Death Wobble - Help! (Solved)

[Roky]

My 2018 Ram 1500 work truck has rack & pinion gear ……. Don’t know where you even put a damper, lol…….

But the Ram 2500 and 3500 have them…..

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[jaymz]

The steering stabilizer doesn’t “mask” anything, it has a very specific job to do.

Think of the NEWTON’S CRADLE toy with the balls that clack endlessly. Put a moist sponge in between two of the balls and the toy gets real boring, real quick.

The same physics apply to wheels whose combined weight exceeds that of the steering components. Common sense says gravity wants the string on every Newton’s Cradle ball vertical yet gravity loses the argument with the drop of a single ball.

The same “ping pong” match is happened down below and your steering gear is akin to the string. Your left tire smacks the rod which smack turns the right tire until it sees sufficient resistance to smack back which smack turns the left tire. Because you are adding energy with motion, the smacking contest only gets worse until you stop adding energy by stopping.

Unless you plan on adding more and more weight to your steering linkages, anchors and gearbox to be closer to the weight of your wheels, you’re fighting physics.

The steering stabilizer is the “wet sponge” that absorbs the “turn smack” and reduces the impact shock that causes not just death wobble but increased wear on your ball joints. You want something to absorb the energy, not just give it more resistance as more resistance means more wear. More wear means even “weaker string” on that damned clacking ball toy….

Peace

I don't think it's quite that simple. I've owned many K5 Blazers in the past with no steering stabilizers and no death wobble. There's also countless vehicles on the road with similar steering to the Wrangler that don't have stabilizers and don't have death wobble.

Caster is 5.66. My mistake on the wheels, wrong part number - the bore is 72.56.

I can try the steering stabilizer and see what happens.

Bump the caster up to 6°.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I don't think it's quite that simple. I've owned many K5 Blazers in the past with no steering stabilizers and no death wobble. There's also countless vehicles on the road with similar steering to the Wrangler that don't have stabilizers and don't have death wobble.



Bump the caster up to 6°.

Leaf springs don't allow lateral movement of the axle. I can't think of a single solid axle, coil and link suspension vehicle that has ever come from the factory without a stabilizer? With all the value engineering and weight reduction tactics Jeep and everyone else has tried (some total fails that still made it into production like the aluminum steering box), if the stabilizer doesn't do anything they wouldn't still be installing them. Sure in a perfect world you could dial the suspension in and run without one, but tear one lug out wheeling and your perfectly balanced suspension isn't anymore. Just run a stabilizer and call it good in my opinion.

 

[AnnDee4444]

Leaf springs don't allow lateral movement of the axle.

So is it safe to say that lateral movement of the axle = steering stabilizer needed?

 

[VKSheridan]

So why don't other vehicles have steering dampers?

Because the combined weight of their wheels doesn’t exceed the tolerance of the steer systems. Not many cars run a solid front axle connected to tires 12.5” wide and north of 33” tall.

Peace

 

[Zandcwhite]

So is it safe to say that lateral movement of the axle = steering stabilizer needed?

I'd say it contributes to the harmonic oscillation that is full blown death wobble. So many things can contribute which is why it's so hard to pinpoint. Often it's the track bar, but leaf spring rigs don't have one of those either... Bottom line is less moving parts mean less potential for death wobble in my experience.

 

[TCogs1]

I can tell from this thread, there is great advise. Which I support completely.., the simple answer is falcon steering stablizer and 6 degrees… assuming all parts not worn… problem solved…

 

[kah.mun.rah]

I'm in the camp that if there is something else wrong you don't want to try and solve it by upgrading your steering stabilizer; however, I also believe that if everything else is ok, a malfunctioning stabilizer can actually cause d.w.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm not recommending anything but here is my DW story...

Shortly after taking delivery I replaced my OEM steering stabilizer with an Exact Center 140lb SS, to hopefully reduce/eliminate the wander on my new JLR 2dr. which seemed excessive compared to others I had driven.

The EC SS did exactly that. Drove like a dream. Then I lifted it with a 1.5in Clayton Overland lift, new Fox 2.0s and 315 tires. Drove great for a bit. Then I had my first and only DW. At 40mph, hit a small pot hole and it scared the shit out of me until I got down to less than 10mph.

Being blessed that I live 5mi from Northridge4x4, I took it in. They checked angles, and retorqued all of my suspension. They found that my steering stabilizer was completely loose. They tightened that up, adjusted for true tracking, and I haven't had a problem since. Knock on wood.

Love the guys @Northridge4x4

 

[cheeseits52]

I'm in the camp that if there is something else wrong you don't want to try and solve it by upgrading your steering stabilizer; however, I also believe that if everything else is ok, a malfunctioning stabilizer can actually cause d.w.

This actually appears to be accurate. I am kind of taken aback... in the past 10 years I've repeatedly been told that steering stabilizer will not and does not fix death wobble and at best they are a band aid.

On my old axle setup, I had a busted steering stabilizer, but my thought was that it is the ball joints. On this new setup I had no steering stabilizer trying to sort my issues out. I just installed the AEV (bilstein) dualsport stabilizer. Immediately the front end felt 100% tighter, I hit every bump that induced death wobble before and I didn't even get so much as bump steer.

I'm not saying it's fixed, because I still should do some more testing, but this is the only thing that was the same on both axles until now. I think @VKSheridan was correct.

 

[mwilk012]

This actually appears to be accurate. I am kind of taken aback... in the past 10 years I've repeatedly been told that steering stabilizer will not and does not fix death wobble and at best they are a band aid.

On my old axle setup, I had a busted steering stabilizer, but my thought was that it is the ball joints. On this new setup I had no steering stabilizer trying to sort my issues out. I just installed the AEV (bilstein) dualsport stabilizer. Immediately the front end felt 100% tighter, I hit every bump that induced death wobble before and I didn't even get so much as bump steer.

I'm not saying it's fixed, because I still should do some more testing, but this is the only thing that was the same on both axles until now. I think @VKSheridan was correct.

This is a horrible myth that gets repeated to no end on this forum. A good quality stabilizer is absolutely required.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I'm in the camp that if there is something else wrong you don't want to try and solve it by upgrading your steering stabilizer; however, I also believe that if everything else is ok, a malfunctioning stabilizer can actually cause d.w.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm in the camp that if there is something else wrong you don't want to try and solve it by upgrading your steering stabilizer; however, I also believe that if everything else is ok, a malfunctioning stabilizer can actually cause d.w.

The SS appeared to be the cause in my case.

 

[roaniecowpony]

This actually appears to be accurate. I am kind of taken aback... in the past 10 years I've repeatedly been told that steering stabilizer will not and does not fix death wobble and at best they are a band aid.

On my old axle setup, I had a busted steering stabilizer, but my thought was that it is the ball joints. On this new setup I had no steering stabilizer trying to sort my issues out. I just installed the AEV (bilstein) dualsport stabilizer. Immediately the front end felt 100% tighter, I hit every bump that induced death wobble before and I didn't even get so much as bump steer.

I'm not saying it's fixed, because I still should do some more testing, but this is the only thing that was the same on both axles until now. I think @VKSheridan was correct.

I'm always skeptical of anything "Rancho".

 

[Speed331]

This actually appears to be accurate. I am kind of taken aback... in the past 10 years I've repeatedly been told that steering stabilizer will not and does not fix death wobble and at best they are a band aid.

On my old axle setup, I had a busted steering stabilizer, but my thought was that it is the ball joints. On this new setup I had no steering stabilizer trying to sort my issues out. I just installed the AEV (bilstein) dualsport stabilizer. Immediately the front end felt 100% tighter, I hit every bump that induced death wobble before and I didn't even get so much as bump steer.

I'm not saying it's fixed, because I still should do some more testing, but this is the only thing that was the same on both axles until now. I think @VKSheridan was correct.

I had a DW that would only occur during very specific circumstances. Full tank, top off, 70+ mph and two spots on the freeway - going over a double seam on an overpass and a transition bump on an off ramp going from concrete to asphalt. With the top on, or less than 3/4 a tank, I could hit them at 80 and never notice a wobble.

I pulled the stock stabilizer and noticed it had almost no resistance in it. Went with the AEV stabilizer about a year ago and have had no reoccurrence. Have gone up to 285/70's since then and still zero issues.

Sometimes just putting a damper on any resonance in the system is enough...

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