Bad Wobble

[Jwithing]

Hey all, could use any insights or trouble shooting suggestions.

I had a pop in the front passenger side of my truck and couldn't figure out what the deal was. Had to wait for a shop to look at it due to Covid and turns out that my slide bolts for my caliper were completely missing and my caliper was hoping on bumps making a slamming noise. It had been a year and a half since I changed my brakes and the shop was perplexed at how my bolts were missing.

The shop was gracious enough to replace two bolts for a modest $200 . I then checked my brakes and realized I my EBC yellowstuff brakes were nearly gone in the front after 25K miles. I changed them with the stronger green stuff in the front. Immediately I noticed a wobble. It was very faint until 80 mph and then the brake pedal and steering wheel would sometimes shake violently. Not quite death wobble intense. I figured I need to turn my rotors since it was a different style pad and there was a lip on the old rotors. So, I bought new ebc slotted and dimpled rotors and swapped them out. I still sometimes get a shake on the highway and usually when over 80. Things got much better after the new rotors, but I'm still perplexed. There's no issues at all when applying braking. Sometimes the wobbles are present at 70 mph around curves and what not.

It seems to be rather inconsistent and through various research, I'm not sure how to best trouble shoot. 77K miles w/ a 6 inch BDS lift running 37's, so no surprise that something is going out, I would just like to figure out what so I don't have to start randomly replacing stuff.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jwithing]

Also just scheduled an appointment for an alignment tomorrow. I figured they can tell me if anything is going out of whack suspension wise.

 

[RangerWeaver]

Could be that with the caliper coming loose it knocked some wheel weights off the rim. I would recommend having the wheels re-balanced. Normally in when feeling vibrations from the steering wheel and sometimes from the brake pedal its caused by the front wheels being out of balance. And with the 37's I wouldn't doubt that a wheel or two is out of balance.

 

[Jwithing]

Could be that with the caliper coming loose it knocked some wheel weights off the rim. I would recommend having the wheels re-balanced. Normally in when feeling vibrations from the steering wheel and sometimes from the brake pedal its caused by the front wheels being out of balance. And with the 37's I wouldn't doubt that a wheel or two is out of balance.

Interesting theory. I do need new tires soon, but wanted to try and figure this out first. I did just crawl under and check, doesn't look like there's any weights missing, but then again, it's been awhile and I've likely acquired more than enough dirt to cover up any fresh indications of missing weights.

 

[Octane]

Tires are the cause of a lot of little wobbles and vibrations and even small belt separations can cause steering wander/pulling.I've had belt separations on low and high mileage tires.

 

[RangerWeaver]

Interesting theory. I do need new tires soon, but wanted to try and figure this out first. I did just crawl under and check, doesn't look like there's any weights missing, but then again, it's been awhile and I've likely acquired more than enough dirt to cover up any fresh indications of missing weights.

With my last job as an auto tech, I saw this fairly often. I also had the same issue with my last truck and I'm starting to experience it with my Ram. I know with the Ram, seeing as I purchased it used with 9 years and 114K miles on it, the tires will need to be replaced as I am seeing dry rot in the treads.

 

[Jwithing]

Alignment is done, no change and no comments from the techs.

 

[ram1500rsm]

What are the symptoms now after the last round ?

 

[Burla]

If it happens when your aren't pressing the brakes, and the caliper isn't dragging (easy to check), then it aint the brakes or rotors as long as everything is tightly attached.

 

[Jwithing]

What are the symptoms now after the last round ?

Same, seems like it may have helped slightly now. Still getting an occasional wobble in the brake and steering wheel at high speed.

If it happens when your aren't pressing the brakes, and the caliper isn't dragging (easy to check), then it aint the brakes or rotors as long as everything is tightly attached.

Nope, not the brakes. Everything is smooth when applying the brakes.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Hey all, could use any insights or trouble shooting suggestions.

I had a pop in the front passenger side of my truck and couldn't figure out what the deal was. Had to wait for a shop to look at it due to Covid and turns out that my slide bolts for my caliper were completely missing and my caliper was hoping on bumps making a slamming noise. It had been a year and a half since I changed my brakes and the shop was perplexed at how my bolts were missing.

