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anyone used more than 2 washers to shim kingpins????

01maroonz71

01maroonz71

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the reason i ask is because i added one along with new white bushings/springs/washers when i swapped my axle in, about 3months ago...well, i've had some shimmys and shakes since then, and i thought it was from my rear CV shaft angle being a bit off.....so today we set the rear on jackstands, and i got it up to 50MPH no problem with no shakes at all...so that must not be it. we put ANOTHER washer in the king pin caps today, and it helped considerably.....it's about 75percent gone...but still there a bit....


basically im wondering if i can add another washer to it (fender washer obviously) and see what that does. i should add that i AM going to go hydro assist in the next few months. should i just deal with it....or what do you guys think???? thanks.
~Dave
 
Before i went hydro assist i tried the fender washer trick and with one it still had DW, i then added another and couldn't turn the steering. :crazy: That's when i installed the hydro assist and have had NO DW ever again.
 
I would tend to think there is something else wrong that is causing the DW...make sure you don't have blinders on and think that only the upper kingpins can cause this issue. If you have new bushings and springs, and 2 washers still doesn't fix the DW, then look elsewhere!

Are the lowers tight? Are the actual pins (the metal part) in decent shape...not pitted or anything? How about rest of the steering and suspension?

Keep in mind that hydro-assist will only mask the problem, not fix it.
 
6.2Blazer said:
I would tend to think there is something else wrong that is causing the DW...make sure you don't have blinders on and think that only the upper kingpins can cause this issue. If you have new bushings and springs, and 2 washers still doesn't fix the DW, then look elsewhere!

Are the lowers tight? Are the actual pins (the metal part) in decent shape...not pitted or anything? How about rest of the steering and suspension?

Keep in mind that hydro-assist will only mask the problem, not fix it.
Click to expand...

If you were replying to me i'll tell you what i replaced and finally got tired so hydro assist was the answer. I changed upper king pins, springs, and bushings (twice), lower bearing and plate, tie rod ends, drag link ends, steering box, swapped tires around, changed wheel bearings. Pretty sure that covers everything related to having a DW issue. Also there is no cracked frame either (fixed that a long time ago).
 
I've been having some death wobble issues myself lately, and very recently I installed new plastic bushings and springs at the upper kingpin. I did not try adding any washers. All other steering components are still in good condition, but the problem is still there, death wobble. Recently, I noticed that the rear spring hanger and shackle bushings of the front springs were totally wasted. When steering the front wheels from side to side, I have inches of wasted (lost) motion occuring at the rear of the front springs. I haven't fixed it yet, but I believe this is where my problem lies, and maybe it's something you ought to check on yours as well.
 
i did the same procedure as 4x4 HIGH did on his front 60 and I got the same results, DW. Instead of forking out $ for hydro assist, i kept changing the toe in and toe out settings until the thing had no death wobble, im sure my tires are hating it, but they dont wear too bad and it took about 4-5 tries of adjusting until i got it where i like it. Btw, i have a couple skinny fender washers on each side to eliminate deflection, and it helps.
 
4X4HIGH said:
If you were replying to me i'll tell you what i replaced and finally got tired so hydro assist was the answer. I changed upper king pins, springs, and bushings (twice), lower bearing and plate, tie rod ends, drag link ends, steering box, swapped tires around, changed wheel bearings. Pretty sure that covers everything related to having a DW issue. Also there is no cracked frame either (fixed that a long time ago).
Click to expand...

I was actually replying to the original poster. But still, there is obviously some other problem causing the DW. That's great that hydro-assist hides the problem, no issues with that...but again it did not "fix" the problem, only masking it.
 
what is your toe-in set at oneton???? mines at just under 1/2in toed in on 39.5TSLS.


6.2blazer...yeah, EVERYTHING is new....i redid everything on the front axle but the ujoints....new tie rod/drag link/tie rod ends/king pins were rebuild 6months ago and bearings are less than 24hrs old...i just did those yesterday again. did them 6months ago also...but got stuck in some brackish water and i wanted to get them out b/c of the salt...anyways....yeah it's all new.

maybe i should mess with the toe in/out a bit.....ill try that this weekend and see what i can come up with. i did notice my tires were wearing a tad funny, kind of cupping...but i thought it was b/c of the DW....


oh yeah, i also swapped tires front to back and still the same problem...so it's not a bent rim/tire out of round, etc...

thanks guys
~Dave
 
Alignment (toe in/out primarily) or misbalanced tires can also cause death wobble.

Hydro-assist will pretty much eliminate all death wobble, just make sure that the rest of your steering is safe.
 
not quite sure on the exact tow in measurement. I set it at dead even, then after adjusting it several times, i didn't check, i was just happy to have it drive normal again after the adjustments. 1/2 tow in sounds like a little much, but its probable around there.
 
1/16"-1/8" is a general spec (1/8" more popular for bigger tires).

Alignment or tire balance can definitely cause death wobble.
 
alrighty...ill try toeing it "out" a little bit and see what happens on sunday. my tires have airsoft bb's in them to balance them. thanks alot guys...
~Dave
 
i run full reman 60 with 35" radials. no problems. if i stick on bias ply tires of any size i get death wobble bad at 35-40 mph. i even have a 2 shock side by sidee dampener . i even balenced my 38 tsl tires i had a few diffrent ways to some tinny effect it was better but still there.

i bet its all in the tires. :eek1:
 
well, i geuss it's the price you pay...haha....i might try a radial 41 irok next....see what that does.
 
irok on street use = little wear time as to others.

irok off road = good use and crawlin good to.

from what i have read.
 
01maroonz71 said:
well, i geuss it's the price you pay...haha....i might try a radial 41 irok next....see what that does.
Click to expand...

I had a set of 41" iroks, when i first put them on i noticed dw. I put 2 whashers on each side, and did the alignment, dw gone. iroks are nice tires.
 
Just because the parts are "new" does not mean that they may not be the source of the DW. I've seen people put on brand new parts but they were not installed correctly (I'm not trying to say you installed any parts wrong, but you do need to double-check). You also need to get further away from the axle itself. U-bolts, spring bushings, and the springs themselves can all be possible issues.

As far as the comment about tires causing DW...well, I guess it depends on how you look at it. Larger, heavier tires can definitely contribute to DW.
 
One more thing to add. Flat spots in your tires will cause death wobble too. Once my tires warm up and are round again it is totally gone. But the first 15 mins of driving sucks.
 
yeah, even when mine warm up...it's still there...def. worse in the mornin' for sure. i also tripple checked all upbolts,shackles, spring mounts, EVERYTHING.....it must be the tires. im gonna swap some rollers on thre and see what happens
 
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