Re: Need help, death wobble, can\'t drive much longer.....
Man, this took a good 1/2 hour to read. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif
Just gonna share my experiences and thoughts. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif
I have had a few (5 of them /forums/images/icons/wink.gif) K30's and the only one that has the DW is my current '85 with 4" and 35" tires.
I am on my third set of tires with this truck. The first set did not experience the DW at all. Those wore out and I bought a used set of BFG All Terrains.
These BFG's rode ok for a while, but they were not balanced. Later when they were near baldness, the DW started up. This was only during the braking periods at lower speeds of around 45 and lower.
So, I finally bought a new set and the current tires I have now. At the same time I got the tires, I got new shocks and a new stabilizer, too. The new tires were balanced real good, too. I installed all the new shocks and the DW went away, for a while. Shocks were the RS5000's, including the stabilizer.
Today, this truck still has DW, but at certain speeds of around 40-25 mph. And only during braking or slowing down. It never DW's while speeding up or driving along anywhere. Not even coasting along either. Just slowing down by braking is the cause of my DW.
I assumed the rotors were warped, but have not turned them yet.
Now, on the old "Brown Turd" '82 K30 I had, it had the 39" MT's on them and did not have DW.
When that day came that I installed those big 46" Firestones and went to the mud pit, that truck was all over the road, BAD!! Those tires were 21.5" wide!! I have reason to believe the wider tires helped cause the DW, too. Maximum speed I could drive with those tires was around 20 mph. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif
My theory to the DW could be, but not necessarily be, the problem of the kingpin itself. I think it's the plastic bushing that sits on the kingpin on the top of the knuckle.
Being it a plastic piece and subject to a lot of weight due to bigger tires and wider rims, etc., it's putting a load on that little plastic piece.
I remember reading somewhere on the POR site that someone built a D60 rear with steering capabilities and they had machine work done to the knuckles in order to accept a tapered roller bearing for the top knuckle in order to eliminate the plastic bushing. This set up makes the top just like the bottom of the cap and knuckle.
So, if someone were to experiment and do some work to eliminate the top plastic bushing and install a roller bearing, this may help aid to making the kingpin "tighter" thus creating a more solid knuckle.
Afterall, how many of you have seen the plastic bushing cracked or broken when you went in to check it out or rebuild, etc.? I have seen them broken nearly everytime I popped the cap off. Probably too much stress on them. If it were a roller bearing, it would not be so stressful as the plastic.
Now for those who ask, "what about D44's and 10 bolts"? I am almost positive that problem lies in the ball joints themselves. If you have replaced them for new ones, have the pre-load on them been set properly? Are they good name brand parts? Just some ideas here.
Lastly, I will also say that the steering stabilizer is one of the more important items to install especially when lifting a truck and running larger tires. Getting a good quality stabilizer that offers good strong damping forces will help in fixing the DW, but not curing it. Even dual stabilizers will help better than a single stabilizer, especially for larger tires. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif
Now, can we find someone who has the time and ability to do some machine work to make the top D60 knuckles accept a roller bearing? Someone who can do this work and experiment to see what they find?
