on the pics in the middle: http://www.google.com/search?q=caster+camber+toe

[MikeNH]

Pretty sure a 98 the front driveshaft will not be spinning in 2WD.