DEATH WOBBLE

Wrong Way Dan

Wrong Way Dan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I have 2015 F-250 regular cab 8' bed 4x4 with on 42k on it. Truck has developed death wobble. Happens at highway speeds so it's real fun when it happens. I have replaced steering stabilizer, both tie rod ends and the drag link end. That didn't fix the problem. Anyone have any idea. Really sucks not being able to drive it because I'm worried about it.
 
When I had my Jeep death wobble was always caused by some play somewhere. A couple times it was control arms. Another time a bolt loosened up on one of the knuckles. Jack it up and search for what's loose.
 
Rotate the tires front to back and let us know.
Agreed. Could be a bad tire or tire out of balance. Always start with the simple stuff IMO.
 
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Could be so many different things. Most mechanics will just throw a bunch of new parts at it and hope it resolves the problem.
 
My first thought is that you would want to borrow/try A set of wheels and tires there a slightly different size. Sometimes a specific weight and size of tire creates an Unwanted vibration. My gut feeling is a smoother tread and lighter tire would likely be the best but that’s just a guess.

It likely won’t change anything but rotating the tires and trying both a higher and lower psi could potentially help. I am curious if you keep the truck unweighted the majority of time. Sometimes just keeping 150 to 200 pounds of static weight in the bed can change things.

I’m not a lawyer nor do I play everyone on TV, but I have heard that lemon laws can offer protection in cases like this as long as the wheels are OEM spec.
 
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As a jeep tech for 22 years now , I have had my fair share of "death wobble complaints " ......death wobble is usually a combination of several small things that allow it to take place to begin with ........so the first thing I check is tire balance, then front end play , then steering stabilizers . Of course if the truck has been lifted , then you need to make sure ALL your geometry has been corrected properly ( just throwing in 3 inch spring pucks don't cut it ) check your drive shaft angles pinion angle and so on ..........if ALL of that checks out ....try a different set of tires as it's probably a "sidewall" deal that is where the vibrating is starting from .
 
skully said:
As a jeep tech for 22 years now , I have had my fair share of "death wobble complaints " ......death wobble is usually a combination of several small things that allow it to take place to begin with ........so the first thing I check is tire balance, then front end play , then steering stabilizers . Of course if the truck has been lifted , then you need to make sure ALL your geometry has been corrected properly ( just throwing in 3 inch spring pucks don't cut it ) check your drive shaft angles pinion angle and so on ..........if ALL of that checks out ....try a different set of tires as it's probably a "sidewall" deal that is where the vibrating is starting from .
Click to expand...
Sounds like 🔥 and a new 🛻.
 
johnbryanpeters said:
tiremeetsroad.com

Engineer explains what's actually going on during Ford F-250 & F-350 truck death wobble - Alt Car news

The Ford Death wobble is a problem plauging F-250 and F-350 owners. This engineer gives a solid explanation of what's going on.
tiremeetsroad.com tiremeetsroad.com
Click to expand...
Death wobble is simply an inherent issue with solid axle front suspension. A right sized bump at the right speed will send an input into the axle that is around the resonating frequency of the whole SFA system. Once the axle starts to resonate, there’s nothing you can do stop it, unless you reduce the frequency to take it out of resonance (i.e. slowing down).

The amplitude at which the death wobble vibrates at is directly related to the amount of play in the SFA system. That is why you see it more often in older Jeeps and trucks: more worn parts = more play in the system. It is much less common in new trucks since all the bushings and joints are still tight, but it can still happen depending on whether you got a bad part, or just bad luck with hitting the right kind of bump to induce resonance.


I agree with this....I have experienced the death wobble in my 87 2500 gmc, my dads 84 3500 gmc, 97 dodge 3500, couple of jeeps....All solid front axles....heavy duty trucks are great but they are HEAVY and the suspension, bushings, etc get beat to shit just driving around. So get back under there @Wrong Way Dan and keep replacing stuff.
 
Update. I rotated the tires and so far I have replaced tie rod ends and drag link ends and this POS still has death wobble. Anyone have any other suggestions???
 
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