Death Wobble

If your truck is having a death wobble event, slow down as safely and as fast as you possibly can until it stops wobbling. Do not keep driving it with it shaking really hard, something could catastrophically fail and kill you.

Any death wobble event could cause damage to other parts that were not damaged before that death wobble event. Every time you have an event, new damage can happen.

One or any combination of these reasons can bring on the Death Wobble oscillation. Slop or looseness in any component can get death wobble oscillation started. Everything has to be in the correct place and in the best working order. If your truck is having death wobble oscillation, start at the top of this list and work to the bottom until you find the problem. Some are very rare, this all-details list is to avoid “why didn’t anyone tell me that?”

  1.  Alignment (See our Alignment page in Important Info)

    1. Castor is less than 4 degrees. (OUO has simple fixes for this available.) Caster = min 4°/max 8°, optimal is 5° to 6°,

    2. max cross center caster 1° as needed to reduce pulling.

    3. Toe = Toed in each side min .12°/max .18°, .18° is optimal, max toe in is optimal.

    4. Camber = ± Min 0°/Max .5°, optimal is 0, max cross camber .5° as needed to reduce drift.

  2. Tires

    1. Cupped, worn, out of round, out of balance or separating belts.

    2. 1 or 2 tires, new or used, just randomly stopped working on your truck. Sounds crazy but True.

    3. Brand new or used tires have a side wall / belt construction that is not compatible with a solid axle truck.

    4. Incorrect air pressure

    5. Extra low-profile tires with no sidewall

  3.  Wheels

    1. 24” x 14” wide or larger wheels are too heavy and have too much leverage outside the king pin axis.

    2. Wheel Spacers move the center of the wheel too far from the king pin axis.

  4.  Shocks

    1. Worn out.

    2. Low Nitrogen.

    3. Shock valving is not a good match to a solid axle truck.

  5.  Track Rod (Also known as Panhard Bar or Track Bar or Panhard Rod, Locates the axle side to side in the truck.)

    1. Track Rod Joint at the axle.

      1. The joint could have been destroyed from being overextended during a level / lift install. 

      2. The joint could have been bad out of the box from the OE supplier on Ford’s assembly line. Just because the truck is new doesn’t mean the joint is good.The factory joint is a good joint when installed correctly and not over extended.

      3. Over extended is when the axle is let hang on the Track bar, destroying the internal liner of the factory joint. Ford joints usually last more than 50k to 100k miles and are easily replaced for very low cost.

      4. The same Track Rod Joint in a F250 is also used in the F550 at 2000 pounds more front axle payload. If you have a death wobble event from tires or lack of castor it could ruin this joint, and you will battle 2 problems until you fix them both. To be on the safe side, error to the side of caution and replace this joint.

    2. Track Rod Joint at the frame bracket.

      1. Bushings or joints are worn.

      2. It is rare for the factory rubber bushing to wear out. If it does wear out, they are very low cost and easy to replace. You don’t need a new Track Bar when a $20 bushing will fix your problem.

      3. If you have an aftermarket track bar with Teflon lined joints, check to see if they are loose, we don’t recommend Teflon joints for street use because they don’t last long in wet environments or on truck suspensions. We found them to be a down grade from stock. We couldn’t get any brand to last 10k miles in a track rod application. They have no cushion to isolate road forces from the frame and cause premature wear in all of your other steering parts from the increased shock load. Teflon joints amplify bump steer, road noise and squeak.

  6. Track Rod bracket

    1. Joint bolt not torqued to 400 foot pounds. The 20mm bolt holding the track rod in the track rod bracket needs to be at 400 foot pounds. If not torqued this will cause popping noise and death wobble.

    2. Bolts holding the bracket to frame are not torqued. We have seen many instances where the bolts holding the track rod bracket to the frame have worked loose and allow play that feels like a bad joint. OUO track rod brackets have an additional hole and bolt to help eliminate this problem.

    3. Teflon Joints are known to pound these fasteners loose requiring the bracket to be retorqued.

  7.  Steering Column

    1. Steering column U-Joints are worn. (We have seen a these from a bad batch installed on the assembly line)

    2. The steering column rag joint is worn.

    3. Loose clamp bolt

    4. Worn splines

    5. Slop in any part of the steering column could produce a flutter in the steering control valve in the steering box and induce death wobble.

  8.  Steering Box

    1. Steering Box attachment to frame bolts are not torqued.

    2. The new or used steering box does not have its lash adjusted correctly.

    3. The steering box is damaged internally or was rebuilt with non-optimal parts.

    4. The steering box has a worn or damaged power steering control valve.

    5. Broken Sector shaft hidden Inside the Box

    6. The Box is loose on the inside and can cause the play needed to get death wobble.

  9. Pitman Arm

    1. The pitman arm is cracked.

    2. The pitman arm splines are compromised from being loose.

    3. Incorrect pitman arm or Pitman arm not machined correctly or a bad batch of metal .

  10. Pitman Arm Nut

    1. Pitman arm nut is not torqued to 400 foot pounds. A loose pitman arm nut can cause death wobble due to increased play in the pitman arm. OUO has an upgraded pitman arm nut that will let you go to 500 foot pounds torque to be sure your arm doesn’t crawl up the tapered splines of the sector shaft and allow the nut to become loose.

  11.  Steering Stabilizer

    1. Upper stabilizer is worn out, defective or low quality.

    2. Steering Stabilizer is not torqued or bolts loose.

    3. The Aftermarket dual steering stabilizer bracket on the truck is low quality. OUO has the strongest stabilizer bracket with the least amount of flex to get the most action from the stabilizers.

    4. Factory Stabilizer mounting causes chatter and premature wear on the drag link joints. The stiffer you make the stabilizer mounted to the drag link the more it induces bump steer.

    5. OUO has designed the most advanced stabilizer upgrades available that resolve chatter and bump steer to provide the longest lasting best driving truck possible.

  12. Drag link - (The steering link from pitman arm on steering box to passenger side knuckle)

    1. Joints are worn.

    2. Drag link coupler is not torqued.

    3. Joint Nuts are not tight

    4. If you have an aftermarket Drag Link with Teflon lined joints, check to see if they are loose, we don’t recommend Teflon joints for street use because they don’t last long in wet environments or on truck suspensions. We found them to be a down grade from stock. We couldn’t get any brand to last 10k miles in a Drag Link application.

  13.  Tie rod (Bar that goes from Steering Knuckle to Steering Knuckle)

    1. Joints are worn.

    2. Joint Nuts are not tight

    3. Tie rod center link clamps are not torqued.

  14. Radius arm Frame Mounts

    1. Loose factory rivets holding the radius arm frame mount to frame. (Also causes clunking under foot)

    2. Radius Arm bushings or Radius arm joints are worn. (Also causes clunking under foot)

    3. We do not recommend greaseable joints for the back of the radius arms at the frame for street use. The more rigid the rear arm joint is, the less articulation you will have. The Factory rubber bushings support 20” of travel without binding.

  15.  Ball joints

    1. Ball Joints are worn.

    2. Ball Joint Nuts are not tight.

  16. Wheel bearings

    1. Bearing is worn.

    2. Bearing nuts are not tight.

    3. Axle not free spinning inside bearing.

 

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