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Is my wheel going to FALL OFF soon?

J

Just4Fun

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Shreveport, LA
Heres the deal, I'm running around town like normal with my newish tires I mounted up last week. coming across a very bumpy intersection with a pothole somewhere in the middle of all the bumps. Right when I ate the pothole going about 35 mph the front left wheel starts wobbling violently shaking the whole truck like it's all over for us. Hit the brakes and slow down to about 15mph and it stops.

This is a new one to me. I have not had the oppourtunity to replace balljoints yet but I assume this is a sure sign that it is time to figure it out. I know that spindle nut /washer/ nut combo can't just come loose on me or it would wobble all the time right? There was noticeable up and down play in the knuckle with the wheel off but not side to side like how it acted up. The tires lean way out at top with a full steer and kind point in at the top when sitting straight ahead. Didn't show any of these signs until I mounted up the 15 x 10s... It's had 15 x 8 or smaller most of its life.

I still need to drive it out to the shop to fix it.... How dangerously bad could my ball joints be? Could they just let go and fall out? Any tips for first time balljoint replacement? I've got a small torch if it doesn't want to seperate with just the fork n hammer - thats as much as I know..

Thanks folks! - Dave

KEEP ON TRUCKIN!
 
how much lift and tires? any degree shims

there are tons of articles on death wobble on the site if you search but basically if you lift too much and shim too much or sometimes just too much tire(weight and height) on a specific setup will trigger it, especially when you give the system a trigger (bump in the road), Sounds like your wider rims and expanded tire contact patch is enough to trigger what you never felt before. Its definately scary.

Ball joints are the best place to start, check for a cracked frame at the steering box and check your steering components for slop.

Ball joints usually will take tons of abuse but they fail catostrophically so when they go, they GO!
 
Yes definately could be scarey if I was going any faster. I could see just the force of the tire wobbling causing it to break loose.

Frame is good up front. Its a stock height truck with 31 x 10.50 AT on 15 x 10 alloys. I ran 32 x 11.50 MT on 15 x 8.5 for about a year 1/2. balljoints have definately seen some abuse.

Looking for quick get r done way for the balljoints without taking them up to a shop except for an alignment afterwords.
 
ball joints shouldn't cause you to need an alignment, they must be shot to cause deathwobble in a stock app. I'll try and dig up the ball joint article someone on here wrote up at one time that was excellent for first timers
 
The ball joints dont need to be shot to cause death wobble. it could be simply in need of an alignment. i had a 2002 dodge 2500 and a jeep tj, both fairly new. when i had them aligned after mounting larger tires and a moderate lift the shop used an incorrect amount of toe "in" which caused the tires to fight each other after hitting a large bump. when i took both vehicles (same day) to a different shop (owned by the same company, but diff location) they corrected the problem and said the alignment was done incorrectly. i have since corrected this problem on several other veh's which exhibited the same traits. i would say start with an alignment after "checking" to see if your ball joints are worn. i'm not saying Bowtieblazer is wrong, meerly offering my own experience.... he could in fact be correct if that is the case, but dont limit yourself.
 
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