death wobble.. Fixing it with the steering stabilizer?

[84cucv1ton]

A guy used to work with took his M1008 too of garage.. Front end was jumping all over. I was thinking it would be kingpins. Pretty common for an old Chevy. Garage said the kingpins are fine. $220 they put on a sky jacker dual steering stabilizer..

he didn't think to ask them. My question is if it's not the kingpins what would cause the jumping? spring bushings shocks are new. I don't see how steering stabilizer is going to fix that.. Make sense? I feel like I'm missing something.. Thought I would ask see with some you had to say thanks

 

[Gastrap]

I "fixed" my 1960 willys that way when I was a kid kust because I couldn't find a replacement steering box cheap. I wouldn't be too happy if a shop had done this as a fix, especially without asking. It shouldn't be too hard to find the real cause.

 

[ODdave]

I just put the best Monroe stabilizer I could buy on my 1028 yesterday, cured the problem. Personally I like the oe style ones better than those off road ones. They seem to work better.

 

[ralbelt]

Replacing the steering stabilizer and rotating the tires solved my DW problem.

 

[rickf]

The stabilizer just fixes the symptom, not the problem. The problem can be as simple as an out of balance wheel all the way up to the the king pins bad, and I mean the actual pins not just the bushings. It can be many things in between. tie rod ends, wheel bearings, steering box, cracked frame, spring bushings, broken spring, warped rotor, shifted belt in tire, bent rim and even lug nuts not tightened evenly. It is NEVER the stabilizer! The stabilizer will work..........for a while. Until it wears from the pounding. The job of the stabilizer is to absorb road shock through the steering from holes and bump steer. That is all it is supposed to do.

Rick

 

[ODdave]

Mine ONLY got wobble after hitting large bumps/holes in the road.

 

[SPECIALTYLC]

The stabilizer just fixes the symptom, not the problem. The problem can be as simple as an out of balance wheel all the way up to the the king pins bad, and I mean the actual pins not just the bushings. It can be many things in between. tie rod ends, wheel bearings, steering box, cracked frame, spring bushings, broken spring, warped rotor, shifted belt in tire, bent rim and even lug nuts not tightened evenly. It is NEVER the stabilizer! The stabilizer will work..........for a while. Until it wears from the pounding. The job of the stabilizer is to absorb road shock through the steering from holes and bump steer. That is all it is supposed to do.

Rick

I disagree. Why is it that only 4 wheel drive trucks have the stabilizer on them, and not 2 wheel trucks and cars?

 

[Skinny]

I've done numerous solid axle swaps on Toyotas and currently have an IFS stock 4Runner. All of them I've run from 31's on stock wheels to 37's on 2.5" backspaced wheels. Not once have I gotten death wobble from a bad stabilizer. My truck right now has a blown out stabilizer and doesn't get death wobble. DW is always something other than a stabilizer. I've driven without a stabilizer and never had DW.

Keep looking for the problem. I would replace everything gin the front end for piece of mind knowing that it won't leave you stranded.

 

[Sharecropper]

In my opinion, I believe DW is caused by a combination of issues, not just one. Weak king pin springs and worn king pin bushings, weak shocks, weak stabilizer, and out-of-balance tires/wheels can all contribute to the issue. Looseness in the steering gear can also contribute to the issue.

On 25-28 year old trucks, the factory king pin springs and bushings need to be replaced, along with new stronger shocks and stabilizer. Then the wheels need to be balanced perfectly. The steering gear needs to be tightened up via the adjustment nut on top of the housing. I have performed all of these steps, with the exception of a new stabilizer, on my M1028 rebuild and have no DW. I am achieving perfect tire balance on my 11.00/20 wheels & tires with Balance Masters.

Hope this helps.

 

[patracy]

I disagree. Why is it that only 4 wheel drive trucks have the stabilizer on them, and not 2 wheel trucks and cars?

That's because of how much play happens in a solid axle front end 4x4. I've see dampers on 2wd. I've even got one on my motorcycle.

