dodge shaking death wobble?

[The big greasy]

2007 dodge 3/4 hemi. 144000 km. pulling trailer all of a sudden it feels as if the front tires turned square. Get up around 90-115 and goes crazy. Slow down goes away. Some may have called it the dodge death wobble. What parts are likely the issue?

 

[BILTIT]

Death wobble, not exclusive to dodge.

Tires, shocks, ball joints, tie rod ends, steering box, etc.

 

[JayT]

A lot of it can be simply the sidewall of your tires are breaking down. My 2015 3500 Ram did it with only 90,000 k on it, when I put new tires on it was gone

 

[2kDoo]

did you do the 2008 steering linkage upgrade?
if not might be time for that, inner/outer tie rods

steering dampner, balljoints, could be cause too.

 

[neilsleder]

Had it on my 06. Was scary! Had a BD diesel brace for the steering box. That did it’s job till the box totally failed. Do that will work to get rid of it. But I fix other stuff do. Mine did it so bad it bruised my elbow from hitting the door so trying to hold on and ripped the centre council vinyl with my other elbow. And hurt my thumbs from catching in the steer wheel. Wife was sleeping. She woke up real fast!

 

[neilsleder]

Had a Ford 1 ton pass me on highway 43 and just after he past me he got death wobble and was close to loosing it.

 

[Dawizman]

Had it on my 06. Was scary! Had a BD diesel brace for the steering box. That did it’s job till the box totally failed. Do that will work to get rid of it. But I fix other stuff do. Mine did it so bad it bruised my elbow from hitting the door so trying to hold on and ripped the centre council vinyl with my other elbow. And hurt my thumbs from catching in the steer wheel. Wife was sleeping. She woke up real fast!

The 1500s of that era are rack & pinion unless it's a mega cab. Don't think there's a brace for that.

Tires are a big factor. Then any loose components in the front end, and then a proper alignment.

 

[papajake]

had the same thing happen to my truck after putting on 2 new tires on the back only different tread design made the truck wander from side to side really bad pulling the holiday trailer

 

[neilsleder]

The 1500s of that era are rack & pinion unless it's a mega cab. Don't think there's a brace for that.

Tires are a big factor. Then any loose components in the front end, and then a proper alignment.

My 06 was a 1 ton dually.

 

[Dawizman]

My 06 was a 1 ton dually.

Must have been half asleep. Swear I read 1500. OP clearly said 3/4.

The box brace kits are a bit of a bandaid fix though, IMO. There's always an underlying cause. Tires or lose front end components.

 

[The big greasy]

Thanks everyone. I had the shock dampener changed and it made it shake worse so had a totally new upgraded steering linkage put in. Pulled trailer 3 miles and the front end went nuts. I will say my tires are getting to need replaced. The right tire on the outside is shaved bald, just thought it was more serious than new tires. Will try that next.

 

[Tchetek]

I’ve had 2 vehicles have the death wobble!

One a lifted Cherokee with 33 x 12 1/2 fresh tires. It was my first experience and I just lived with it. Only happened once in a while while rounding a bend at highway speeds and hitting mild bumps.

The second is a gmc savana cube van 3500. It went to many shops trying to diagnose the problem. Most said everything is tight and good. No problem they said. Left that shop and drove strait to another. They started by measuring ride hight all the way around. Our truck was always loaded heavy with tools and supplies. It was back heavy and leaning to one side from measurements. We installed 2 extra leafs on one side and one on the other to level to truck back to normal, as the Truck is always loaded the same. Not enough pressure on the front axle would make that trucks steering feel like is disconnected and slam side to side, always started the same way as the Jeep. Mild bend at highway speeds. Minor whoops unload the front suspension and party on!

Measure you ride hight before and after hooking up your trailer. Front end is probably light on ground pressure. Do you have air bags?

 

[The big greasy]

I’ve had 2 vehicles have the death wobble!

One a lifted Cherokee with 33 x 12 1/2 fresh tires. It was my first experience and I just lived with it. Only happened once in a while while rounding a bend at highway speeds and hitting mild bumps.

The second is a gmc savana cube van 3500. It went to many shops trying to diagnose the problem. Most said everything is tight and good. No problem they said. Left that shop and drove strait to another. They started by measuring ride hight all the way around. Our truck was always loaded heavy with tools and supplies. It was back heavy and leaning to one side from measurements. We installed 2 extra leafs on one side and one on the other to level to truck back to normal, as the Truck is always loaded the same. Not enough pressure on the front axle would make that trucks steering feel like is disconnected and slam side to side, always started the same way as the Jeep. Mild bend at highway speeds. Minor whoops unload the front suspension and party on!

Measure you ride hight before and after hooking up your trailer. Front end is probably light on ground pressure. Do you have air bags?

I've used this truck to pull this trailer tons of times, no issues. No airbags. It did it once with the truck empty. Stock size tires are on it.

 

[Summitric]

I would hope they did a wheel alignment after they did the updated tie-rods. A scrubbed out outer edge of tire is an alignment issue. worn tie-rods or ball joints are usually the cause of death wobble, or bad steering dampner, or worn steering boxes. All have been previously mentioned above by our informed members /\ /\ /\ /\

 

[mikeydoo]

My 08 f250 I could make it do it on command. Was funny watching my passengers freak out. I solved it on mine with a new set of tires and that fancy tire balance that puts the pressure on the tires while they balance them. Can't remember the exact name of it anymore. My truck already had a new front end put in it and was still doing it.

 

[Summitric]

My 08 f250 I could make it do it on command. Was funny watching my passengers freak out. I solved it on mine with a new set of tires and that fancy tire balance that puts the pressure on the tires while they balance them. Can't remember the exact name of it anymore. My truck already had a new front end put in it and was still doing it.

road force balance .... actually Ford bulletins recomending road force balance on many years of the heavy duty(can't remember which years)

 

[The big greasy]

Thanks to everyone. Will get a new set of tires and a wheel alignment, next will be the steering box. Hopefully it gets corrected, it's a wild ride!

 

[Dawizman]

Thanks to everyone. Will get a new set of tires and a wheel alignment, next will be the steering box. Hopefully it gets corrected, it's a wild ride!

I had this issue on an 04 2500. It was not enjoyable. Hopefully tires fix er up for you.

 

[The big greasy]

I had this issue on an 04 2500. It was not enjoyable. Hopefully tires fix er up for you.

Not at all, going to be hard to trust it for a while after new parts. I can not make it do the wobble very much, but when it does, hang on lol

 

[Dawizman]

Not at all, going to be hard to trust it for a while after new parts. I can not make it do the wobble very much, but when it does, hang on lol

Mine was very predictable. The right sized dip in the road at the right speed and away she went. The only way to stop it was to slow down to about 50. It was hard to keep it between the lines.