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Death wobble....undriveable......

groovy75

groovy75

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Posts
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Location
North Cal
So I just get thru changing axles,from a broken 44 to a newer working 10 bolt,in great shape and I have extreme death wobble, the only thing thats new is the u bolts.the sway bar was disconnected when the old axle was in and it was fine before,and is still disconnected.:dunno: the truck has 38s and a drop draglink,nothing special.has the gf get out and watch and the tires go crazy in unison starting at around 20.its horrible crazy shaking and unable to even drive down the road.i dont have a big lift or anything .sucks too,because we were going to test it on a hilly dirt track for some fun today. But we cant get there because of these bad vibrations.....
 
Im not good at all with adjusting camber,caster,if thats what it is.the old axle had a ghetto steering stbilizer made out of fence iron,lol,but that stayed on the old axle,because it was WELDED on:haha:
 
Could be toe-in; search for how to check that with chalk (short answer, measure between the centers of the tire front and back, should be within 1/4" or so, IIRC.)

Could be balljoints. Search, but short answer is wiggle the tire up and down with the front end off the ground. If the tire moves, Carnac The Magnificent foresees you needing OTC tool #7080.

Could also be bad or veeery loose wheel bearings. When you take the rotors and wheel hub off the spindles to do the balljoints, grab the spindle and wiggle it up and down.

But I'm thinking toe-in. Did you reuse the old tierod or fiddle with it at all? Could be reaally sloppy tie-rod ends, I suppose, too...

-- A
 
Yep just went out there,and pass side tire goes up and down,and has play,about half and inch of play,passengers side up and down.drivers side has no play.could that make it shake so gnarly even at 20 mph?
 
groovy75 said:
Yep just went out there,and pass side tire goes up and down,and has play,about half and inch of play,passengers side up and down.drivers side has no play.could that make it shake so gnarly even at 20 mph?
Click to expand...

:eek1:

Yeah, uhh, that's bad. Should not be noticeable at all.

Come to think, my experience with the toe being totally wrong wasn't so much vibration as it was the tire skipping because it was pigeon-toed so bad.

Carnac The Magnificent foresees you tearing down the passenger side hub/rotor, checking the wheel bearings, and then seeing if the spindle has play.

-- A
 
Just checked the toe from a flat specific spot on the tires,twice,front is 57 1/2,,,,rear 57 1/2
 
Im starting to like carnac!:haha: when I spin the wheel on passengers side,it spins very smoothly...its just feels,,,loose.in a perfect world,would/could carnac just get the magic tool,tighten this up and be done w it?:haha:
 
Carnac.jpg


Carnac, btw, was Johnny Carson, God rest his soul.

For the outer bit, you'll need a spindle nut wrench, which *should* be the four-pin kind at the auto parts place. There are (generally) two nuts on the spindle with a lock washer between them. The inner nut should have a pin that sticks out and the lock washer, holes around the diameter to hold it in place.

Note I keep saying "most" and "should"; there is the occasional exception. If your hub nut has six pins, post up and we'll point you to the relevant process. In either case, you really should have a service manual; even a Chilton's or a Hayne's will do for this.

Remove the locking hub, then the outer nut and the locking washer. Then check the inner nut for tightness; IIRC it's like 50 ft-lbs (the book will tell you).

If it were me I'd remove the inner nut as well, take the wheel hub off (rotor attached). The outer bearing will fall out, you can clean it and inspect it, and you can clean and inspect the inner bearing inside the hub/seal. If either are grooved badly, now is the time to replace them (and the seal, as required).

You can also check the balljoints at this point; grab the spindle and wiggle it -- it shouldn't move. If it does, it's time to look at the balljoints.

While time-consuming, that's all labor, i.e. you don't have to buy anything except the tools you don't already have, and you'll learn a helluva lot about your front axle in the process :deal:

-- A
 
:eek1::eek1:i just put on brand new spicer hubs I got from iceman44 yesterday,bless his soul,luckily im past the learning of the hubs part.Thanks for the in debth badass> ness.Time to venture into even deeper waters....another question. There is no steering stabilizer.should I get one?
 
groovy75 said:
:eek1::eek1:i just put on brand new spicer hubs I got from iceman44 yesterday,bless his soul,luckily im past the learning of the hubs part.Thanks for the in debth badass> ness.Time to venture into even deeper waters....
Click to expand...

