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Death Wobble and Pulling

J

jethro128

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Joined
Jan 23, 2007
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Location
Arlington, Tx
Bought an 86 suburban 2wd that has been parked for about 3 years. Any speed over 50 I get hellacious death wobble and while braking it yanks hard to the right side. Anything that is a common occurence on these rigs that I can try? Just looking for a few ideas before I start tearing the entire thing apart.
 
2wd I would suggest new brake rotors ( could be the trigger ) , balance the tires , and replace the worn steering and suspension bushings , and don't forget the idler .

And don't forget the most important part , check the frame by the box , 2wd crack too .

I actually get death wobble in my IFS truck when the rotors go bad due to the worn out suspension . The rotors are the trigger . I will rebuild the front end at some point , but right now rotors are cheaper than my time .
 
Didn't think of the box. Thanks. Also it supposedly has motor and trany out of 96 chevy pickup. What do I need to look at to find out exact yr for motor for parts? It is 5.7 throttle body has a engine checker thingy under dash. Supposed to have all computer from donor but would like to find info on it.
 
Casting number on block at the rear top , would need to crawl over engine and look down with flashlight ( don't our huge engine bays and tall trucks suck ) .

Stamping numbers on motor pad in front of passenger cylinder block would have the suffix code to tell you what it came out of .

Get those and post it up , or go to mortec or nasty z28 .
 
Will do tomorow if it isn't snowing here. Got a good deal on it but bunch of little annoying crap wrong with it. Will post pics in a sec.
 
If its pulling when you brake I'ld suspect bad ball joints on the side it pulls toward. You know how to check for bad ball joints?
 
Pulling while braking can mean worn out parts, or a caliper sticking. If it is pulling right, look at the drivers caliper and make sure it slides properly. If it isn't moving, all of your braking force is being applied to the right side.

After sitting that long, you really need to check the entire system, including lines.
 
jethro128 said:
Nope not a clue.
Click to expand...

Jack the front end up and grab each wheel at 12 and 6 o clock and try pulling the bottom up toward you while pushing the top back away from you. If you feel movement then you have sloppy ball joints. This can further be seen by jacking one front wheel off the ground slowly while staring at the knuckle. You can see the independantly movement between the axle C and knuckle. Then let it down slowly and you'll see it move back. Lettus know what you find.
 
I should say this is 2wd and the vibration feels like it is coming from the rear. I.e. I don't feel it in the steering wheel as much as i do from the rear end.
 
Opps yea I went into 4x4 mode there. It's the same thing though. Grab the tire as mentioned and move it. As you jack up/down pay close attanetion to the ball joints and if they move.

You getting any unusaul levels of brake dust? That is indicative of a stuck caliper.
 
dont forget to have someone shake the play in the steering wheel and watch the centerlink to see if it moves around its been my experiance with 2wd trucks death wobble is usually caused by idler arm and pitman arm failure
 
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