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1990 blazer,violent shaking and wobble

snowdriver

snowdriver

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ok,i have a bone stock 1990 blazer,350,auto 31.10.50 tires,and it has 248000 miles on it,it is driven weekly but not daily,my boy took it into town the other day and it started shaking,he thought it had a flat and stopped and all four tires were fine,and that is the extent of his automotive expertise,so i drive it and all is fine,drove it approximately 150 miles no issues,then went snow wheelin and no issues,on the way home from wheelin,on the hi-way at about 50 mph it started to shake and wobble horribly,slowed down to about 30-35 and it finally smoothed out,and i brought back up to about 60-65 for the trip home,no issues,everything appears to be fine visually,the engine runs fine,transmission is good as well,got to suspension related but nothing obvious is noticeable,any ideas,,,,,as i am writing this i wonder if a engine mount broke? would or could that cause that,,,any thoughts
 
Sounds like "death wobble"...lots of things can cause it,a belt in a tire failing,loose suspention or steering parts,wheel bearings,and more...


I had a 72 K5 start doing that,felt like it was going to shake the body off the frame...it turned out to be the tires,I tried rotating them,and they didn't like being put on different spots!..I had to swap them back to where they were,until I got new tires...
 
diesel4me said:
Sounds like "death wobble"...lots of things can cause it,a belt in a tire failing,loose suspention or steering parts,wheel bearings,and more...


I had a 72 K5 start doing that,felt like it was going to shake the body off the frame...it turned out to be the tires,I tried rotating them,and they didn't like being put on different spots!..I had to swap them back to where they were,until I got new tires...
Click to expand...
tires are brand new and round,and it is not consistent,only happens once in awile
 
Second the death wobble.....

Start with checking the steering box and where it bolts to the frame...
make sure the box is bolted up tight and no cracks in the frame where it bolts to the frame.

Move on to the tie rod ends and drag link... inspect those..
check spring hangers,, spring bushings,,,loose u-bolts/broken spring pins.

Jack the front end up and shake the tires side to side.... look for loose parts,,,slack in the wheel bearings etc....

now for the fun part... with the front axle sitting on jack stands,, take a long piece of pipe,, 2x4,,tree branch,,crow bar,,, and bar the tire up and down at the bottom of the tire...

look for play in the ball joints at the knuckles on the axle right behind the wheel....

good luck !! :waytogo:
 
wasted wages said:
Second the death wobble.....

Start with checking the steering box and where it bolts to the frame...
make sure the box is bolted up tight and no cracks in the frame where it bolts to the frame.

Move on to the tie rod ends and drag link... inspect those..
check spring hangers,, spring bushings,,,loose u-bolts/broken spring pins.

Jack the front end up and shake the tires side to side.... look for loose parts,,,slack in the wheel bearings etc....

now for the fun part... with the front axle sitting on jack stands,, take a long piece of pipe,, 2x4,,tree branch,,crow bar,,, and bar the tire up and down at the bottom of the tire...

look for play in the ball joints at the knuckles on the axle right behind the wheel....

good luck !! :waytogo:
Click to expand...
going to pull it into the shop tomorrow morning and give it a real good inspection,will let you all know what i find,
 
You didn't give a whole lot of detail but here is where I would start.

You mentioned snow; If it was really cold both days times it happened, slime or fix a flat in the tires.

U-joints are usually more of a vibration but can be anywhere from intermittent to violent, depending a few variables, but grease them while you are down there anyway.

Look at the shocks, are they leaking?

Tie rod ends will typically cause the steering wheel to wobble. You asked about engine mounts, so I'm guess it was a steering

Thrown wheel weights are usually more consistent at a certain speed. Above and below they can smooth out.
 
AR_K5 said:
You didn't give a whole lot of detail but here is where I would start.

You mentioned snow; If it was really cold both days times it happened, slime or fix a flat in the tires.

U-joints are usually more of a vibration but can be anywhere from intermittent to violent, depending a few variables, but grease them while you are down there anyway.

Look at the shocks, are they leaking?

Tie rod ends will typically cause the steering wheel to wobble. You asked about engine mounts, so I'm guess it was a steering

Thrown wheel weights are usually more consistent at a certain speed. Above and below they can smooth out.
Click to expand...
u-joints are new less than 500 miles,no slime in the tires,and no steering wheel wobble,front shocks are good,never have changed the rears
 
snowdriver said:
u-joints are new less than 500 miles,no slime in the tires,and no steering wheel wobble,front shocks are good,never have changed the rears
Click to expand...

Ok rear shocks, thrown wheel weights, mud packed or rock stuck in the wheels, leaf spring bushings, busted belt in the tire (common if you ever switch a tire from one side to the other, big no no)
 
There has to be something else worn that voilent of shaking I don't think could come from a worn steering stabilizer.

I don't run stabilizers on anything. Never have. I have fixed plenty of death wobble issues. One was ball joints but you couldn't really get them to move unless you put a pry bar in the wheel.

But yah check everything steering. Bushings bolts in the suspension, look for broken anything, a blown out shock etc etc etc.
 
I've eliminated death wobble in several rigs with a $30 steering stabilizer. If GM didn't feel it was necessary, they would have saved the money.

Martin
 
82355 said:
I've eliminated death wobble in several rigs with a $30 steering stabilizer. If GM didn't feel it was necessary, they would have saved the money.

Martin
Click to expand...

Not saying it doesn't work just saying its not my preferred way of doing it. I have always been able to replace some part and fix it. I am not a fan of steering stabilizers though.
 
To me, it kind of sounds like he is talking about the 'throw away bar' (sway bar) instead of the stabilizer (on the tie rod).

The one on the tie rod is made to reduce vibration going back into the steering box.
The sway bar is for body roll in corners.

But I've been wrong before.
 
I think it's worth noting that the stabilizer shock is to reduce vibration and irregular input into the steering (i.e. a stray pothole). It's not designed to cover up worn parts. So, I don't think that starting with replacing the stabilizer shock is the right place to begin. If all the rod ends and ball joints are tight and good, and there's no crack in the frame by the steering box, and the steering box itself is nice and tight, then I'd say move forward with replacing the stabilizer. Plus, you can check all those components for free before you buy a new stabilizer.

In my experience, your problem is a combination of ball joints and rod ends. Perhaps someone already stated it in this thread, but do you know how to properly check those components?

Before I went with hydro-assist, I never used a steering stabilizer (the hydro ram acts as a stabilizer in a hydro-assist system). You can go without the stabilizer and get rid of this problem. The stabilizer should just be there for the comfort of your drive, in my opinion, and should not be the thing that stops your problem. If it does fix your problem, I'd be willing to bet that it's simply a bandaid fix and you're in for bigger trouble in the future.
 
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