My '89 RAM did this very thing. After tires, shocks, and alignment, no change. I replaced both front rotors, flex hoses, pads, wheel seals, and flushed the fluid... Voila! Fixed! BTW, "Yellow Stuff/Green Stuff" brand brake parts were being hawked at a car show I attended some years back, and I was studying them while the vendor bloviated about how great they were/are. I noticed there was no engineering/DOT stampings which have a code for friction coefficience as part of the number, anywhere on any of these products, and he could only provide hyperbole in lieu of legitimate reasons for it.

You just MIGHT need to get parts (legitimate NHTSA/DOT approved) from NAPA or Advanced and start over.... just trying to help!

The shop was gracious enough to replace two bolts for a modest $200 . I then checked my brakes and realized I my EBC yellowstuff brakes were nearly gone in the front after 25K miles. I changed them with the stronger green stuff in the front. Immediately I noticed a wobble. It was very faint until 80 mph and then the brake pedal and steering wheel would sometimes shake violently. Not quite death wobble intense. I figured I need to turn my rotors since it was a different style pad and there was a lip on the old rotors. So, I bought new ebc slotted and dimpled rotors and swapped them out. I still sometimes get a shake on the highway and usually when over 80. Things got much better after the new rotors, but I'm still perplexed. There's no issues at all when applying braking. Sometimes the wobbles are present at 70 mph around curves and what not.

It seems to be rather inconsistent and through various research, I'm not sure how to best trouble shoot. 77K miles w/ a 6 inch BDS lift running 37's, so no surprise that something is going out, I would just like to figure out what so I don't have to start randomly replacing stuff.

Thanks in advance!

 

[NJMOPAR]

Nope, not the brakes. Everything is smooth when applying the brakes.

If the wobble stops when applying the brakes my guess is upper ball joints. A loose UCA would 'tighten up' with the forces of braking I'm thinking.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Check YouTube on how to check for toasted ucas, lcas, tierods, hub bearings etc.

 

[averageguy]

Have the tires road force balanced.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Have the tires road force balanced.

Good move!

 

[Jwithing]

Braking does not effect the wobble at all. Starting to wonder if turning at high speeds has an impact.

I've done some research but rather hard to pinpoint since most of the symptoms are shared across issues and nothing is jumping out.

 

[NJMOPAR]

"Everything is smooth when applying the brakes"
"Braking does not affect the wobble at all"

These two statements are contradictory.

 

[Sherman Bird]

"Everything is smooth when applying the brakes"
"Braking does not affect the wobble at all"

These two statements are contradictory.

Yes they are!

 

[Sherman Bird]

Hey all, could use any insights or trouble shooting suggestions.

I had a pop in the front passenger side of my truck and couldn't figure out what the deal was. Had to wait for a shop to look at it due to Covid and turns out that my slide bolts for my caliper were completely missing and my caliper was hoping on bumps making a slamming noise. It had been a year and a half since I changed my brakes and the shop was perplexed at how my bolts were missing.

The shop was gracious enough to replace two bolts for a modest $200 . I then checked my brakes and realized I my EBC yellowstuff brakes were nearly gone in the front after 25K miles. I changed them with the stronger green stuff in the front. Immediately I noticed a wobble. It was very faint until 80 mph and then the brake pedal and steering wheel would sometimes shake violently. Not quite death wobble intense. I figured I need to turn my rotors since it was a different style pad and there was a lip on the old rotors. So, I bought new ebc slotted and dimpled rotors and swapped them out. I still sometimes get a shake on the highway and usually when over 80. Things got much better after the new rotors, but I'm still perplexed. There's no issues at all when applying braking. Sometimes the wobbles are present at 70 mph around curves and what not.

It seems to be rather inconsistent and through various research, I'm not sure how to best trouble shoot. 77K miles w/ a 6 inch BDS lift running 37's, so no surprise that something is going out, I would just like to figure out what so I don't have to start randomly replacing stuff.

Thanks in advance!

Good luck!

 

[Jwithing]

"Everything is smooth when applying the brakes"
"Braking does not affect the wobble at all"

These two statements are contradictory.

I can certainly understand how it appears that way. When I stated that braking did not affect the wobble, I meant that when the wobble exists, the wobble continues in the pedal, rather than in the rotors during brake pedal engagement.

Hope that clarifies, still can't shake it down. Been a bit busy and had to have some rust taken care of under warranty before it expired.