bad shimmy after bump

[VinnyP]

Driving on highway doing 60/65, hit a bump and the wheel started to shimmy violently. Had to slow down to 40 or less before shimmy stopped. Happened 3 times on a 90 mile trip home. Very scary, had a hard time keeping truck under control. Going to call my local Ford dealer tomorrow, any insights tonight?

[alexleblanc]

before you spend any money look at your tire pressures and also look for a leaking steering stabilizer. If everything is good and your tires are not worn out then have the whole front end checked - most like nothing major.

[specta]

Mine was caused by a bad tire.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

larry barnhart wrote:
Ram had twisted frames that stopped the factory on the 3500 models a few years back
Chevman

Yes they did, happened at the Toledo Jeep plant also. Frames coming in on rail cars were twisted from the yard workers strapping the frames and not the shipping platform they were on.

Don

[larry_barnhart]

Ram had twisted frames that stopped the factory on the 3500 models a few years back
Chevman

[FishOnOne]

Me Again wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
As far a the death wobble I wounder if there might not be a frame alignment issue on trucks that are new? A frame can get bent during transportation (usually during rail shipment and more common then you may think) from over tightening of the chains.

Don

I don't think these new gen frames started by RAM in 2013, Ford in 2017 and GM ?? are going to bend very easy.

I agree.... having said that my 92 chevy truck had a bent frame from the transport. Lesson learned there is to never pick up a new truck at night and give it a thorough inspection

[Me_Again]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
As far a the death wobble I wounder if there might not be a frame alignment issue on trucks that are new? A frame can get bent during transportation (usually during rail shipment and more common then you may think) from over tightening of the chains.

Don

I don't think these new gen frames started by RAM in 2013, Ford in 2017 and GM ?? are going to bend very easy.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

As far a the death wobble I wounder if there might not be a frame alignment issue on trucks that are new? A frame can get bent during transportation (usually during rail shipment and more common then you may think) from over tightening of the chains.

Don

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

DutchmenSport wrote:
I had a similar experience with a car several years ago. It bewildered me completely, but it was consistent after a certain speed. Repair shop found nothing wrong with tire balance or wheel alignmnets.

After several frustrating trips to the repair shop and several attempted fixed failures, they finally checked the actual tread of the tires. Turns out the actual tread (not cross wise, but long wise) had dips and high spots on them at different spots on the tires. When the tires got in sync with each other, just right, the uneven tread lines (long ways around the tire) would cause the car to shake violently.

They took each tire and make each tire true round and got the tread level and sheared off those high spots. After that, it rode just fine. They fixed the tires at no cost.

Were these OE tires or after market? If aftermarket why would you let them "shave the tires"? If it were me they would be replacing them with new tires!

Don

[Chiefcpo]

Had a 2011 F350 CC/LWB/LB/DRW/Lariat edition, Got it traded off for a 2017 Ram at 41,000 miles as it was ready for the 4th set of front tires, Woody Anderson ford in Huntsville, Al. could not repair the front end to stop the death wobble. This started at 3,000 miles and now the new owner is thinking what the hell!!!
Love the new Ram, 3500 with rear air bags same set up as the F350 except the sun catcher (moon roof). the CTD is a little mofe thursty on MPG but I'm ok with that.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Fordlover wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Was it like this?

The little secret Ford does not want you to know.

And don't let anybody BS you by saying it's worn suspension parts "all" the time. They can be bad right out of the factory with just a handful of miles on them.

Are you claiming the components have a zero percent defect rate at new? Impressive, albeit unlikely.

Not at all.

What I'm saying is it does not have to be a wear issue. SA trucks can come right out of the factory with parts that are out of spec or tires that are out of spec or rims...or....or....or......it does not have to be a wear issue.

[bguy]

Nothing in the 80's was designed to go 65 MPH. I stopped watching. I wasted 3 min listening to some guy yak anticipating some revelation.

[Mont_G_J]

Defective Shock Absorber.

[Fordlover]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Was it like this?

The little secret Ford does not want you to know.

And don't let anybody BS you by saying it's worn suspension parts "all" the time. They can be bad right out of the factory with just a handful of miles on them.

Are you claiming the components have a zero percent defect rate at new? Impressive, albeit unlikely.

[RCMAN46]

May try rotating tires front to rear.

Broken steel belts which are not always apparent can cause problems.