DragRag
Registered User
Big lift and tires, all bets are off. Tight or not, the truck can and well descend into a death wobble if the stars align just right, especially with a ttb.
Moms Crew Cab too DANGEROUS to Drive. Help!
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dslbroncotom
Diesel Bronco Tom
Jack the front of truck up by frame, let the axle hang check for anything loose. 99% it has to do with the track bar. Upgrade the track bar bushings to eurethane, thier like 30 bucks and worth doing no matter what. Make sure the mounting brackets for the track bar are not lose, I had the same problem with my bronco when I did the axle swap and blamed it on the tires, turns out the bolts had loosened up on the K-member side bracket.
caster can cause problems when it gets close to 0 or + numbers, negative caster is desired because it forces the tires to return to a strait, or neutral position when the vehicle is in forward motion, (this is what makes the wheel come back to center when you make a turn) SO you can be fairly certain that caster is not your problem if when you make a turn and let go of the wheel it returns to center. It is the same principal that causes a vehicle to be difficult to control when traveling with any significant speed in revers. Pro drag cars have a huge amount of negative caster because they want the car to go in a strait line, watch them closely when they have to back up after the burn out you will see that they have to fight to keep it strait.
Havent heard to much of caster causing a death wobble, mostly just makes the truck wander all over the road, I endured that problem for a long time when my bronco had the stock 44ttb and I swapped coil sprins out of a motor home to level the front end, It gave me severe positive camber and reduced my negative caster. I could turn the wheel in a parking lot and let go and just go in circles.
So long story short, service the track bar, rotate your tires and if that doesnt work
caster can cause problems when it gets close to 0 or + numbers, negative caster is desired because it forces the tires to return to a strait, or neutral position when the vehicle is in forward motion, (this is what makes the wheel come back to center when you make a turn) SO you can be fairly certain that caster is not your problem if when you make a turn and let go of the wheel it returns to center. It is the same principal that causes a vehicle to be difficult to control when traveling with any significant speed in revers. Pro drag cars have a huge amount of negative caster because they want the car to go in a strait line, watch them closely when they have to back up after the burn out you will see that they have to fight to keep it strait.
Havent heard to much of caster causing a death wobble, mostly just makes the truck wander all over the road, I endured that problem for a long time when my bronco had the stock 44ttb and I swapped coil sprins out of a motor home to level the front end, It gave me severe positive camber and reduced my negative caster. I could turn the wheel in a parking lot and let go and just go in circles.
So long story short, service the track bar, rotate your tires and if that doesnt work
Popeye2347
Full Access Member
While waiting for the results, I am going to mention about the only item I have not seen mentioned- the steering box---not only the box itself but the frame where it mounts and the mounts themselves. Truth is though, I suspect the worn parts have already been mentioned. And I vote to keep a steering stabilizer on a tight front end to help prevent wear-not to avoid replacing worn parts however.
Popeye2347
Full Access Member
Maybe a little off topic, but I once had a trailer that would 'walk/wander' at and above ~45 mph. After lots of head scratching discovered the rubber in the shackles were bad.
MUDKICKR
Full Access Member
letting the axle "hang" will only give you false reading on parts. letting it "hang" will put pressure on all the bushing and when you shake them they wont show there wear. keeping the axle on the ground and shaking the steering wheel left to right is the only real way to find wore out bushings. when the axle is on the ground, the axle is planted, and the body and suspension will move, thus showing what is wore out. now when checking the kingpins/ball-joints, jack up the axle as close to the tire as possible without touching the tire and take a bar and move the tire up and down, which still keeps axle planted, but takes pressure off of the kingpins/ball-joints, and will show play.
if you dont believe in this method, try it on any torsion bar front end and see how much difference in play you see.
I read the original post and was tempted to comment then, but after reading through 4 pages, I'm disappointed. Several people have alluded to what is obviously a drive train issue to me, and nobody has yet suggested this test. 
Just put the rear axle on jackstands, in a clear place where if it falls off nobody or not thing gets hurt, and run it up to the speed you need to make it do it. This will eliminate ALL the front end parts and result in a clear determination if this is driveline or not. The fact that the dash hops up and down, and your gearshift swings wildly tells me this is not a front end problem. You have orbital weight shift which is causing a violent temporal displacement.
Just put the rear axle on jackstands, in a clear place where if it falls off nobody or not thing gets hurt, and run it up to the speed you need to make it do it. This will eliminate ALL the front end parts and result in a clear determination if this is driveline or not. The fact that the dash hops up and down, and your gearshift swings wildly tells me this is not a front end problem. You have orbital weight shift which is causing a violent temporal displacement.
dslbroncotom
Diesel Bronco Tom
I read the original post and was tempted to comment then, but after reading through 4 pages, I'm disappointed. Several people have alluded to what is obviously a drive train issue to me, and nobody has yet suggested this test.
Just put the rear axle on jackstands, in a clear place where if it falls off nobody or not thing gets hurt, and run it up to the speed you need to make it do it. This will eliminate ALL the front end parts and result in a clear determination if this is driveline or not. The fact that the dash hops up and down, and your gearshift swings wildly tells me this is not a front end problem. You have orbital weight shift which is causing a violent temporal displacement.
Run of the mill death wobble is more like what he described, a rear driveline issue wouldnt cause the steering wheel to shake so violantly that the it is hard to hold on to. I have had the centering yoke pin break at 45mph on the c/v joint that ford thought would be a good idea to put in the rear position on my driveshaft which allowed it to swing about 3" off center, the truck shook so violantly I thought the ass of the truck was gonna come off the ground, it threw around all my tools in the back and for some reason my fuel line on the inlet of my factory pump on the frame rail came off
, It had no resemblence to a death wobble which I have encounterd several times.
dslbroncotom
Diesel Bronco Tom
Letting the axle hang was the only way i was able to determine that the track bar bracket was loose.
SparkandFire
We're drinking beer
My ranger with 33"s on it had some serious death wobble.
After ball joints were done and alignment, it got better for a while, then got bad again, pulled the whole front end apart and found one of the spindles was bent something fierce, and the bearings were completely gone (wife drove the truck ONCE, and that was enough - "Honey, did you perhaps hit a curb in my truck? Well, yea but only once...")
Junkyard spindle and bearings and it was good again.
After ball joints were done and alignment, it got better for a while, then got bad again, pulled the whole front end apart and found one of the spindles was bent something fierce, and the bearings were completely gone (wife drove the truck ONCE, and that was enough - "Honey, did you perhaps hit a curb in my truck? Well, yea but only once...")
Junkyard spindle and bearings and it was good again.
Diesel_brad
Dunce
No pedestal. Just strongly voicing my opinion. I have worked on more of these trucks then you will drive in lifetime.
And that is a FACT
BigRigTech
Diesel junky
Mel, I suggested axle stands a while ago to try 2wd and 4wd....I guess he hasn't had time yet to curse/diagnose it.
6 Nebraska IDIs
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Yea I was hoping to get off work early enough today to get it up and try it out but doesn't look like thats going to happen.
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