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I got the shakes. (unfortunately not alcohol related)

W

Wwilson

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I was driving in my 76 k5 with an np203 and full time 4wd, I made a 90 degree right hand turn from a stop and accelerated moderately to about 25 or 30 when the whole truck started to violently shake. It felt like it started in the front end. I slowed down and was able to regain control and limp it home. All i have had time to do was jack it up and lift up on the front tires expecting to have tons of play due to a bad wheel bearing. Each wheel only had about 1/8-1/4 inch of play in them. Could this be my problem? I plan on looking into it this weekend just trying to get some ideas of other issues to look for?
 
Sounds like you're describing "death wobble". The short answer is you have a bad steering or suspension part on the front end. It can be tires, a tie rod end, ball joint, etc., the only thing you can do is spend a lot of time under the truck while someone moves the steering wheel side to side and look for play in every moving part.

Edit: there is no single go-to part to start with or that's a guaranteed fix. Also, adding or replacing a steering stabilizer only masks the problem for a short period, it will not be the root cause.
 
Wow, had that death wobble a long time ago, had forgotten all about that.... I think the last symptoms went away when I went hydro assist.
 
Wwilson said:
I was driving in my 76 k5 with an np203 and full time 4wd, I made a 90 degree right hand turn from a stop and accelerated moderately to about 25 or 30 when the whole truck started to violently shake. It felt like it started in the front end. I slowed down and was able to regain control and limp it home. All i have had time to do was jack it up and lift up on the front tires expecting to have tons of play due to a bad wheel bearing. Each wheel only had about 1/8-1/4 inch of play in them. Could this be my problem? I plan on looking into it this weekend just trying to get some ideas of other issues to look for?
Click to expand...
All the above are good recommendations. Then make sure the steering box and the frame around it are tight and sound
 
ya once you know what its like it makes your but pucker thats for sure
 
Did the vibration go away and stay away after you slowed down? As in vibration, stop/slow down, then was gone when you sped back up to the same speeds? Or did it come back with the increased speed?

I had my 78 k5 with the 203. The spring thingy in the front cv shaft failed running down the road and it shook like crazy. Had to stop to get it to quit, but it continued shaking when I sped up again. Had to drive really slow to keep the shaking down to get home.

In retrospect, I could have pulled the front driveshaft and put it in 4loc to get home, but didn't realize what it was at the time. I had the cv joint replaced and it fixed it.
 
eric67camino said:
Did the vibration go away and stay away after you slowed down? As in vibration, stop/slow down, then was gone when you sped back up to the same speeds? Or did it come back with the increased speed?

I had my 78 k5 with the 203. The spring thingy in the front cv shaft failed running down the road and it shook like crazy. Had to stop to get it to quit, but it continued shaking when I sped up again. Had to drive really slow to keep the shaking down to get home.

In retrospect, I could have pulled the front driveshaft and put it in 4loc to get home, but didn't realize what it was at the time. I had the cv joint replaced and it fixed it.
Click to expand...
That's what I was going to say.
It happened on my 73 with the 203.
When the cv goes it will do that at any speed
 
There should be no "play" in the wheel bearings or ball joints & tie rod ends..any amount of slop will amplify anything that causes death wobble..also front end alignment can cause it if the toe in is off..
Any slop in the steering box will encourage it also..

My first experience with death wobble was in my '72 K5,it had 4 tires that were not matched,there was two 11 x 15" radials up front and 12x15" ones in the rear,I think the fronts were B.F. Goodrich TA's and the rears were some other brand--despite the different sizes listed on them,all 4 did end up being very close to the same diameter,the width was different by about 1-1/2"..

The truck drove fine until I decided to rotate the tires--the front ones had gotten scollaped on the outer edges,I figured I'd throw them in the rear and run them till they were bald,but after swapping the tires around I only made it less than a mile from the place I did the swap when it started shaking violently,like the body was going to come off the frame,at about 25 mph...ended up putting the tires back where they were,and it was "normal" again...

I bought 4 new tires for it a few days later--Cooper 8:75 x 16.5 I bought 4 of on a clearance sale for $100--they were bias ply,but I wasn't that concerned,I had found 4 16.5" OEM rims off a '71 GMC and had them mounted on those,the truck never death wobbled again,but those nylon belted bias plys felt like square tires the first 15 miles every cold morning..

So tires can cause death wobble also..a lump or bubble in a sidewall or a tread starting to separate can do it..
 
My 07 Dodge dually 4x4 did this to me out of the clear blue... I was in the hammer lane doing about 80-85, one hand on the wheel, talking to a customer... topped a bridge and hit the expansion joint on the other side and all hell broke loose!
I mean stuff started flying all over the cab!! anything not nailed down was flying around.

Thank God there wasn't another vehicle in the next lane, as I had no control over where I was going, and got thrown into the center lane... slamming on the brakes had no effect until I got below about 45 mph. It was the most violent one I have ever experienced.
I was amazed that steering components could withstand that kind of abuse without breaking! If there had been another vehicle next to me it surely would have caused a wreck..no doubt in my mind.

Turns out the ball joints were hammered, so I completely rebuilt the front end and converted to locking hubs while I was at it...

Yeah, it was so bad I parked the truck until all the parts arrived and I got the time to do the repairs..
 
Over the weekend I think Figured it out. Not wheel bearings. Shot ball joint. I have yet to make it happen again. I think I hit the "perfect bump", which when coupled with a bad ball joint achieved the perfect frequency to send the truck into rodeo mode. Off subject I'm also looking for a new chain for an NP203 if anyone has any leads.
 
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