Deadly shakes

[Sarge29]

I have an 85 1008 that gets a deadly front end shimmy when I hit a bump in the road. It just does not do it every time. I have replaced tie rod ends, drag link, shocks and steering damper. I had the tires ballanced and the front end checked by 2 different shops. Everyone tells me that everything is good. The last time this happened I had a 24 foot gooseneck trailer with about 1000 lb load. When it started I was at 25 mph. It started pulling to the right and I could not control it. Lucky my speed was low and I got it stopped on the sholder. This was SCARY!! Anyone have any ideas.

 

[papercu]

Are you running oversize tires? Have you checked the steering box and the frame where it bolts to? Rotate tires and be sure you have equal pressure in them. Wayne

 

[Sarge29]

I am running standard goodyear wranglers. The steering box has new bolts and I have actually replaced the tires and wheels with some from another truck. Still no change

 

[NDT]

Happend to me too at 25 mph after hitting a bump. Had about a ton in the bed. Running 31-12.5-16.5's. Thought the truck was going to self destruct. Was planning to replace the steering damper to fix. Help!

 

[Sarge29]

The steering wheel shakes left to right but it feels like the tires are jumping up about 12 inches off the road. Got me puzzled

 

[papercu]

Does the steering have any "slop"? Have you checked the wheel bearing? Wayne

 

[dunedigger]

I know it's not the same thing but this exact thing happened to one of our 3/4 ton work vans. Everytime we took it in, they said everything was good. It didn't always do it either. Every once in awhile it would shake so bad that I thought I was going to die and the van was uncontrolable. Take it in to the shop and they would say, it drives fine and nothing is wrong. Finally got to the problem, it was a warped rotor that would every once in awhile get out of wobble enought to amplify the problem. Since we changed the rotors, even thought they looked good, this has not happened. Not by any means saying this is your problem with something that serious but something to think about.

 

[dependable]

If you have checked all ball joints & tie rod ends, and tires are good, I would concur with Ranchhoper, I Had a infrequent but severe death wobble in a 1008 work truck. Thought it could not be the steering u-joints, I knew they were bad, bit my hubs were not engaged, so I ruled them out. But when I replaced them, the problem went away.

 

[1956_4x4]

I had "Death Wobble" with my 1031. I tried everything you did to cure the problem without any luck. The cure for mine turned out to be rebuilding the king pins. I bought a kit that had new bushings and springs. The repair was easy. Some people just shim the springs with fender washers, but the kits aren't too expensive so I went that route.

Smitty

 

[underdog]

Also pull the front springs and inspect everything.
I have seen spring bushings do this as well as worn hangers.

Kingpins usually show up when braking. when they go bad it will usually pull real bad when on the brakes.

 

[bryab123]

i have a dodge w350 with a dana 60 front like the m1008, and my truck did that when i first got it and everything in the frontend was good, nobody could figure it out, come to find out it was my wheel bearings, i replaced all my wheel bearings, races, and seals, cost me $125 for timken bearings but it fixed my problem. you might check them

 

[rfischba1]

Same thing with mine, death wobble, was told that the front springs were worn out on the truck.

 

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I agree with the king pin spring and delrin bushing being the problem. My buddy's rollback had a dana 60 with the "death wobble" everytime you hit a bump. So he got the king pin kit. When we took the spring out and compared it to the new one it was shorter. The spring was wore out and lost its 'spring-e-ness'. Put it back together and problem was solved.

 

[Sarge29]

Thanks for all the info on what to look for. I am slowly working my way through the list. I guess I will check everything listed and then give it another try. I just don't want to get out on the road and this thing start the Death Wobble at 55 mph. I dont think I could keep it out of the ditch on either side of the road