Death wobble

f350psd96 · Jul 23, 2013

Have a 96 f350. Has a skyjacker 6in lift kit on it about 2 month old. All shocks are good. I'm on 36.5x14 ground hawgs mounted on 15in wheels and 2in spacers. Yesterday I was driving and at exactly 30mph I get death wobble. Starts slow and gets so bad I need to come to almost a complete stop. I'm not running a stabilizer or sway bars. Checked drag link pitman arm and tie rod. Everything's tight. No play in the ball joints. Any other ideas? Also when I speed up it stops but around 50mph it starts up again. It's driving me crazy can't figure it out.

Thanks

JLDickmon · Jul 23, 2013

f350psd96 said:
Have a 96 f350. Has a skyjacker 6in lift kit on it about 2 month old. All shocks are good. I'm on 36.5x14 ground hawgs mounted on 15in wheels and 2in spacers. Yesterday I was driving and at exactly 30mph I get death wobble. Starts slow and gets so bad I need to come to almost a complete stop. I'm not running a stabilizer or sway bars. Checked drag link pitman arm and tie rod. Everything's tight. No play in the ball joints. Any other ideas? Also when I speed up it stops but around 50mph it starts up again. It's driving me crazy can't figure it out.

Thanks

because you have such wide tires on it..
put on a stabilizer and call it good.

kadeninabnitt · Jul 23, 2013

did you shim the front to correct caster if its out of wack it will cause death wobble also make sure your tires are not out of round i had the same issues when i had my 44 inch ground hawgs turned out they were out of round a stabilizer will help but they are usually just a bandaid check your shackle bushings as well

f350psd96 · Jul 24, 2013

Tires look round to me... And I didn't shim the front caster. How do you do that. I put on a dual steering stabilizer. Helped a lot but I know that doesn't cure it. I looked at my ball joints again. They're pancaked but have no play. I need an alignment could that be causing the death wobble?

Lang · Jul 24, 2013

You didn't get an alignment after the lift install?

kadeninabnitt · Jul 24, 2013

for starters get it aligned second to check if a tire is out of round barely jack it up off the ground to where the tire can spin give it a spin you should know pretty quick if its out of round and to shim it simply buy the correct shims for the lift they go between the leafs and the perch

f350psd96 · Jul 24, 2013

Thanks. Il give it a try and let you know what happens! Thanks for the help

f350psd96 · Jul 28, 2013

Got an alignment and tires balanced, steering stabilizer is on. Now it's a lot better! I can actually drive without my truck trying to throw me off the road. But after 35mph I get a little shimmee in the steering. No longer death wobble. Truck will shake a little not a lot... Tires are all round. Shop couldn't figure it out. Anything else I should check?

Aaron S · Jul 28, 2013

An old boss of mine had 38 inch ground hawgs on his 96 bronco, and he had the same problem after the tires wore down some (death wobble). He had to get rid of the tires to solve the problem.

Just looking at the tires isn't always enough to tell if the tires are round. I have two 35inch toyo at2s that look round but came in at 100 lbs of road force on a road force balancer. They cause my truck to shake or bounce slightly.