Suspension Gurus, please step in here!!!

Pork_Chop50

He looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me....
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And this could also be a frozen steering u-joint. If he has the auto hubs and they are still in auto mode the slight turn would get the front axle shafts to start a bad wobble. I've had friends with SD have that, it's not the easiest fix but it is fairly cheap if you can do most of the work yourself. So my recommendation here is to put your hubs in true free or unlock to see if that also eliminates the wobble if the rotation @towcat mentioned doesn't eliminate the problem.
 

Thewespaul

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Do you have different sized tires to the front/rear or different brand? I think towcat is on to something here!
 

unclehoser

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do me a favor. rotate the tires again and see if the problem still exists.
please.

OK...trusting your (and 79jasper's) judgment, I'll do that at the next available opportunity. Probably Monday or Tuesday of next week...those are my only days off from my "real" job, and I have some side work and rather large ongoing personal projects that require my attention!

I'll add, as an aside, that the tires on this truck are a matched set of 4 high-end Michelins that the previous owner put on only 900 miles or so before I bought it in January of this year. A good friend, retired from the tire business, told me that I got one hell of a deal and that those tires should go 60K if treated nicely! I don't drive very far, so I've only put on about 11K since owning it. I try to rotate tires at every oil change, but I missed one...

Regardless, thanks for the input. With your assistance, we'll get this crap straightened out one way or the other!

I'll probably owe one or two (or more) folks a cold beer when it's all over...
 

unclehoser

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And this could also be a frozen steering u-joint. If he has the auto hubs and they are still in auto mode the slight turn would get the front axle shafts to start a bad wobble. I've had friends with SD have that, it's not the easiest fix but it is fairly cheap if you can do most of the work yourself. So my recommendation here is to put your hubs in true free or unlock to see if that also eliminates the wobble if the rotation @towcat mentioned doesn't eliminate the problem.

This is a 2-wheel-drive truck, not a 4x4. Sorry, I forgot to mention that. It's bone-stock, no mods, no lift, no other crap. Just a good ol' workhorse with no other major issues!
 

Pork_Chop50

He looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me....
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So I know so little about the SD 2wd suspensions that this could just be a moment of nonsense and hopefully more knowledgeable folks will correct me. But..... does the SD 2wd use balljoints, and could this wobble be the result of a failing ball joint or camber bushing? Slight turn causes a tire to "tick-tock" out of neutral until the speed gets low enough for centripetal forces to regain neutral and all is well?
 

towcat

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OK...trusting your (and 79jasper's) judgment, I'll do that at the next available opportunity. Probably Monday or Tuesday of next week...those are my only days off from my "real" job, and I have some side work and rather large ongoing personal projects that require my attention!

I'll add, as an aside, that the tires on this truck are a matched set of 4 high-end Michelins that the previous owner put on only 900 miles or so before I bought it in January of this year. A good friend, retired from the tire business, told me that I got one hell of a deal and that those tires should go 60K if treated nicely! I don't drive very far, so I've only put on about 11K since owning it. I try to rotate tires at every oil change, but I missed one...

Regardless, thanks for the input. With your assistance, we'll get this crap straightened out one way or the other!

I'll probably owe one or two (or more) folks a cold beer when it's all over...
now the plot "thickens" how many want to lay odds a used tire got reverse rotated?
I'm suspecting a reverse rotated tire got "ply seperation" and is causing the deathwobble. When approaching a complex and potentially expensive problem, start with the simple and cheap. move up from there.
 

jwalterus

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let me get this right......
you rotated tires three weeks ago and the deathwobble problems started shortly after rotation?
please affirm/deny.


That's correct. I had never experienced it prior to that point


Just remember the MOST BASIC rule of repair:
If you do something, and it makes something worse, undo it and try a different approach.
 

unclehoser

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Just remember the MOST BASIC rule of repair:
If you do something, and it makes something worse, undo it and try a different approach.

That, sir, is very good advice...and I follow it every day in regard to other issues. It might have been more obvious if I were more mechanically inclined! Much appreciated.
 

unclehoser

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now the plot "thickens" how many want to lay odds a used tire got reverse rotated?
I'm suspecting a reverse rotated tire got "ply seperation" and is causing the deathwobble. When approaching a complex and potentially expensive problem, start with the simple and cheap. move up from there.

Although the theory is plausible, I believe that this is the first rotation since new (if, in fact, I was told the truth by the previous owner, whom I have no reason to doubt! I have the receipts). Guess I'll have to try everything you all have mentioned, and then...???
 

towcat

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Although the theory is plausible, I believe that this is the first rotation since new (if, in fact, I was told the truth by the previous owner, whom I have no reason to doubt! I have the receipts). Guess I'll have to try everything you all have mentioned, and then...???
let's eliminate the most obvious first before going into "what if" land :D
 

unclehoser

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let's eliminate the most obvious first before going into "what if" land :D
Works for me. I'm a trusting soul! I'll report back later...it's bedtime for Bozo now, gotta get up at the crack of 4:30 AM and go earn my keep!

Thanks once again -
Dave
 

towcat

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let's eliminate the most obvious first before going into "what if" land :D
"reverse rotation" is a situation when a new tire has taken a "set" from rotating in one direction. when you remove the tire and reinstall it, and not pay attention to the direction of rotation, that is what is known as "reverse rotation" in the hot desert climates, the results of ply seperation is all over the road in the summer months
 

Pork_Chop50

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Asking for my own knowledge, does the "reverse" rotation cause ply separation or aggravate it? I've had tires fail due to ply separation typically from age or poor quality, and is it possible to create that problem through bad maintenance practice?
 

towcat

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Asking for my own knowledge, does the "reverse" rotation cause ply separation or aggravate it? I've had tires fail due to ply separation typically from age or poor quality, and is it possible to create that problem through bad maintenance practice?
ply separation is caused by many causes. under inflation, curb impact, pothole impact, reverse rotation, exceeding speed rating, high temperatures. In this case, I'm suspecting ply separation due to reverse rotation. I lost two steer tires this last Texas trip due to high tread temp from a bad alignment. even though I was in 100* temps, the tread temps was over 130*. This was measured by an infrared heat gun.
Both ply operated and was ready for a blow out.
 
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