Death shakes in an 04 Dodge

[MarcS]

Had this happen to me once in my bosses 94-99 3500 cummins (cant remember exact year). Coming back from work a guy from work tried to pass me so I hammered it and when i hit about 80-85 it started shaking something terrible. I could barely hang on to the wheel, and the shifter was moving about a foot back and forth. It didnt stop shaking until i got almost stopped, and I had to use the side of the road to stop lol. I would call it a scary experience for sure. Atleast it was the boss's truck

Then a few months later he was driving his new (at the time) 06 3500 bighorn edition and the whole left side wheel assembly flew off and caused him to roll his truck. Luckily he wasnt too badly injured.

Just another reason not to get a dodge. He got a little bit smarter after that and bought a chevy. I told him to get a ford though

 

[Rick!]

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!!

A guy should never put Load Range D tires on a Dodge diesel. It changes the stiffness of the steering/suspenson system and allows the death wobble to appear. My BFG's are the 305/65's (33's) in E and have never had DW. Over on www.dieselturboregister.com, there are tens of pages on Death Wobble.

 

[Wildman]

03-07 Dodge 2500-3500 had a tie rod update kit because the knuckles were machined to lose. To take care of the death shake give it lots of caster get a steering gear support bracket and have the updates done. If it is lifted or stock this will fix it everytime. Have seen hundreds of them and for about $200.00 this will take care if the problem for good. Later models are the ones that had track bar problems.

 

[autolodge]

loose components

I have seen a couple of dodges, fords, even a chevy come into my shop with the death woble. Usually the the have loose ball joints and or tierod ends coupled with oversize tires that are way out of balance. Pay attention to your tire balance, even a little shudder at speed is hard on all front end parts.

 

[CDA_RMK]

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.

have the rev tek from dodge made it steer like shi*

 

[Nelson]

Yeah they are crap.

My buddies 04.5 2500 Cummins just started vibrating, but it is weird it only does it a 65-70 mph but when he lets off it goes away. Tranny's not slipping, diff's look good as do the u-joints, ball joints and tie rods. It is not lifted (stock height) does anybody have any ideas? I'm thinking maybe it threw a weight off the wheel.

 

[jcrjet]

Death Wobble

I've had some extensive experience with death wobble, can be any combination of tie rod ends, spindles, track bar, sometimes as simple as one bad shock causing asymmetry,etc. Aftermarket parts from any of the major lift companies are usually superior to the factory stuff. One thing I didn't see mentioned was check out your control arm bushings, they are probably cracked which will cause oscillation. Its cheaper to replace the entire control arm assembly than just the bushings. If you really want to get rid of the problem for good then change to a radius arm setup (can be expensive), the new geometry makes it impossible to death wobble. Its relative to the angle between the axle and the frame attach points. Don't bother with the steering shock until you find the real problem, all it does is mask the symptoms and it will just blow soon enough anyway, you can keep buying them or buy the correct setup and fix the problem for good.

 

[cumminsfan1791]

idk if this helps or not but i had a buddy with death wobbles. he popped on a stabilizer bar and it straightened him right out

<a href="http://www.custom-diesel.com/cummins/dodge-steering-stabilizer">Dodge Steering Stabilizer</a>

 

[ryanjeri]

I have a 04.5 "Meager Cab" short box. Have 315's on 17's, 2" leveling kit.
Had the oh so wonderful death wobble. Fought it for a long time. Replaced ball joints, shocks, track bar, etc, etc. I was in colorado with my 5th wheel for a softball tournament and got a hole in the sidewall of my BFG's.

Bought a set of Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2's and have never had it since.

After I wore out the factory Michellins at 40000 miles had been running BFG's until the last 3 sets. I am at around 220,000 miles.

You can spend a lot of money chasing down the cause. It is a good idea to make sure everything is in spec on the front end, and if it still does it, may be worth looking at a different tire.

Also make sure if you replace the ball joints that you are using good quality ones. My truck used to eat ball joints for breakfast. same with u-joints. I found that the "Raybestos Professional Grade Suspension Ball Joints" have outlasted any others that have been on it. I have had them on for two years now without any issues.

Good Luck.

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??

 

[AZ800]

A guy should never put Load Range D tires on a Dodge diesel. It changes the stiffness of the steering/suspenson system and allows the death wobble to appear. My BFG's are the 305/65's (33's) in E and have never had DW. Over on www.dieselturboregister.com, there are tens of pages on Death Wobble.

Has nothing to do with it if you are running proper pressure for the load and road conditions. I've run LR D tires several times on solid axle diesels with no issues and Death wobble is not just prejudice against D load tires. Happens on E tires every day!
ALL solid axle 4wd trucks are subject to DW since their invention and continue to be. Been in Fords, Jeeps and Dodges when it's happened. And been in Fords, Jeeps and Dodges that have never had DW, my 07 with 125k miles included. Running on all original front end components except replaced the steering shock, shocks and added a steering box brace at 100k mi.
There are many different things that can cause DW if worn just enough and the right set of road conditions present themselves.
Start with ditching the 315 BFG AT tires. This has cured it for lots of guys running those tires. Seem to be more prone than other tires. Think it's because the qc on those tires seems to suck. Every time I get a set of BFG AT tires, they all take quite a bit of weight to balance and seems 1 or 2 inevitably take ALOT to balance. Decidedly more than other LT tires same size and even more aggressive tread.
if that doesn't cure it, the. Start looking into the front end, track bat, tie rods, bjs etc.