I'm rebuilding my dana 60/14 bolt ff for my 88 blazer. I've read alot about the death wooble. It seems like a lot of people have this problem. Is there anyone who has not had this death wooble problems? Thanks Ed
CK5
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Death Wooble
- Thread starter pomai
- Start date
most of the time its just worn front bushings and springs. easy fix. and bigger tires make it worse.
I have a theory that people with a front panhard bar or a link-suspension (vs. standard leafsprings) would NOT get death wobble..... but I've never confirmed that with the folks here by asking out loud before?
Anyone with links get the DW????? Anyone??
BTW -> Death Wobble sounds like one of those myterious things when you first hear about it.....like "gee I wonder if I have death wobble...?" Trust me, the first time you ever feel it you will KNOW it. There's nothing subtle about it.
Anyone with links get the DW????? Anyone??
BTW -> Death Wobble sounds like one of those myterious things when you first hear about it.....like "gee I wonder if I have death wobble...?" Trust me, the first time you ever feel it you will KNOW it. There's nothing subtle about it.
Is it a dana 60 problem or a dana 60 in a blazer problem. Could it be that the blazer frames are not a solid as the vehicles that they originaly came out of. I'v just spent a lot of money on my 60, and know wondering if it all worth it. It's to late know, but its getting me a little deprest thinking of it. should I have just up graded what I Have.
Death wobbleis not specific to dana 60's. I definitely had it on my ten bolt last year, not fun. 
big jimmy 91
1/2 ton status
I have it with 35's and ten bolts , a tight front end??
It seems to get worse with low tire pressure??
As was stated allready it is not subtle at all , if there are things on the dash of my truck when it strikes they tend to hit the floor LOL
You would swear that my Jimmy is going to self destruct at times at 30 mph. , not at higher speeds though and the strangest thing is there is no set time or cirumstances it occurs. It has no set pattern of occurence
It seems to get worse with low tire pressure??
As was stated allready it is not subtle at all , if there are things on the dash of my truck when it strikes they tend to hit the floor LOL
You would swear that my Jimmy is going to self destruct at times at 30 mph. , not at higher speeds though and the strangest thing is there is no set time or cirumstances it occurs. It has no set pattern of occurence
Stephen has had Death Wobble happen on his blazer since it was linked up. Motor off so no hydro assist and whamo death wobble. Motor on no death wobble.
It is a axle and steering component problem not really suspension.
Most of it is that the King pins are not meant to handle a 40" tire at highway speeds. We just make them do it and the nylon bushings fail and or the springs get a little week and the result is death wobble.
maintain your axle and chances are that you will not get bad death wobble but you may get some when things need replaced.
It is a axle and steering component problem not really suspension.
Most of it is that the King pins are not meant to handle a 40" tire at highway speeds. We just make them do it and the nylon bushings fail and or the springs get a little week and the result is death wobble.
maintain your axle and chances are that you will not get bad death wobble but you may get some when things need replaced.
readymix
3/4 ton status
I have a D60 with 6" Skyjacker springs/Poly bushings. Sky tie rod and no steering stabilazer or sway bar at all and have never had death wobble. The truck is not even aligned. This axle was swapped in from a CUCV into my 1/2 ton so i don't think that it is aframe issue or i would have it too.
tire wear can cause it too, i had a bald set of 42" swampers i used for mock-up. i ran them for a couple weeks till the news arrived. had it real bad w/ the old ones. it left when i put the new ones on. air pressure affected it too. when the old swampers were at 20psi or less it did it really, really bad, when above 30psi it only did it really bad.
i have a friend that had DW w/ a d44, i don't think he has figured it out yet.
i have a friend that had DW w/ a d44, i don't think he has figured it out yet.
Does a ball joint type dana 60 have the death wooble problem too?
Silver84k5
1/2 ton status
i had DW when i first put the axle in, with dual stabilizers.
Then i belive butch posted their Bandaid to the DW problem.. Putting a 1/4" thick washer in the top the kingpin Cap, So as to put more load on the spring.
With that and a Hydro assist, I havent had DW for years. And even before i put the Hydro assist on, the washer tricked helped a lot....
Then i belive butch posted their Bandaid to the DW problem.. Putting a 1/4" thick washer in the top the kingpin Cap, So as to put more load on the spring.
With that and a Hydro assist, I havent had DW for years. And even before i put the Hydro assist on, the washer tricked helped a lot....
81jimmyslt
1/2 ton status
Like Miniwally said most of the problem comes form the kingpin, a lot of people are running fender washers to tighten up the spring in the kingpin. People have also gotten rebuild kits from ORD and noticed their old springs are worn and have less tension. I DD mine on the freeway and wow, It's not fun start to shake if you want to go faster than 55. I usually only get death wobble between 25-30 mph around town and its usually when my swampers have little flat spots when their cold.
Jesse
Jesse
What about rim back spaceing, or off set, do you think this could contribute to the death wooble, or the severity of it?
suthrnchvyguy89
Registered Member
if been hearing about this alot and never knew what it was exactly, it it just REALLY bad vibration, like a messed up drive shaft or what? my k5 shakes a good amount whenever i get to around 60 mph or higher but it doesnt bother me that much, it just scares the **** outta anyone riding with me 
Classic death wobble is violent enough that all you want to do is stop the truck.
I used three 1/16" thick 1/2" fender washers to add a little spring tension to my D60. I run a single stock stabilizer and no hydro assist yet. With unbalanced 39.5's I don't have any death wobble (any more...)
It's scary when it happens, but the cure is cheap and easy.
Rene
I used three 1/16" thick 1/2" fender washers to add a little spring tension to my D60. I run a single stock stabilizer and no hydro assist yet. With unbalanced 39.5's I don't have any death wobble (any more...)
It's scary when it happens, but the cure is cheap and easy.
Rene
fortcollinsram
1/2 ton status
When I bought my D60, I had been hearing of all the DW problems. So before I put it in my truck I replace EVERYTHING! I rebuilt the kingpins, installed a NEW tie rod and TR end and did all the x-over stuff with NEW parts. When I put it in my truck, I thought I would be good to go. no such luck. I had terrible death wobble. I spent some time dialing in the toe: That helped some. tightened up my spring plates and spring bolts: That helped more. Got hydro assist, that cured it 100%
Chris
Chris
81jimmyslt said:
(dw is so bad that the frt axle wants out from under the truck now.).... this from trustyK5 is correct 100% i have had it , and it is wors on bias tires. if you get it stop and then start to drive again. and fixit soon. p.s. what tires do you plan to run? this might not be a problem for you so much if thay are smaller than the big ones.
I'll be running 35" tires, but I heard from someone on here that even with 35s they experienced the death wooble also. Cross over, new bearings, seals everything new. And I heard this to, even with all new stuff, death wooble is still a problem. I'm about 3 weeks away from installing my 14 bolt ff, and dana 60, and I'll be expecting the worst. Thanks guy, I realy appreciate all the feed back. Ed
Thanks guy, I realy appreciate all the feed back. Ed
