What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

d 60 death wobble - leaking brakes

FlatBlackBurb

FlatBlackBurb

1/2 ton status
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Posts
385
Reaction score
0
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
after a week and a half of my truck sitting in the driveway, i finally had it finished. the dana 60 was in, the 8'' lift springs were in, shocks, brake lines, and crossover were all completed. the steering works great.

i took my truck for a test drive today and experienced a really bad death wobble coming from the passenger side at any speed above 10mph. also my brakes suck but thats only because i need to bleed them and the resivoir was low.

upon getting home, i noticed a steel shim for the dana 60 sitting in my driveway. i forgot to put it on :doah:

is this that big of a deal and whats causing my death wobble? i've got shims on the bottom of my spring pack that are bolted on there so do i even need the extra one?

all ubolts are tight. it wobbles just coasting at 10mph, and braking at 10mph. i didnt dare try speeds above that because the wobble was intense. i only drove it probably a half mile before turning around and coming back home. i've got the same rim/tire combo on the d60 as i had on the 10 bolt. 36'' TSL super swampers. never had a wobble problem with them before.




also my brakes are leaking where i bolted the end to the caliper. also the brake lines that came off the d60 looked like the ones on the right of the picture. the ones i put on look like the ones on the left. does that matter

sjrbl98.jpg


i bolted them down as hard as i could but theyre still leaking
 
FlatBlackBurb said:
after a week and a half of my truck sitting in the driveway, i finally had it finished. the dana 60 was in, the 8'' lift springs were in, shocks, brake lines, and crossover were all completed. the steering works great.

i took my truck for a test drive today and experienced a really bad death wobble coming from the passenger side at any speed above 10mph. also my brakes suck but thats only because i need to bleed them and the resivoir was low.

upon getting home, i noticed a steel shim for the dana 60 sitting in my driveway. i forgot to put it on :doah:

is this that big of a deal and whats causing my death wobble? i've got shims on the bottom of my spring pack that are bolted on there so do i even need the extra one?

all ubolts are tight. it wobbles just coasting at 10mph, and braking at 10mph. i didnt dare try speeds above that because the wobble was intense. i only drove it probably a half mile before turning around and coming back home. i've got the same rim/tire combo on the d60 as i had on the 10 bolt. 36'' TSL super swampers. never had a wobble problem with them before.




also my brakes are leaking where i bolted the end to the caliper. also the brake lines that came off the d60 looked like the ones on the right of the picture. the ones i put on look like the ones on the left. does that matter

sjrbl98.jpg


i bolted them down as hard as i could but theyre still leaking
Click to expand...

what condition is the axle in? new kingpins, hubs bearings (that are properly torqued down), etc?

honestly, it sounds to me like a tire issue. i had DW on my 60 with all new front end parts, shimmed correctly, but never did add fender washers (its just a bandaid for other actual issues...) and had 40" tsls on there for a few weeks, i had it...36" bias goodyears, had it still, just not SO bad...now 37" radial goodyears, no issue anymore.
 
Shim the king pins with 2 fender washers per side and see what happens.
I shimmed mine with 2 fender washers and
I run 37inch comp tires which are very heavy with no DW.

Oh yeah, I dont run a steering stabilizer either.
 
the shim that you found it the driveway, was it extra or do you only have one installed on one side?
 
the shim looked to be extra. i remember getting only one when i bought the 60.

so to get this straight, i put two fender washers under the passenger side cap and two under the driver side right?

how big should the washers be
 
FlatBlackBurb said:
so to get this straight, i put two fender washers under the passenger side cap and two under the driver side right?

how big should the washers be
Click to expand...
Go to Lowes or Depot and get Fender washers--they are the same diameter as the cap and 1/16in thick if I remember right. And yes, put 2 under each cap.
 
ok so i put 2 fender washers under the pasenger side kingpin cap but i didnt do it to the drivers side.

wobble is still there. i was able to go a little faster (20mph) but when i went faster, the wobble ensued. it kept going until i braked to a stop.

any other suggestions??? i'll do whatever it takes.
 
Go back and check all your geometry and get back with us on that. The biggest thing is to have all parts in good, working condition and to have your geometry correct. I bet caster is way off with those lift springs.
 
I had a death wobble the one time and went threw hell trying to figure it out. turned out to be a bad caliper, it was not releasing and caused the woble. check your calipers out while your at it.
 
For the leaky brakes, IIRC you have to grind a corner off the "square" to get it to fit right. I've never done it but read about it a couple times here. I'm sure somebody else can give you more specifics.
 
actually i fixed the brakes today... forgot to put the new crush washers in there.

as for the wobble, i'm going to get new rotors/hubs soon i think anyway so that might clear up the problem. when the tires were off of it and i spun the rotor, it sounded like every rotation the brake pads would hit the rotor once. maybe this might have to do with my problem?

what about the caster? is there anything i should check for. 1st time doing this so im learning everything as i go. this site has been invaluable! thanks for all the help
 
ok.... after 20 minutes of trying to get the drivers side kingpin cap off, i gave up. i have a huge research paper due tomorrow and havn't done any of it so i decided it was best to go inside. i switched the two front tires just in case it could of been a balancing issue. same thing happened. besides i ran these tires on my 10 bolt just fine without any problems. they never wobbled or shook at any speed.

anyways here's whats up.

it only wobbles randomly. more often than not when braking. i got it up to about 40mph accellerating and braking with no problem. then randomly coming back down my hill at about 25mph it started wobbling. the steering wheel also turns when it wobbles. i stuck my head out the window and saw the driver side tire wobbling back and forth... kind of seemed like the tires were fighting each other. toe issue? if so how do i adjust this.

so im guessing its a steering issue. could my pump be the problem? i know it's probably shot from driving the truck without power steering for so long. i have a steering stabalizer on it too.

there is a shim that i found that i obviously forgot to put in the 60. i remember it coming with only one shim. i dont know if i need to put it in, or what side it goes on. the spring packs have a shim with a slight angle on them and it looks pretty normal sitting level with the wheels straight. the front of the diff is down slightly more than the yoke at the back of the diff. is that normal for the caster and all that?

also if it makes any difference, when off the ground, the drivers side tire spins more freely than the passenger. about once every rotation, the drivers side rotor makes a sound like the brake pad is making contact with it. just for a split second. i can lock and unlock the hubs with ease. the passenger side doesn't spin as freely and the hubs are much harder to lock. when i spin the tire, it sounds like the brake pads are always making contact with the rotor.

any suggestions?

oh and the BRAKE light on my dash is constantly on. i heard that meant the brakes were out of balance or something. and no the ebrake isnt on.


any help would be appreciated, as i am not sure where to go from here
 
Take a tape measure and measure from the front of the truck from outer edge to outer edge on you tires in the front and in the back and see if there the same. you can adjust that on the tie rod. also is there any play in the steering? do you have a steering dampner?
 
Make sure your alignment is good. 1/8" toe in. Make sure the tires have the same air pressure per side, this is the thing that always causes death wobble in my K5. Flat spots in the tires also cause it, once they warm up and get round again I never have problems.

Like said above check all of your steering linkages for slop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom