Death wobble?!

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

I have a 2015 1500 sport 4x4 and recently when I hit a pothole or bump in the road my steering wheel goes crazy! Is this the death wobble? What can I do to fix it?! I have about 95,000 miles. Mechanic said there was nothing wrong with it and everything was tight. Any ideas? Id upload the video I took this morning but it says it’s too large of a file. Thanks!

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

not death wobble, usually death wobble happens at a speed, like for no reason you are doing 50mph and the vehicle goes into violent wobble.

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

Death wobble could be like a bunch of things sadly, that sucks about the independent front suspensions. it sounds like maybe it is just your steering box/chain? The truck doesn't wobble yeah? IDK anything about your steering box, I assume you still have old style steering box? Not these new fangle ones I even know less about.

Does this relate to an incident of some kind?

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

The truck does shake when I am at higher speeds, around 60-70. Always stops when I slow down.

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

Yeah that's bad news, then it could be anything. Trial and error is the only thing I know. Maybe upgrade control arms to zones, good upgrade anyhow. I'd find someone local with a good rep for fixing this. No vibrations? no drifting?

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

Yeah. Was trying to avoid that route! Lol. Don’t want to throw money at to replace parts that aren’t needed... yet. YouTube says two biggest culprits are track bar bearings and steering box.

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

I would have plenty of ideas if it was a solid axle, I fixed mine good in another vehicle that death wobbled at 45mph just by adding the damper shock and getting a large adjustable trackbar. But I really don't know about these suspensions, the front suspension is literally my worst feeling about this other wise great truck. I had hoped to some day do a SAS, but by the time I get to it I may be in line to get a 2500. good luck my man

o btw, you have a real nice truck, i like that thing.

69GWC · Sep 6, 2018

The death wobble you speak of only happens on straight front axle trucks.
The IFS on the newer 1500s wont do the same thing for the same reasons.
I would think about shocks and tie rod ends for starters, I would also check the hub bearings for play. It just takes a small amount of play in a few things to get it to add up to a good amount of play in the hole steering system.

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

Thanks! I love my truck!

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

69GWC - yeah, mechanic said everything is tight, I have new shocks coming in soon, checked the hubs and are tight, and the tie rods are on the list to check.

Joes1500 · Sep 6, 2018

First all. Your truck doesn't have a track bar on the front and doesn't have a mechanical steering box either. As said before the true death wobble only happens on solid axle trucks. I had it on an 2002 , 2500 and after about 4 months tracked it down to a combination of toe and caster. Long story no need to go into it now. But I believe what I found is why anyone who has problems with death wobble has this issue.

I would be looking at shocks/struts first thing in your situation, especially if they have never been changed. Both front and rear.

If that isnt the problem then start systematically replacing bushings . It could be that one or two are bad, or that multiple ones are just bad enough that combined they are causing your situation.

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

Yeah poly bushings is another upgrade just worth having, but I'm not sure that would be causing the steering wheel to do that.

smoothee · Sep 6, 2018

I'd check to make sure the wheels are properly balanced, no bent rim or anything like that. Also that alignment is good.

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

Just had that checked, wheels are balanced, and alignment is good to go. Rims are fine as well.

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

[yt]xVpD4wJ3X30[yt]

Here’s a video of what happens after going over small railroad tracks.

smoothee · Sep 6, 2018

Anything that you had maybe changed recently before the issue started? The couple of times I've had steering wheel shaking issues it's been tie rod related.

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

It’s been more noticeable after I added wheel spacers.

Tach_tech · Sep 6, 2018

Did the spacers have hub rings?

JJace26 · Sep 6, 2018

They were hub centric spacers, yes.

Burla · Sep 6, 2018

All of this good info to post first

How bad was in before spacers? Like one to ten scale us before and after.

Death wobble?!

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