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Death Wobble

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  #1  
Old 04-12-2010, 04:48 PM
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Default Death Wobble

the other night i was drivin home and i started havin the death wobble real bad. i cant take the truck over 35 mph without it doin it. it also does it when i hit the brakes. so far i have replaced the stabilizer end links, steering dampener, and track bar. ball joints and wheel bearings are less than a year old and are fine. i pulled the right side inner tie rod off and checked the steering box. it doesn't seem to have barely any play in it. tie rods all feel fine(no up and down play). the control arm bushings don't seem to have any wear. last night i had it up in the air and i noticed that no matter what i did, i couldn't spin the drivers side front tire. i removed the caliper and found it was locked tight. im wondering if maybe thats what was causin my problem??? i spun the rotor and i can see any warp to it.
I am really tired of throwing money at this front end. what do u guys think?

if i don't find the problem soon, im gonna find a ford dually for this 12 valve to call home...
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 05:10 PM
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that could cause it. I think you have a bad wheelbearing if you removed the caliper and you can't move the hub unit by itself.
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 05:17 PM
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i couldn't move the wheel with the caliper on. once i removed it the hub spins fine. there is no play in the wheel bearings.
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 05:28 PM
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ok then the caliper is siezed and needs replaced
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by 440ctd
ok then the caliper is siezed and needs replaced
I have calipers that do that all the time. I doubt its bad.

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

Originally Posted by cummins95
the other night i was drivin home and i started havin the death wobble real bad. i cant take the truck over 35 mph without it doin it. it also does it when i hit the brakes. so far i have replaced the stabilizer end links, steering dampener, and track bar. ball joints and wheel bearings are less than a year old and are fine. i pulled the right side inner tie rod off and checked the steering box. it doesn't seem to have barely any play in it. tie rods all feel fine(no up and down play). the control arm bushings don't seem to have any wear. last night i had it up in the air and i noticed that no matter what i did, i couldn't spin the drivers side front tire. i removed the caliper and found it was locked tight. im wondering if maybe thats what was causin my problem??? i spun the rotor and i can see any warp to it.
I am really tired of throwing money at this front end. what do u guys think?

if i don't find the problem soon, im gonna find a ford dually for this 12 valve to call home...
It just started it all of a sudden? did you replace or add anything? rotate tires? hit something? the caliper locked up wont cause DW
 

Last edited by GRI; 04-12-2010 at 05:38 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
  #6  
Old 04-12-2010, 05:44 PM
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I'm going to guess a tire issue. Next thing I'd do is get the tires balanced and rotated.
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 06:15 PM
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When a brake caliper wont release its usally a bad hose not letting the brake fluid come back kinda like a one way valve.
 
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Old 04-12-2010, 08:07 PM
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i went through the same thing after i put my 3in suspension lift on. the new angles causes the little play that might have been already there to be expressed more violently or death wobble, replaced the trac bar bushing, did nothing, alignment helped but still did it every once in awhile, maxed out my caster adjustments with the stock control arms helped more, bought new tires and it was all good. my guess was the old tires were serverly out of round or a bad belt maybe. all i know was after multiple 80 plus mph death wobbles on the highway it needed to be fixed fast.
 
  #9  
Old 04-12-2010, 09:11 PM
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if any or all of my questions get answered I will fix it via internet. otherwise it is a long list of numerous things.
 
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Old 04-13-2010, 05:18 AM
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my truck is doing the death wobble aswell, the first time it did it swapping the rims and tires seemed to help it, but i hit a bump on the interstate at about 72 and it started shaking so bad i thought i was going to fall off my seat.

ive noticed it feels like it wants to wobble at lower speeds but idk what is causing it,ive replaced the trackbar and steering stabilizer bar.
 


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