Oh, you're up Sacto way... I was thinking Rio Linda was farther south. Issam's a hoot :D

The notes above are a summary; you can search on my username and "balljoint" or whatever for more detail; I get tired of typing the same stuff over and over. :)

The front stuff isn't bad, and though you'll need a few specialty tools (the hub nut socket, a 3/8" allen/hex head that goes on your ratchet for the caliper bolts, if it is the balljoints, the ball joint spanner I mentioned above) none are exorbitantly expensive. And if you don't have a torque wrench, you need one for damn near anything on the truck, so it's a worthwhile purchase.

It's a mite overwhelming, but the parts basically only fit together one way, and none are one-time use like U-bolts, so if it doesn't fit you can keep taking apart and putting back together until you get it right. (Heck, it's better than drums brakes ... I HATE drum brake linkages.)

Oh and if you DO end up replacing the balljoints, you'll want a press; HF has good and bad ones, post up if you get there and I can find their item # for the good one... and also check the axle shaft U-joints while you're in there, 'cuz that's the time to replace them, while it's torn down.

groovy75 said:
another question. There is no steering stabilizer.should I get one?
Click to expand...

Don't bother with the steering stab until you've got the wheels nice and tight.

A steering stabilizer is basically a bi-directional shock absorber, made to dampen slight vibrations -- like from going over lane markers on the highway, say. It is not a magic fix-it for front end problems and at best would cover them up until they get really bad, like where you are now. (And you didn't ask, but having more than one is like having three shocks on each corner .... money from your wallet goes into the parts guy's wallet, your truck looks like it's from the 80's with pink shock boots and chrome springs, and no other good comes of it :haha: )

My .02.

-- A
 
Im already there on the 80s van halen suspention,its bitchin! Hence the profile pic.:pimp:alright ill get to it when time allows.i JUST got everything together,axle in,all the stuff together ,happy joy joy,got in the truck,,,,NOT!Its been a no soup for you day...Then the DW ! Alright,got some wirk to do!:thumb:
 
I'm a DLR man myself, no disrespect to Sammy -- I dig him in Chickenfoot, say, but Halen was always a bit more over the top for me, and DLR is definitely that. Those multicolour Spandex pants :eek:

This from a guy who painted his Blazer in Smurf camouflage :whistle:

-- A
 
I'd check the new U-bolts again now that they've stretched out a bit and the suspension has settled in. Make sure they're torqued to spec.

From the eaton website:

"Rod Diameter 3/8" 7/16" 1/2" 9/16" 5/8" 3/4" 7/8" 1" 1 1/8" 1 1/4"
Torque in ft-lbs 30 45 65 90 125 300 480 730 1,300 1,740

Always re-torque the newly installed u-bolts after 50 miles of driving.
Then recheck after another 50 miles.
Then again after 500 miles."

Mine were hand tight a couple of days after replacing them.
 
TheBeast_88K5 said:
I swear ta gawd... did you tighten the hubnuts correctly?
Click to expand...
:haha:
Er,uh, idk but how tight do the tres need to be? I tightened the pee out of them! :thumb: the pass side hub sounds slightly crunchy when u turn it. I will be removing that side and replacing the bearings this week.hopefully that will fix it!
 
groovy75 said:
:haha:
Er,uh, idk but how tight do the tres need to be? I tightened the pee out of them! :thumb: the pass side hub sounds slightly crunchy when u turn it. I will be removing that side and replacing the bearings this week.hopefully that will fix it!
Click to expand...

The tie rod and drag link ends (see my PM as to which is which) should not have slop in them. There may be a torque spec for them (see your service manual), but the nut doesn't tighten the slop; it just holds the threaded rod onto the arm or whatever it attaches to.

The crunching when turning is definitely A Bad Thing (tm) :haha:

-- A
 
Ok cool. :DThe neighbors sure did enjoy the mechanical bull ride show with bolts clanging, us in it up and down the street,yee! Its kind of funny the way it looks when its happening ........:haha: tm! :thumb:
 
replaced the wheel bearings ,inner and outer,checked for play both verticly and horizontal,,found none took her for a drive,and wham! Same problem.help?:doah: also, this is a deep,swooping death wobble at low speeds,20 mph
 
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