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.

Need help, death wobble, can't drive much longer.....

Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

Well I think it may have something to do with it only because theres too many people out there with this same problem and cant be that many people with out of round or unbalanced tires,ya know what I mean?Ive got a digital protractor and tommorow im gonna measure the caster angle on my truck but I really need someone to help me find the correct (factory) caster angle so I can compare.Youve got a dana 60 front axle in your truck thats been chopped up and pinion angle corrected?Why did you have to chop it and do this,was it because of the death wobble?If so then this is a dead subject and Im wasting my time but I cant figure out why you would have to chop up a Chevy dana 60 to put it in a chevy truck?Unless youve got some rediculous amount of lift(which would be hella cool) or its not a chevy dana 60.Man Im just tryibg to come up with something useful here not trying to bash you but I want to know why this is so inherent to chevy trucks with dana 60 axles and large tires.....................
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

stock trucks with dana 60 have DW
i have seen it
what is your caster theory?
what #s do you think are correct or incorrect?

my caster isnt perfect
left 8.2deg right 6.6deg
it would be better IMO to have both equal,
others have told me the numbers should be reversed left to right to be correct to account for road crown.
had to dig back to 1995 reciepts to find that alignment
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

damn so does anyone with a 60 front not have DW? I am going to be putting mine on as soon as my wheels arrive and I can grind the calipers. I'd like a "ray of hope" to tell me that my truck wont become strictly off-road after I install the sucker.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

The factory specs, for a Blazer are as follows.

Camber = 1.0 degs. Thats the tops of the tires out, when viewed from the front it would look like this: \---/

Caster = 8.0 degs. Thats when the upper ball joint is laid back, from the drivers side, looks like this: <front< /

Toe = 0.0. Thats no toe in or out. I think thats rubbish, you need some toe in.


Wobbles and Shimmys are just part of the game with a solid axle suspension, but it should be relitively mild and livable.
Your fighting a up-hill battle when you bolt on a set of large bias-ply tires. I don't think it is possible to eliminate the problem, but adding some toe-in and adding some positive caster should help - I would think -

I don't know if the specs are differnt for a 1/2 ton -vs- 1 ton. If I remember, I'll check it out.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

Just a suggestion.....make sure your ubolts are as close to paralell as possible. Take a 5lb. sledge and a wooden block and smack the top of each ubolt pad three or four times, then check the tq. of of each ubolt. I noticed when mine was doing the "booty shake" ...this cured it.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

just send me your d60 ill figger out the problem and send it back to ya ...
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

oh yeah .
how many of you with d60s have STOCK style steering and DW ?
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

Mike,

Several of us have experienced the same death wobble. Its not your tires, frame, caster or anything. Its Crossover Steering. My truck handled fine until I installed the crossover. I had to install a stabilizer to "Band aid" the problem. I cant offer much advise because thats all we have found to cure the problem. I know you have installed the hydro ram setup and many have hoped this would cure the problem, but I would suggest this. Try to install a stabilizer on the diagonal link on your crossover setup. I have heard this will not work, but I am thinking about trying it just to gain clearance (my friends have ripped their stabilizers off on rocks). Here may be another thought. Buy an arm designed for High steer for the left side (drivers side) and run your rock ram to that instead of mounting it to your tie rod. You could then install a stabilizer on the tie rod. I really havent looked at your setup, but I think this might help.

I was going to suggest plating frame, ORD brace and all that stuff, but it sounds like you have more than enough to cure frame flex.

I am not sure that some of these people know what Death Wobble is. Its not a tire wobble (the tires do add to the shaking but do not cause it). The reason I know this, we have proven this theroy. Bigdaddyof2 had his ghetto tires on and it had DW, we installed his 35's it had DW. It is when your whole front end shakes violently side to side so bad you can not control the vehicle. It usually happens around 20-30 mph and is completely uncontrolable. I really didnt notice the steering wheel shaking, it was usually the frame and suspension shaking and would gain frequency until the truck stopped (I was on the brakes and holding on!)

Now, I dont believe the deal about D60s from the factory creating Death Wobble. If that is true, why would GM let them off the assembly line, and why doesnt every guy on these boards complain about death wobble after adding a D60? Its a problem with Crossover, I'd be willing to bet the farm on that. Heres the perplexing problem. Some people with Crossover dont run a stabilizer and have never had Death Wobble. My truck will not drive a block without a stabilizer. I have never been a fan of stabilizers. I think they hide many front end problems, but thats what fixed my rig and many others.

