Death shakes in an 04 Dodge

[wrtmani]

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.[/QUOTE]

Scary is an understatement. One of the techs who used to work at our John Deere dealership had it happen to him twice. He promptly traded his Dodge for a Chevy when in it put him in the ditch at 65 mph. One of our excavation customers had it happen to a dually one ton towing a double axle gooseneck equipment trailer with a skid steer and a mini-excavator on it.

The truck, trailer, skid steer and excavator all went over an embankment along Flathead Lake. The excavator took the worst of it (next to the truck of course), damaging the cab and rear cover. It ended up underneath the skid steer on the back of the truck. The front axle of the truck was completely ripped out from underneath the front end. The skid steer only suffered a couple of bent oil lines for the boom auxillary functions. They were able to use it to clean up the site. Both the mini-excavator and skid steer started just fine.

(Of course, the trailer being somewhat overloaded with both pieces of equipment on a 1-ton truck didnt help matters any). The driver walked away with just a few scratches. I don't have a picture of the wreck, but it was a mess!

 

[Nelson]

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.

Wow....is that price including ball joints and wheel bearings? I got a price today on the update for my 07 Cummins and it was $486. That was everything but ball joints and wheel bearings. Our 07 Cummins shop truck lost a tie rod and the update was done for alittle over $500 w/labor included (70K miles and out of warranty). Much better IMO.......

 

[dmkhnr]

I had an 05 Cummins, and now have an 07 Cummins.
The 05 was stock height with aftermarket wheels and 315 tires. Never had death wobble, but went through 3 steering gearbox in 70k miles.
The 07 is stock (just as it left the showroom floor) I had dodge put the updated steering on as I had a complaint of it wandering on the road (my 05 wandered as well but I blamed this on the 315 tires). The steering gearbox was shot in this one as well.
I don't know why they keep putting junk parts on these trucks and when warranty is up I'm on my own. Needless to say after watching all that bailout crap, and dealing with a design that is obviously known to fail, this will be the last american vehicle that I ever buy.

 

[blackcat900]

Buy a Ford!!

 

[Nelson]

Buy a Ford!!

Noooo......Don't buy a ford!

 

[skidoorulz]

Buy a Ford!!

Why would you want a Ford? They are nothin but a

F rickin
O ld
R ebuilt
D odge

 

[snobyrd]

i have a 98, 05, 07, 08 dodge diesels. the problem u post about is a worn out track bar, and maybe loose tierod end. i just had the same thing happen to me many times on a dirt road and going over washboards, i put on a new track bar, problem solved, but my right tierod is also loose and needs replacing. if ur gonna keep the truck, install the brace kit on the track bar and youll never buy another bar again. the new dodges have a better setup.

 

[gpcatman]

Work at a dodge dealer, we've been replacing some tie rods but most often steering shocks.

 

[Johnny]

Buy a Ford!!

Yea do that! Because pulling the cab off to replace head gaskets every time you get on it is way easier than putting on a new track bar. LOL

 

[CDA_RMK]

i have a 04 2500 but its the 5.7 hemi and it did that same thing this last week woke me up its just has the 2 in kit in the front with 33

 

[Nelson]

Which 2" kit are you running, I'm assuming it is a leveling kit right? We had a similar problem with the Rev Tek kit and after running it I noticed the axle was more offset on the drivers side and more inset on the passenger side.

 

[Burndown1]

Yea do that! Because pulling the cab off to replace head gaskets every time you get on it is way easier than putting on a new track bar. LOL

A chevy with a Cummins, or a Ford with a cummins, Ok. Never was a fan of Dodge.

 

[stacey]

rough ride

Have any of you noticed the 04 and up dodges like to kick out in the rear and almostleave the road after hitting a good bump? a mechanic friend told me i should replace my stock shocks with Bilsteins?

 

[summitboy]

Hey Neil,

Whats a new 6.7 Mega shortbox dually worth in the Laramie package ? Any decent financing options ?

 

[robb]

Buy a Ford ? A buddy has a 06 f350 with a 6" Pro Comp lift and large wheels and tires. Same thing real bad. when it starts to wobble you have to slow to 20klm for it to stop. Phone Pro Comp and they never seen this before. "YA RIGHT". I think its the drop bracket that holds the track bar to the frame that is twisting. Lots of paint flaking off it at the mounting points just like when you bend a frame rail in a car crash what do think. only 65000 klm and started right after the lift kit was in stalled. " I also have a 03 F250 6 liter. Also the coil springs in his truck dont help it any.

 

[thebri]

Where can I get the track bar brace mentioned above??

 

[08Summit]

Had the same problem with an 06 mega cab every dealer blamed the lift kit on the truck so eventually I replaced everything mentioned above and still had a death wobble...my quick fix was to trade it on a new 08 mega-cab and after only 1000km on the stock truck I had a bad death wobble again...so this is not just a problem on the lifted dodges you can experience it stock also (Replaced steering shock on the new truck and so far wobble is gone). Hopefully this is the end of this issue for me.

 

[summitboy]

Funny, i have never experienced the death wobble. I remember reading about it lots when my truck first came out and over the years. I have no lift but run BFG 315's on my rig. Other than that she is more or less stock with 140,000 km. Maybe i just need to wait a little longer until everything wears out which should be 145,000 km LOL !!!

 

[ccpowder]

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.

There's the problem, the BFG's are no good!! Buddy tried everything and finally replaced the BFG's with Toyo's and never had another issue!!

As a side note, a buddy and myself both had a BFG on our Tahoe's that would not balance. I think the quality control at BFG is garbage!!

 

[summitboy]

Thats also funny, i run BFG 315's since my truck was new. The first set lasted me 90,000 km and the second set is at 40,000 km and they still look new. I just run them at 50psi and always rotate them when i see the fronts start to feather little. I pull trailers all through the winter and summer.