Death wobble

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

There are several things that contribute to death wobble, but the main one is the wrong geometry between the pitman arm, and the tie rod, and can happen on solid axles, and independent suspensions.

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.

seems like any front end that needs work could do a wobble.

chevman

larry barnhart wrote:
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

You don't have anything to worry about with your truck being independent front suspension.
Anymore, it's a condition that happens (rarely) to solid axle 4x4s. (since there aren't' any solid axle 2wd light duty trucks anymore)

And generally there's a definitive reason. Bad tires like Fish said on his truck, wore out steering and suspension components, or lift kits with poor geometry.

My 2004 E450 Class C would try to pull you to the right or left if either front tire dropped into a good-sized dip in the road. After I replaced the ford OE damper with a Safe-T-Plus it no longer could pull the steering wheel out of my hands.