24 Valve 2nd Gen Dodge Cummins 98.5-02 Discussion of 24 Valve 5.9 Liter Dodge Cummins Diesels with VP44 Injection Pumps
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Bouncing at 50 MPH...

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Old 01-07-2011, 02:54 PM
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Default Bouncing at 50 MPH...

Read some articles on death wobble, but need to get a fix in over the weekend.. it's starting to snow often and I need this fixed.

Symptoms:
  • Truck starts to "bounce" around 50MPH on up.. I haven't been above around 65 so it doesn't stop as far as I know.
  • I don't feel it in the steering wheel... just the whole front end of the truck seems to bounce, especially around curves.
  • If I let off of it and slow down about 5MPH or so.. it goes away.

I've got two new front tires and balanced.. new wheel bearings..

What else would cause this? Thing is I don't feel it in my steering wheel. Just feels like the whole front end of the truck is bouncing.. it doesn't feel like it's gonna throw me around but it's really annoying and most likely unsafe.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 04:30 PM
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out of alignment in combination with dead shocks? worn out bushings of the sway bar?
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 04:34 PM
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have you checked the trac bar to see if there is any wear in it? what about shocks?
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 07:10 PM
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You need shocks is my guess.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 07:27 PM
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I know it's out of alignment... 37" tires and 6" lift... because the tires wore awful on the front....

Is there any quick way to diagnose shocks other than the push down on the hood test? kinda hard since it's 3 ft up in the air haha. There's no oil / anything or anything that looks wrong with them physically... they're just plain white shocks haha.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 08:13 PM
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Forget the push on the hood test.
It does not deliver any reliable results because used speed is way to slow. Good shops have a shock tester delivering an arrangement of certain shock waves to the shock assembly. Boge and Bilstein have those testers.

Don't get "shocked"- even new shocks with 60% effectiveness are called "good"

tires also have to be balanced dynamically. Most shops do only the static balancing.(this is the tire and rim only)
good shops can balance the complete axle assembly.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 09:12 PM
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you will prob find stuff wore on your truck. maybe several things that is causing this mingle.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 09:22 PM
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Yeah I need to clean it up and get under there and look.. just wish it was one thing I could point down to.

Thanks Deezel, but I don't have access to a lot of that at the moment.. and I've always had my wheels + tires static balanced, and this just recently started.. so I don't think anything has come out of balance that wasn't out of balance before..

Gotta be some parts worn... just gotta figure out what it is that's causing it to do what it's doing.
 
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Old 01-07-2011, 09:31 PM
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sometimes its hard to put your finger on it. i would start with the most wore part under there. there are just so many things that seems to have a little wear.
 
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Old 01-09-2011, 11:02 PM
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welcome to the dodge death woble. its usually caused by several things. on the 94-02 the trac bars are really bad about busting the ball joint end on them. and the develop a lot of slop in the steering box. and you most likely wont feel any or this in the steering wheel because of the stabilizer shock on the steering links. also the factory control arm bushings can wear out too causing wander and sway. one cure for part of the problem is toeing in the alignment some its not bad on the tires if done right but at the same time its not the greatest on them. i would get a steering box stabilizer and steering box, as well as a new set of twin steering stabilizers. kinda expensive, looking at about a grand in parts for good stuff. but if it keeps boucing and beating on the front end your gonna have a real problem soon. mine would do the same thing before then i went through and replaced everything under the fron of it. PSC motorsports imo makes the best replacement steering boxes out there. but i put dual stabilizers new box and box stabilizer on it as well as all bushing and tie rod ends. and its as close to a sports car as you can get now. night and day differences.
 
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