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Death Wobble Help plz

2INSANE

6.2/6.5 Diesel Specialist/Builder
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Dana 60. Since I've upgraded:
ORD 1.5" tie rod
ORD Spring Plates
Chromoly 35 spline inner and outer shafts

I now have a death wobble...

I bought ORDs hydraulic assist thinking it would fix the wobble. Still no dice. Everything seems tight and in good order. Alignment has been done. I'm out of ideas...

Does anyone have advice?
 
Ord said I should try a washer on top of king pin spring. And if that does not work, take out the 6* Shims.

Wheel bearings?
Tire imbalance?
Bushing wear?
Frame?

Ill check wheel bearings. Tires are balanced. Spring bushings are old and dry rotted. Just ordered new poly from ORD. Frame is straight. I made sure of that $700 ago.

you have the dampener hooked up?

NOOB<------- What is a dampener? Pics?





Thanks for the replies! I'll keep yal posted one step at a time.
 
shim a lim a ding dong.

I found some small shims that I used to get it just tight enough but have actually used washers.

Hence the reason why most guys who have done it before are using the arms you can preload.
 
on a toy model....http://media.photobucket.com/image/steering damper k5/smm_cbf/Picture419.jpg

The shock that is horizontal, do you have one of those?

No I don't have one. I was told I would not need one if I went to hydraulic assist. Do you think I should put one on as a last resort?

shim a lim a ding dong.

I found some small shims that I used to get it just tight enough but have actually used washers.

Hence the reason why most guys who have done it before are using the arms you can preload.

I'm going to start with the obvious. Spring bushings are bad so me gonna replace those first and put a stiffer set of 56" springs on. I need to lower the front 2" anyhow so it will be like 2 birds with 1 stone. If it does not fix it then the washer idea is next. Keep ya posted.
 
i know bad steering dampeners cause death wobble on newer cars, so its a possibility that not having one is making yours do that. but maybe someone else will chime in and know.
 
No you don't need a steering dampener if you have hydro assist.

That is pretty bad if you have hydro and you still get it. I drive my unbalanced 40" bias tires with no death wobble after I put assist on.

Try the washers on the springs, but I bet its coming from the shims. If you go lower remove the shims and go from there.

How long are your shackles? Longer shackles contribute to this too.
 

Thanks for the link. Good info there!

No you don't need a steering dampener if you have hydro assist.

That is pretty bad if you have hydro and you still get it. I drive my unbalanced 40" bias tires with no death wobble after I put assist on.

Try the washers on the springs, but I bet its coming from the shims. If you go lower remove the shims and go from there.

How long are your shackles? Longer shackles contribute to this too.

Yea I thought the hydro would do the trick. Before the new upgrades I had duel steering stabilizers on and had no problems... Took them off and did the upgrades and it was bad at 5mph! It vibrated my pass spring plate loose! After tightening it back up, nothing changed.

Right now I have the 56" springs and 7.25" shackles. If I go lower, the springs will hit the frame when articulating. Can't cross tie them cuz those would hit too. I really think it has got to be one of the new upgrades messing it up somewhere. Just got to figure it out.

Washers is a great idea but I want to try and find the source of the problem if I can before I resort to washers. I'll have to get someone to turn the wheels while I inspect the tie rod ends and such.

Lol I just read a post where it took a guy 2 years to figure out his death wobble! Lol!
 
Have you taken your truck to an alignment shop yet? It sounds to me like you have a negative caster angle.

Many times when suspension lifts are added, spring perches changed, or shackle lengths changed it is likely that your caster angle has also change as a result.

I built a 88' k5 blazer with a skyjacker 8" lift, NO steering stabilizer and the the truck drove like a cadillac at 75 plus MPH...

First thing I would do is take it to an alignment shop and have them tell you what the caster and toe angles look like. If your CASTER angle is negative than BINGO you found your issue.

Way to fix...
1. Add longer front shackles. This will roll your axle downward on the pinion side causing the caster angle to become more positive

2. Shim. You can add a shim or wedge to both sides of the spring perches where your leaf springs mount in order to gap the rear side of each spring perch which will again drive the caster angle to a more positive position.

3. Cut and turn your steering knuckles. This is a very technical procedure and if you do not have adequate fabrication experience I would not attempt this. When I lift a vehicle I will typically roll the axles to set the pinion angles for both front and rear drivelines. When this is done the front axle will be rolled in such a fashion that the caster angle becomes quite negative. By cutting the axle housing you can roll the steering knuckle to it's factory caster alignment position and blam-o you're cruisen..
This video will give you a basic idea of what I'm taking about:
http://cutandturn.com/

Your Caster angle is your stability angle. If it's negative you wobble if it's positive you're golden.. There are other factors that could cause a wobble that have been mentioned but if everything checks out this is where I would look next...

imgres.jpeg
 
It looks like the new outer 35 spline shafts on the Dana 60 is rubbing a little on the axle tube. Could this be the gremlin causing the Death Wobble?
 
I experienced the daeth wobble when I swapped to my D60....only when hitting the brakes from speeds over 25 MPH. Never had it with my 10 bolt, but it was definately there with my D60. After a bunch of thread research I learned that the geometry of a 60 is completely different and especially on a lifetd rig, will lend itself to DW.

I found a very lenghty enginerring write up on here somewhere that talked about the power steering pump being a possible culprite. Well...a short time later I busted my PS gear and switched to the PSC Hydro assist setup. After doing that...all DW was gone and it travels down the road at 75 with no issues....and I can come to some hard stops with smooth controlled ease. I can almost guarantee that my issue was the power steering system being weak and not being able to absorbe the forces of the big tires.

In regards to dampeners...I did have a dual steeering stabilizer that was completely ineffective and after the hydro assist, the stabilizer went to the scrap bin.

Hopefully the hydro assist that you got has a new pump and steering gear to help any issues in "the system". Also, hope all the feed lines for the pump are keeping constant fluid supply and not allowing air to develop in the circut.


Sorry about the ramble.....hope you figure it out soon.
 
What happened was, b4 the Hydro Assist was installed the DW was very very bad. Even at 5mph. Now that the Hydro assist is installed, I test drove it after my mom picked it up from the shop, and found it helped get rid of the DW a lot. It does not wobble as much anymore but has more of a bump steer now. Usually happens when driving and turning on a bump, I can feel it start to wobble a little bit but then stops when I get the tires straight again. At least I can go faster then 5mph! Lol!

I think it is the weak and already worn out 56" rebuilt springs causing the problem after watching Les Schwab turn the wheels and watching the springs sway. I think an anti removable sway bar is in order and different springs with the leafs further apart.
 

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