Still experiencing death wobble [Solved!]
- Thread starter nk24
- Start date
It changes the way the forces act on the front suspension is the best I can come up with. I started playing with the toe-out thing due to a lot of folks I considered to be morons posting that DW was caused by toe in due to them setting toe out to make DW stop. I used it on some rigs that I knew had issues and sure enough, it stops DW under certain conditions, generally deficient upper control arms.
The morons were onto something but not the right something. Too many rigs run toe in for that to be a thing but it is a good diagnostic tool.
16 months later update: I think the death wobble is finally fixed.
I had the parts sitting on my workbench for about a year and for myriad reasons never had a chance to work on it.
As mentioned previously, the 1/2” toe out “fix” pointed to the front upper control arms as the culprit. I replaced the front right axle side upper control arm bushing (Moog). I used small pieces of wood to prevent the tower from folding when pressing in the new bushing. I was not able to get the left side bushing on top of the differential out so I left it in place. I replaced both JKS front upper control arms with Savvy double adjustable aluminum arms.
I had to pull the springs to be able to get a ball joint press onto the axle side bushings, so while I was in there I added some 3/4” spacers to remove some of the rake. I then reset the toe to 1/16” in.
Next was testing to see if DW was gone. I went to a spot where I’ve had DW every time (except when toed out) and tried it once at 65 mph and once at 70 mph. Not a hint of a wobble either time!
I had the parts sitting on my workbench for about a year and for myriad reasons never had a chance to work on it.
As mentioned previously, the 1/2” toe out “fix” pointed to the front upper control arms as the culprit. I replaced the front right axle side upper control arm bushing (Moog). I used small pieces of wood to prevent the tower from folding when pressing in the new bushing. I was not able to get the left side bushing on top of the differential out so I left it in place. I replaced both JKS front upper control arms with Savvy double adjustable aluminum arms.
I had to pull the springs to be able to get a ball joint press onto the axle side bushings, so while I was in there I added some 3/4” spacers to remove some of the rake. I then reset the toe to 1/16” in.
Next was testing to see if DW was gone. I went to a spot where I’ve had DW every time (except when toed out) and tried it once at 65 mph and once at 70 mph. Not a hint of a wobble either time!
It wasn’t all cakes and confetti though. I lost a socket in the frame after torquing down the right upper control arm. I tried to rescue it with a telescoping magnet to no avail. I might have to get a longer, stronger, and more flexible one.
Perfect timing. I've got to track down some wobble/shimmy of my own.
That sucks. That's probably going to be one of those rattles that only you can hear, and you'll hear it in your sleep. Was it the 10 mm that everyone looses?
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Blaine helped me with the exact issue once- worked great and still does.
I didn’t hear it during my test drive but that was at high speed. I have a feeling I’ll hear it off road though.Perfect timing. I've got to track down some wobble/shimmy of my own.
That sucks. That's probably going to be one of those rattles that only you can hear, and you'll hear it in your sleep. Was it the 10 mm that everyone looses?
It was a 15 mm from my 1/2” drive impact set.
I did that once. I ended up getting it out with magnet but only after jacking up the opposite end of the rig to help the magnet up the "ramp" in the frame where it starts to go up over the axle.
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