A properly adjusted and maintained vehicle will work fine without the damper. It's just when you get a tire or wear in the system that the damper will start "taking up the slack".

 

[Danl]

Danl M915A1

I don't know about the older chevys but on the newer Dodge, that plow alot of snow the wheel bearing goes to pot and its allway the right hand side. when I do bouth sides, I also do two shocks and one steering shock, I'd be looking real hard at the right side beering, king pin, tie rod and lug nuts. If its not the beering. the fault weer on the tire should give a clue. the beering don't weer tires bad at frist

 

[84cucv1ton]

The stabilizer just fixes the symptom, not the problem. The problem can be as simple as an out of balance wheel all the way up to the the king pins bad, and I mean the actual pins not just the bushings. It can be many things in between. tie rod ends, wheel bearings, steering box, cracked frame, spring bushings, broken spring, warped rotor, shifted belt in tire, bent rim and even lug nuts not tightened evenly. It is NEVER the stabilizer! The stabilizer will work..........for a while. Until it wears from the pounding. The job of the stabilizer is to absorb road shock through the steering from holes and bump steer. That is all it is supposed to do.

Rick

thanks rick, we are looking into this more after i finish the things the lady planed for me to do again.. be great if she asked before hand.. guess it dosent work that way

anyway thanks alot

 

[ODdave]

One thing you wont be able to see that can also cause it can be an incorrect caster angle.


Not trying to argue with you guys but even if everything is new without the stabilizer you can still get DW, Hitting bumps just right will cause a chain reaction in the suspension & steering system thus causing the problem. There IS a reason they came factory from the manufacture. It was Not for hard core off roading.

 

[ODdave]

That's because of how much play happens in a solid axle front end 4x4.
".

What? Solid axle fronts almost ALWAYS have less play in them due to design. Less conection points = less chances for play. solid axle steer has 4 conection points on the steering, IFS has a MINIMUM of 7

 

[rickf]

I count a minimum of eight points. You have to count the king pins since they are part of the steering. Yes there are less points but much more mass. Caster angle on a solid axle is something that will not be out unless someone has screwed around with lifting the vehicle wrong. (shackles) If a hole in the road gives you the DW then you have something loose, That is a fact, period. I owned a 4X4 shop in the late 70's and all there was was solid axles. Set up right you had no issues with DW. BUT, all you needed was a clump of mud inside a 44" wheel and a hole in the road at just the right time and there you go. And in that scenario you could take out a tie rod end in seconds, from then on you would get the wobble and try to figure out why because all the parts were new. Well, they were new up to then anyway, welcome to the world of big tires and the carnage they can cause.

 

[ODdave]

No gonna argue it. Owned dozens of them, worked on hundereds. Align them every day. Do your thing. I am just stating what I have seen. Btw, lol 44's are not big anymore.

 

[SouthernSteel]

DANI .
I don't know about the older chevys but on the newer Dodge, that plow alot of snow. The wheel bearing goes to crap and its always the right hand side. When I do both sides, I also do two shocks and one steering shock, I'd be looking real hard at the right side bearing, king pin, tie rod and lug nuts. If its not the bearing.The tread wear on the tire should give a clue. The bearing doesnt wear tires bad at first.

Becareful with bad english as the admins will get ya for it. As for the DW, Im fortunate so far that i havent run into that.How ever dani thanks for the idea of looking at the right side though im going to overhaul the front axle and ujoints that insight points to alot of things.:]

 

[docfarmall]

I replaced upper bushings and stabalizer and its gonne no more wobble

 

[84cucv1ton]

good morning. late yesterday we spent some time on a truck. We balanced all four tires again. One was little out. replacing one tie rod end. Took apart the knuckles to check the bearings. One side was good other side seemed loose and somehow grooved the race. All new bearings and seals on the way. For $140 bucks got the kits to rebuild the kingpins. after we get it done going to have aligned.. Hopefully this should take care of it.

 

[rickf]

One place you really have to watch is the race on the spindle. If that race has ever spun on the spindle then there is going to be play there also and the only repair is to replace the spindle.