death wobble

[corrdad]

i am new to the forum but a long time Expy owner, i have a 2000 with about 260k on it and i just reolaced all the ball joints upper and lower and had the front end alligned. the truck immediatly developed a death wobble on the highway when at speed i hit a bump it shakes like the font end is coming out from under the truck.

has anyone else experienced anything like this? i know the 2005 F250's had this issue but i have not heard of any Expy's having it.

my guesses are bad shocks and or bad sway bar links?

any help would be appreciated, this old girl means a lot to me.

 

[Canadian Expy]

Check shocks to start, my 78 F150 had it real bad..it was bushings in the track bar. so check all front end bushings for wear. We don't have front track bars in these trucks so not sure what bushings would cause this

 

[corrdad]

thanks

yeah, everything i found pointed me to track bar and with an IFS i knew i was still stuck.

i am going to swap out the shocks this weekend and the sway bar links and see what happens.

i will keep everyone posted.

 

[NewbieVet]

Corrad good luck on this. "Death wobble" is a terrifying term!!!

 

[panda24619]

check the shocks. make sure your lug nuts are torqued correctly and that all the bolts are torqued to spec too. make sure nothing is loose. and if all else fails get a steering stabilizer.

 

[KWT2000]

rotate your tires front to back and see if it goes away... could be a tire starting to seperate

also check the shocks like people say...

 

[corrdad]

thanks

thank you everyone for the tips..checking every thing this weekend. i will let you know what i find out.

 

[corrdad]

update

well i am sad to say after new front shocks, new sway bar end links and bushings, new upper and lower ball joints and a tire rotation i am no better off than i was. in fact if anything its more noticable.

fear not this old girl is gonna get sorted out and back on the highway soon.

have a good day everyone.

 

[Spooky]

I had this on my '78 Bronco. I had to replace the rear leaf springs, shocks, u-joints and ball joints......everything. Good luck. It shook so hard it felt like the wind was knocked out of you.

 

[KWT2000]

do you have an alignment print out you could post up.... to much caster on one side can cause this....


IMO some people should not do alingments

 

[nvycrmn]

i have a similar problem but it doesnt happen all the time. i changed out my idler arm and still have the problem. next is going to be my half shaft on passenger side.

 

[corrdad]

update

the truck is back at the shop today to have the alignment checked, i too think it is a camber/caster problem as i have checked and or replaced everything else. i had the tires balanced to take that off the table also.

i should have word later today and i will let everyone know.

i do appreciate all the posts and all the help.

 

[corrdad]

update

i just got word that the alignment seems to be the issue.

seems the first person who aligned the truck was not capable and caused the problem.

they are fixing now and i should have my truck back and wobble free tomorrow.

i will post a final update after I test drive her.

 

[KWT2000]

i had a feeling that would be the problem...

 

[jacks3am]

get your money back from the first guy!

 

[corrdad]

well as sad as i am to say, it turned out the upper a arms had been installed on the wrong sides and that caused the issue, and yes i must admit i did that myself.

lesson learned.

 

[corrdad]

mystery solved

well as sad as it is to admit I found the issue giving me the death wobble.

seems when I was installing my new upper a arms on my truck I put them on the wrong side, right on left and left on right.

so in short I caused it myself.

all fixed now.

thanks for all the help, sorry to have been the cause of my own issue.

 

[walnuts4x4]

never a problem might help someone in the future... glad you got it all fix

 

[socomboy]

good deal. glad to hear its resolved. you learn everyday.

 

[Exped4X4]

I too have experienced the "death wobble" and it was something I hope I don't have to go thru ever again. I have a 2001 XLT with about 119k miles on it. I started getting the death wobble a few months ago. I found out my inner / outer tie rods both right and left fronts were bad. So loose you could grab them and wiggle / giggle them around, real easily (NOT COOL). Then my idler arm was shot as well. Once I got all new tie rods, idler arm, wheel balance, and front end alignment done, no more death wobble.