Death wobble

[larry_barnhart]

I have been watching lots of Y tube and the Fords seem to be having issues. My 49 ford pickup had death wobble but it was needing work done. Not liking to hear about any new trucks have old issues.

chevman

[GWolfe]

Grit dog wrote:

trail-explorer wrote:

GWolfe wrote:
We have a 2018 F250 at work that suffered from the death wobble. It had just over 20k miles on it when it started. Ford added or replaced the steering damper, aligned it, and recommended new tires. ........ We are at 35k now and it is starting to come back,.

Something else in the front end is probably wearing out. Ball joints / or the like.

Had 1 pretty new Superduty at work, 09 or 2010 model, back in 09-10. It was a death wobbling pos. Wasn't my truck or part of my team, but it was so new that it really couldn't have been worn out. Idk what the fix was , but betting a bad tire or caster way off and the right stretch of road. Guy said it would do it in the same spot, but not elsewhere.

Its a work truck that gets beat on daily, I wouldn't be surprised if its been knocked out of alignment or something.

[GWolfe]

PastorCharlie wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:
My 87 Jeep Wrangler YJ started the death wobble a few years back and I took it to a national tire shop and they did an alignment but it still had the wobble. Took it back to them and they rechecked it and said they needed to shim the axle so I told them to do so. They said they tried to order shims but could not find any available.

I took the Jeep to a fleet truck shop that only works on big trucks and they agreed if it would fit their machine they would work on it. It fit and they shimmed the axle with shims they carried in stock and it stopped the problem.. I have not had any problem at any speed or on any highway.

This was likely a caster issue. Lifted springs?
Yes many things can cause it.

No lifted springs. The Jeep still original. It was a total alignment problem. Not all alignment shops can properly align a vehicle.

[Grit_dog]

^Glad that fixed it, but shimmed the axle meaning wedge shaped shims between the springs and spring perches are typically used to change the faster in the front axle. And generally more caster = tracks straighter, less “floating” and a bit more steering effort.

Seems strange that a vehicle after about 30 years suddenly had a caster issue without something else changing.

Not being critical, I just generally try to understand the root cause of issues. And you don’t generally see axles needing to be shimmed or rotated except to correct caster and/or pinion angles on lifted trucks.
So did they presumably add caster to the axle and nothing else was amiss? Did you get a before and after print out of the alignment?

[PastorCharlie]

Grit dog wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:
My 87 Jeep Wrangler YJ started the death wobble a few years back and I took it to a national tire shop and they did an alignment but it still had the wobble. Took it back to them and they rechecked it and said they needed to shim the axle so I told them to do so. They said they tried to order shims but could not find any available.

I took the Jeep to a fleet truck shop that only works on big trucks and they agreed if it would fit their machine they would work on it. It fit and they shimmed the axle with shims they carried in stock and it stopped the problem.. I have not had any problem at any speed or on any highway.

This was likely a caster issue. Lifted springs?
Yes many things can cause it.

No lifted springs. The Jeep still original. It was a total alignment problem. Not all alignment shops can properly align a vehicle.

[Grit_dog]

trail-explorer wrote:

GWolfe wrote:
We have a 2018 F250 at work that suffered from the death wobble. It had just over 20k miles on it when it started. Ford added or replaced the steering damper, aligned it, and recommended new tires. ........ We are at 35k now and it is starting to come back,.

Something else in the front end is probably wearing out. Ball joints / or the like.

Had 1 pretty new Superduty at work, 09 or 2010 model, back in 09-10. It was a death wobbling pos. Wasn't my truck or part of my team, but it was so new that it really couldn't have been worn out. Idk what the fix was , but betting a bad tire or caster way off and the right stretch of road. Guy said it would do it in the same spot, but not elsewhere.

[mich800]

Grit dog wrote:

larry barnhart wrote:
seems like any front end that needs work could do a wobble.

chevman

Eh not really. A solid axle develops the harmonics or whatever it is from one wheel to the other because no only are they tied together by steering but physically through the axle so whatever 1 wheel does pushes the opposite one the other way.
An ifs can shake or rattle but generally won’t get out of control.

That's the truth. Typically it is from something worn but not exclusively. We had a few Gladiators develop it during pre production testing.

[trail-explorer]

GWolfe wrote:
We have a 2018 F250 at work that suffered from the death wobble. It had just over 20k miles on it when it started. Ford added or replaced the steering damper, aligned it, and recommended new tires. ........ We are at 35k now and it is starting to come back,.

Something else in the front end is probably wearing out. Ball joints / or the like.

[trail-explorer]

spud1957 wrote:
Yeah. This is no way just a "Ford" problem. Any truck with a solid front axle. Google Ram death wobble.

Jeeps too (Wrangler = solid front axle)

[GWolfe]

We have a 2018 F250 at work that suffered from the death wobble. It had just over 20k miles on it when it started. Ford added or replaced the steering damper, aligned it, and recommended new tires. We put new tires on it after getting it back from Ford and all is well, for the most part. We are at 35k now and it is starting to come back, a minor shaking can be felt momentarily through the steering wheel after hitting bumps/expansion joints on the highway. Probably could use another alignment, it is a work truck and gets driven like one.

[PastorCharlie]

Grit dog wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:
My 87 Jeep Wrangler YJ started the death wobble a few years back and I took it to a national tire shop and they did an alignment but it still had the wobble. Took it back to them and they rechecked it and said they needed to shim the axle so I told them to do so. They said they tried to order shims but could not find any available.

I took the Jeep to a fleet truck shop that only works on big trucks and they agreed if it would fit their machine they would work on it. It fit and they shimmed the axle with shims they carried in stock and it stopped the problem.. I have not had any problem at any speed or on any highway.

This was likely a caster issue. Lifted springs?
Yes many things can cause it.

Yes leaf springs and front end is in excellent condition. Just illustrating that improper alignment can also cause the problem. Not just any shop can correctly align one.

[spud1957]

rhagfo wrote:

spud1957 wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
Having said that any solid front axle vehicle has the death wobble potential.

100% correct !

Yeah. This is no way just a "Ford" problem. Any truck with a solid front axle. Google Ram death wobble.

Actually I think Ram passed the “Death Wobble” torch to Ford as of late.

The only vehicle that I ever had death wobble on was a 64 Ford Econoline with bad King Pin bushings.

Russ I guess you didn't Google Ram death wobble. It is not just Ford. Also Jeep as well.

[Grit_dog]

PastorCharlie wrote:
My 87 Jeep Wrangler YJ started the death wobble a few years back and I took it to a national tire shop and they did an alignment but it still had the wobble. Took it back to them and they rechecked it and said they needed to shim the axle so I told them to do so. They said they tried to order shims but could not find any available.

I took the Jeep to a fleet truck shop that only works on big trucks and they agreed if it would fit their machine they would work on it. It fit and they shimmed the axle with shims they carried in stock and it stopped the problem.. I have not had any problem at any speed or on any highway.

This was likely a caster issue. Lifted springs?
Yes many things can cause it.

[Cummins12V98]

Helped a friend years ago rebuild his kingpins on his Scout. Wobble was horrible even at low speeds.

[PastorCharlie]

My 87 Jeep Wrangler YJ started the death wobble a few years back and I took it to a national tire shop and they did an alignment but it still had the wobble. Took it back to them and they rechecked it and said they needed to shim the axle so I told them to do so. They said they tried to order shims but could not find any available.

I took the Jeep to a fleet truck shop that only works on big trucks and they agreed if it would fit their machine they would work on it. It fit and they shimmed the axle with shims they carried in stock and it stopped the problem.. I have not had any problem at any speed or on any highway.