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How common is D60 death wobble?

carpeonnel

carpeonnel

1/2 ton status
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So how common and how bad is DW with the D60? I ask this cuz I'm currently running d44 in the front of my K5 (with no problems at all) and though I would like a D60 I don't know if it's worth it for me, plus it seems that just about everybody with a D60 and big tires has DW. My K5 is currently not in wheeling form but I plan on mildly wheeling it every now and then but I'm scared I might run into problems with the strength of my d44 turning 38s. But, if I find a D60 to put in and rebuild it: A) Is DW probable since I'll be running 38s and B) would it be correctable since I'll be daily driving my K5 around town?
 
I'm daily driving my K5 Dana 60 W/38 TSL Bias ply, had DW ,shimmed my KP's no more DW .
Also I'm not running a steering stabilizer & my from tires have not been balanced :D I will be putting air-soft pellets in them at some point ,as I did with the rear tires.
06-09-07 031 (Small).jpg

06-09-07 031 (Small).jpg
 
If you rebuild properly and dont have hagard lift you wont have DW. DW is from half assing or over looking things such as bad kingpins or BJ in other cases. The tires do nothing but amplify the exisitng problem the axle had. By no means is the d60 un streetable with big tires like it seems like you think.

Afterall it did come in 100,000s of thousands of trucks.
 
i did the exact same thing, going from 10 bolts and 38s to 1tons. the only problem i ran into is i went with crossover steering and i had real bad bump steer.
 
I'm not trying to put down the D60. I want one, but it just seems that everytime I'm in the Garage somebody is having a problem with it
 
Keep in mind, most guys go D60 to use bigger tires. Use the ORD kit for the KingPins before you drive it with the 60. Then go hydro-assist...
 
hydro assist here and 42s and no DW...hydro helps TONS.

It can come from way too many factors. Biggest thing is alignment and worn parts. Swampers do not help a bit. I felt nothing on my 37" mts and when i drove my 42s on the road for the first time, they tried to DW. they would have, but the ram fights it too much.
 
Do the king pin kit though. Otherwise the hydro is just a bandaid, but it will stop it. Make sure all the parts on the axle are right, otherwise no sense in running it. My did the Dw and knocked the bushing out of the sector shaft... pissed me plum off

Fix it first...
 
bent72 said:
Do the king pin kit though. Otherwise the hydro is just a bandaid, but it will stop it. Make sure all the parts on the axle are right, otherwise no sense in running it. My did the Dw and knocked the bushing out of the sector shaft... pissed me plum off

Fix it first...
Click to expand...

mine was "fixed", depending on the tires i was running.
 
Amen to that. Swampers are known to be bad. Mine did it with balanced MTrs.

Just REALLY hang on to the steering wheel, it'll turn out alright eventually.....
 
sorry to highjack the thread (sort of), can someone explain bump steer to me? I have a stock (as far as I know) D44 with 36x14.5 and when I get a rolling dip in the road on one side or an angled section of uneven pavement, my truck with skitter off in one direction. Would replacing the steering damper help any?
 
Well, what my question boils down to I guess is if I rebuild one properly and replace any worn parts that need to be replaced, should that fix any possible problems I might have with DW?
 
Also caster is a big thing to keep DW to a minimum. Hydro assist will keep it from happening but if the front end isn't setup properly (including good kingpin springs and even a few shims too) it will only mask it.
 
carpeonnel said:
Well, what my question boils down to I guess is if I rebuild one properly and replace any worn parts that need to be replaced, should that fix any possible problems I might have with DW?
Click to expand...
Not really, I would add fender washers to the caps and then once its all installed, take the truck to a shop and have it alligned.
 
Cross over and steering braces are a must I think. I DD'd mine (60, 38's, etc) for over a year and I never had a problem I couldnt fix. From my experiences, the D60 is like an amplifier, if you let move an inch it just turns nasty. I rebuilt everything and never had any problems ( I had cross over and steering stabilizers). With the a bolt in steering brace, I still managed to crack the frame at the steering box. Once I did that I got some DW. So I would do both bolt in and weld in steering braces, king pin rebuilds, and some kind of stabilizer. I would run it and make sure you dont have any problems cruising around with out the stabilizers first (so you dont mask any problems) but I think you have to have one with the 60. I ran mine with out them for a while and never had a problem until I ran over some tracks or hit a pot hole. Like I said if I let it move at all, it would just get violent, I just think theres to much play.
 
Sailor said:
sorry to highjack the thread (sort of), can someone explain bump steer to me? I have a stock (as far as I know) D44 with 36x14.5 and when I get a rolling dip in the road on one side or an angled section of uneven pavement, my truck with skitter off in one direction. Would replacing the steering damper help any?
Click to expand...

Bump steer happens when the angle of your drag link causes the truck to "steer" as the suspension moves up and down. Do you have a lift? Do you have a raised steering arm or dropped pitman arm? If you haven't corrected your steering geometry for the lift, either of those will help. But if you have a stock fore and aft draglink, your best bet is to go crossover.
 
Yeah, I've got crossover now and dual stabilizer.

I just wanted to get everybody's thoughts on the subject cuz I'd hate to get a d60 and make my truck more trail ready only to make it less driveable on the street, cuz it's probably gonna spend 90% of it's life on pavement
 
Never had any issues with my d44 on 40 inch irocks. But when I went to the d60 I had dw when ever I would hit a bump. I had heard of it but I thought people were being dramatic. I fixed mine with dual stabilizers. I also rebuilt the axle so Im sure that helped out. I have plans for hydro assist by West Texas offroad.
 
Dana 60's are not more prone to death wobble than any other axle.

People that swap D60's under their truck are generally running big (difficult to balance) tires and the D60's they use have generally seen at least 20 years of use.

Any loose steering component will cause death wobble; big, heavy tires make that worse.
 
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