My thought on using a Hydraulic Ram as a stabilizer. The ram has no dampening ability. The hydraulic pressure makes that rod as stiff as a "Moose's Twit" (Jackie Gleason). Think about the hydraulic ram on a Backhoe. If that ram could not hold back pressure it would not be useful. When they operate the Backhoe, its not spongy, its solid. So, a damper has to have some "dampening ability" and has to absorb the harmonics. I may be full of it, but I think this theroy is correct.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

My name is Pat, and I have DW Disease.
I know the guy who bought my truck brand new in '84. I am the second owner. I did not get to drive it much before I did all the work on it. I talked to him and he says it never had anything like a DW and it never did it to me before. Since the lift and ORD shackles etc. I have experienced DW quite often, usually when going relatively slow, 35 or under, and foot off the gas or light brake. Happened after the first 600 miles. Usually after a small bump in the road. I have 1200 miles on a fresh D60. Nothing loose, tires balanced, and stock type steering setup with ORD Brace. I am going to 38" swampers soon so this concerns me greatly. Together maybe we can figure this out.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

It sounds like you guys are ahead of me on this, but I thought I would just throw in my experiences with the wobble on a front 10-bolt. One time it would do it whever I went over 30 and I couldn't hardly drive the truck. Getting on the brake made it worse. It turned out to be a loose bolt on one end of the stabilizer.

The other time, the problem would come and go, but was especially bad when on the brake. Turned out to be a bad brake caliper. The piston was hanging up and the little bit of runout in the rotor was shaking the front end.

It seems to me that if everything is tight and the alignment is right, a steering stabilizer (or two) should at least help.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

I thought this was real interesting so I'm adding my .02 cents....

I have an 80 K10 with a Dana 60, 10" springs with the GM sway bar, 44" (unbalanced) TSL's on 15x12" Bart wheels (3 1/2" backspace) and 1 Hecko stabilizer. I have stock style steering with a 2" dropped pitman arm, a 4" drag link and a custom lifted steering arm (worth about 4").

I don't have the DW problem. I have experienced it though so I do know what you're talking about. Once when my truck had a Dana 44, I tried driving without a stabilizer - BIG MISTAKE!! I thought I was going to kill me and everyone close to me on the road. After reinstalling a new stabilizer the problem went away. On my 60, I've always had a stabilizer and never experienced DW.

Seems strange that a lot of the responses have cross over steering when you consider that it is supposed to be the way to go. The only reason I've never done the cross over was the cost.

If i had to guess, I would say the problem has to be related to either the angle of the drag link or maybe the toe setting as previously suggested.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

I started noticing that my truck would shake in the front end also .I have a stock lift a 10 bolt front and 1 stablizer with 33's I have checked everything in the front and found nothing to be loose I had the front alighned and it still does it once in a while I notice it when I go up a hill and when I hit a series of bumps I dont know what it could be .Could a bad power steering pump do this?or a bad motor mount? i to am trying to figure this out and I never realized it was so common and the ringer is my truck never used to do this before all of a sudden it just started ..................
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

I have driven a few CUCV pickups in the military that are completely stock and have the Death Wobble. The only way that I have ever seen them correct it is by replacing the stabilizer. I am not so sure that the crossover has anything to do with it. I have crossover on mine and 37 Boggers and have never had it. I just recently cut the stabilizer out to put Hydro assist on, so I will see if I have it after I get everything back together and drive it again.
Russ
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

nice try but no go
like i said STOCK trucks have DW problems, they also have steering stabilizers from the factory
maybe there is a reason for the factory putting them on?
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

I have the stock set up steering on my d60 with 38s and i get real bad DW just going around the block and have been looking in to all my options that would cause this i have been over every nut and bolt on the front end checked all tierod ends wheel bearings u-bolts. So anyway i went in to work and checked alignment specs on different axles and found that a K10 should have 4* caster and a k30 should be at 8* caster so if you take it to an alignment shop you should have them set it as if it were a k30. As soon as i can get mine down to work i was going to give it a try but it won't be for a couple of days.
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

I checked the alignment specs of serveral different trucks, from K5s to K30s and even Suburbans. I found that the specs do not change much from the norm. Slight changes from year to year, but nothing that wouldn't be covered in the tolerence.

It sounds like the axle/steering linkages are hitting a frequentcy and the vibrations are going wildly out of control. This is a fundemental dissadvantage to the interconected tires and axle. But....If everything is tight and the links are in good shape and the vibration is still exsesive.....

Do you guys think the stock tie-rod (tire to tire) might be bending and flexing exsessively?
Then a vibration starts and continues. This might explain why a steering dampner helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem.

Is there anyone running a "Rock-Ram" (I think thats the name) tie-rod that is haveing this problem. I think <font color=green>Steve</font color=green> has one on his 60. Any problems <font color=green>Steve</font color=green>? Or anyone else?
It might even be bending at the steering knuckles, if not the tie-rod.

Does this sound like a possibility guys?
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

uuhh yes actually, the thread originator
"I recently installed a hydrolic ram steering assist "
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

Thats not what I'm thinking of. It's not the hydo-steering assist thing. It's the tire-to-tire tie-rod. I'm sorry, I don't remeber the correct name for it.

But thats a minor detail, what do you think about the therory?
 
Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....

Thats it.... Anyone running it? If so, any "D/W"? and whats the combo (D60/D44, tires, cross-over, ect)?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom