What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

I Can't figure this out...

shadowwalker_02

shadowwalker_02

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Posts
673
Reaction score
0
Location
Pueblo, Co
Man this truck has me stumped at this point. I've done some research here and through google and I'm stumped. I still have a "shimmy" in the front end, its not as bad as death wobble but it's noticeable.

Here is what I have done so far,

Alignment
new steering stabilizer
new shocks
drop pitman arm
rotated tires
double checked that everything is tight
no play in the ball joints what so ever

It feels like the right front tire wobbles or like some lug nuts are loose. I have triple checked the lugnuts as well to make sure they are tight.

I have some money so I'm thinking about replacing the bearings and seals on the right front side. I'll rotate the tires again as well.

From what I read when wheel bearings start going out the make a growling type of noise, I don't have any noise coming from the front just a slight wobbling movement. I still want to replace this as its less than ten bucks.

The only thing I can see wrong with it is a slight gap between the locking hub and the housing, I did pull the locking hub off and the grease looks good but I will switch the selectro hubs out for some warns I have.

Have I overlooked something or not looked at something? What could be causing this? Regardless I want to replace the wheel bearing and inner seal for the right side. Does anyone have part numbers for timken bearings and seals for a 8 lug front 10 bolt? Couldn't find em in my search. Appreciate any help idea's or a BFH to beat her with. :D
 
Did you balance the tires? A little out of balance or a chucked wheel weight will cause that easy.

Also I know a lot of guys have had issues with the frame cracking behind the steering box. Never had the issue myself, but I imagine it would cause some wobble.
 
The tire's have been balanced recently though I still suspect them as being a possible issue. I want to say it's the tire's or something in the axle itself.

Soon as I get some time I'll be checking the frame real close for cracks.
 
They looked pretty good last I checked and the alignment shop said they were in decent shape so? Might replace em anyways after I check the wheel bearings.
 
Before tearing it apart just jack up the front wheels and give the thing a good shake-down. Side to side, lift up from the bottom and see if anything is loose. That's the best way to see if you've got loose tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearing play or a combination of everything. Works best with a friend to lok while you shake too. No sense replacing stuff that isn't bad. :waytogo:
 
I did jack it up earlier and the wheel moves side to side a little bit but not up and down. What does that mean? bad tre's or some seal or bearing inside?
 
shadowwalker_02 said:
I did jack it up earlier and the wheel moves side to side a little bit but not up and down. What does that mean? bad tre's or some seal or bearing inside?
Click to expand...

Most likely TRE or drag link. Best thing to do is have somebody else look/feel for the loose part. Usually pretty easy to find this way. Once you find what's loose, if it's not too bad a quick shot of grease in the zirk and a test drive *may* let you know if it'll fix your problem too. Not always, but the grease can tighten up a slightly loose joint enough to tell if it was your problem. It'll need replaced either way though...
 
I've had ball joints that had side to side play,but were tight as a drum "ip and down" when I tested them with a crowbar under the tite--shake the tires ar 9 o clock and 3 o clock and have a helper watch the lower ball joint closely...somtimes you'll see play in a ball joint while pumping grease in one,it'll move the ball stud upwards,but wont always feel "loose: while doing a test too...

I would try different tires if the ball joints appear to be OK...I remember rotating the toires on a K5 I had once,it shook so badly I couldn't go over 20 mph!--I put them all back to the original locations and it was "normal" again...tires wear weird sometimes,the tread gets scollaped or lumpy,the belts can shift or break--many times I have cure a "bad front end" problem by just replacing the tires ...
 
I know I need tires regardless. I'm just milking em until I can get enough money to buy a new set. I have another set of rollers but there 38's and they are barely above the wear bars too. I dunno I'll be messing with it to see if I can't find anything that needs to be replaced.
 
what tires are on it now? if your answer ends with mud terrain, old, worn out, or swamper, then this "shimmy" is most likely the tires and is normal operation. especially if they are worn, worn weird, cupped, feathered, or any other abnormal stuff.
 
Dont forget "dry rotted" or an old tire that sat a long time can have a permanent "flat spot" in the tread or belt(s)...

I'm nursing a set of dry rotted and cracked Michelin's on my '82 K2500,hoping to get every lasr mile from them ,without having a blowout--I plan on swapping 4 Goodyear Wranglers on it to pass inspection in December--I have noticed a wobble at about 40-45 mph it never had before,and I am pretty dure its the front tire on the pasenger side telling me he's ready to POP soon!..sucks,because the tires have good tread,they just cracked all to hell..

Many customers at a friends tire shop would come in complaining about wobble or shimmy,or the vehicle pulling to one side,like the alignment was off,and after re-aligning it,changing brake hoses,pads,rotors and some questionable front end parts,the problem remained...then he'd either swap the tires around or put different ones on,and presto,the problem vanished..also,"mixing" tires with different ply ratings or sizes can cause problems like that--dont run a mixture of different ply ratings...if you have diferent brands of tires on the same truck,dont assume they are all the same sizes,just because the markings say the same thing--a 265/75-16 in one brand can differ a lot from another brand,measuring the outside diameter with a giant pair of calipers is the only way to be certain they are all the same sizes..
I had one truck with 2 B.F. Goodrich TA's on the rear and two Bridgestones up front,al 4 were marked the same size,but when you stood them up against each other,the TA's were almost 2" bigger--no wonder my truck crab walked in 4WD and felt like it was binding up!..
 
They are BFG all terrain ko's but there pretty beat up and cracked. I'm looking around for some tire's in 16 or 16.5.

The only reason I keep thinking it is something other than the tires is the fact that I skidded into a curb last winter and the right front hit the curb and bounced back. It was maybe a 1-2 mph impact if that. I was pulling into a parking spot and skid forward on ice. After that while driving home I had major death wobble. I've put 2 other tires on on the right front and its the same shimmy. I dunno either way its down and out till I fix the wobble in the harmonic balancer now.

All the steering linkage seems fine and I re-greased everything so the only thing I can think of is get new tires and go from there and see if the shimmy is still there.
 
You may have bent a RIM ,that will cause a shimmy for sure!...jack up the truck and spin the wheel and watch for any runout or warpage...
 
diesel4me said:
You may have bent a RIM ,that will cause a shimmy for sure!...jack up the truck and spin the wheel and watch for any runout or warpage...
Click to expand...

I have done that and I didn't see anything along those lines. That was my first thought as well but I swapped that rim/tire to the back and it still does it. Even the voices in my head are stumped. :haha:10 bucks says its something very simple and I overlooked it.
 
is the shimmy in the wheel or the whole truck? I've seen bent rear axle shafts make the wheel rock back and forth at lower speeds.... Usually goes away at higher speeds and you feel it in the seat of your pants. Otherwise, I'm getting stumped myself:dunno:
 
Shimmy is only in the right front wheel area.

Is it normal for the hub/rotor to be almost too hot too touch?

Took it for a 5mph test drive and came back to swap out to some different tires and the right rim/hub/rotor area is pretty dang hot. Could something be catching or binding inside to cause this? Drivers side hub and rim are hot as well.
 
It very well could be that your caliper on that side is hung up, and with a warped rotor would cause the shimmy and the heat issue. Try to compress the caliper on that side/see if the slides are free. That could definitely be your problem though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom