Death shakes in an 04 Dodge

[thebri]

I have a 2004 Dodge 2500 Cummins four door shortbox. I have gotten some mild death shakes before but nothing like this weekend.

I was doing 80mph down the highway and went over a bridge and came off of it with the front end violently shaking. I hit "cancel" on the cruise to slow down without braking. It took about 3/4 mile for the shakes to go away. The same thing happened another couple miles down the road as well.

Any advice??

 

[winter4ever]

is it lifted? sometimes they do weird things and there is nothing you can do. Dont really know what a death shake is but maybe you need an alignment or something?? Maybe your tires lost some weights and are out of balance too.

 

[TNM Jr]

Had that happen on my ford a couple of times. it turned out to be the ball joints. We looked at everything from the hub assembly to the camber and by elimination, turned out to be the ball joint. I don't know about a Dodge, but this happens to fords quite a bit. Good luck.

 

[adrenaline junkey]

More than likely tie rod ends track bar or idler arm

 

[NM]

There is a steering geometry change available through your Dodge dealer. This will fix the problem. It is not warranty, but definately worth the money.

What your truck is doing has been referred to as the "death wobble" and it is basically free play in the tie rod which allows the tires to start moving independantly of each other. Big tires, wore out shocks, bad steering components, bad alignment can add to the cause of the problem, and when it happens, it's pretty freakin scary.

 

[BigFish BC]

yes it will shake the crap out of yah spillt my buddies Coffey when mine did it mine was the stabilizer shock was leaking replaced it & was fine.

 

[diggler]

broken belt in a tire?

 

[Numbnuts918]

I would pull your steering stabilizer shock & replace it along with a go over of the mounts. Sounds like the shock is blown to me.

 

[masneri]

muffler bearings

 

[RX1MountainMan]

I had a '92 that did this and thought that the newer one's didn't do that. I put a Borgesen steering shaft on mine then the steering box then the tied rod ends. Also look at your tires, if they haven't been rotated and are getting a "rounded face" to them it will multiply the effect....it will get your attention though, won't it?

 

[Bauer]

DW is a bish to figure out.. Could be simple or a combination of a bunch of lil things. Check your track bar bushing first. If that isn't it who knows. change one thing at a time.. I gave up and went hydro assist on my XJ.. There is something about that susp. set up that triggers it. There are all kinds of thoery's but no solution.. IMO

 

[SuperDC]

Time to start checking out the wear and tear of having a lifted truck. I'd check wheel bearings. Replaced mine on my 04 dodge with an 8" lift.

 

[Rotax-Guy]

On ALL dodges 1994- current the major cause off death wobble in the track bar, 94-01 was the worst one. 02-09 use the AAM axle vs the dana dodge did put a better track bar in the latter years but they all suck! In my shop we no longer sell the stock units, we ungrade customers to a KORE performance with heim joints, or a adj. bar from rare parts, with greasable ends. The nice things about a adj. bar is if you lift it you can center tha axle easily. Just my .02

 

[cb440]

On ALL dodges 1994- current the major cause off death wobble in the track bar, 94-01 was the worst one. 02-09 use the AAM axle vs the dana dodge did put a better track bar in the latter years but they all suck! In my shop we no longer sell the stock units, we ungrade customers to a KORE performance with heim joints, or a adj. bar from rare parts, with greasable ends. The nice things about a adj. bar is if you lift it you can center tha axle easily. Just my .02

don thuren sells a nice one similar to kores just not so over priced
and http://dieseltruckresource.com/ has a lot of info on this problem

 

[thebri]

Thanks for the help guys. Mine is stock with 315/75/17 BFG's in decent shape. 65,000 miles on the truck as well.

I think in am going to replace the track bar first and see if that helps. Also above was mentioned a DODGE kit to change the geometry of the front end. Whats that package cost??

 

[Wheeline]

My 04 3500 did that and it was a locked up u-joint near the carrier bearing.

 

[Smoke Show]

There is a steering geometry change available through your Dodge dealer. This will fix the problem. It is not warranty, but definately worth the money.

What your truck is doing has been referred to as the "death wobble" and it is basically free play in the tie rod which allows the tires to start moving independantly of each other. Big tires, wore out shocks, bad steering components, bad alignment can add to the cause of the problem, and when it happens, it's pretty freakin scary.

i get lots of trucks in for death wobble and basically what he said above is right its just the design of the steering system. ANY play will set it off. bfg tires are also horrible for setting it off.

ignore the track bar, i mean if its worn out so be it but a dual steering stabilizer kit will fix it every time and with the 315's you should have it anyways.

trust me on this one, this is what i do, don't know **** all about sleds but dodges i sure do!

also bd makes a great brace kit, for guys blowing seals in there p/s boxes or getting that "knock". helps stiffen it right up, installs very easy. heavily recommended. I put them on lots of trucks.
http://www.dieselperformance.com/index.php/product/index/151P

trust me on this one

 

[MOSKIDOO]

bd

damn near got a new front end(warranty) on this one,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,finally put a bd brace in and its 90%cured............still get a slight wobble if i try to do it.....but not the holy-**** im bailing outdadoor wobble.........

 

[jcrjet]

Nevermind the steering stabilizer all that does is cover up the real problem. The design is the real problem, you could replace the entire front end to make it like new or you can change the design slightly. Aftermarket longarm kits will make the death wobble impossible but they are expensive. Sometimes an aftermarket heavy duty control arm conversion will work and its not too expensive. Like the other posts make sure your tie rod ends are tight and ball joints have no play. Check the bushings in your control arms, if they are cracked and old then you probably have your answer. Don't replace the bushings, just get a complete aftermarket kit. A heavy duty track bar may also do the trick and its cheap.

 

[NM]

Thanks for the help guys. Mine is stock with 315/75/17 BFG's in decent shape. 65,000 miles on the truck as well.

I think in am going to replace the track bar first and see if that helps. Also above was mentioned a DODGE kit to change the geometry of the front end. Whats that package cost??

The kit is a changeover to what some 08s and all 09s come with. If you look under a new truck, you will see the difference. It is probably around 1200-1500.00 to replace it.
Like someone else mentioned, the BFG's are the worst tire for this.