Death wobble

[txbowhntr29]

At about 45-50 mph the steering wheel shakes violently. Ball joints check okay, tie rod ends check ok......there is a small leak at the steering joint above the steering box and there seems to be a little slack between there and the pitman arm. could this be the issue?:huh:

 

[Zach]

Pitman and idler arms are notorious for going out. Center link too. Hubs can also do it. Are the tires balanced recently?

 

[txbowhntr29]

Yeah the tires were balanced right after it started happening, but it didn't fix anything... it seems like there is some "play" in the steering box.....The tires don't seem to be fighting against each other or anything like that either...if that helps???

 

[Zach]

Steering gear? The teeth on the sector shaft do tend to wear. How many miles do you have on it?

 

[Big2dabank]

Definitely check pitman and idler arms, as Zach stated.

 

[txbowhntr29]

I have 104,600 miles on it...

 

[Humvee21]

Sounds like a bad wheel hub

 

[txbowhntr29]

Sounds like a bad wheel hub

are you saying 4x4 hub or wheel bearing hub? 4 x 4 works great and I have less than 5k on the new bearings.....

 

[Humvee21]

I meant the wheel bearing. You swapped both the fronts already?

 

[txbowhntr29]

I meant the wheel bearing. You swapped both the fronts already?

yes I swapped both already....had a lot of slack on the side that wasn't squalling so went ahead and did it also...

 

[txbowhntr29]

Also, feel kinda of stupid but, I checked my air pressure and had about 15psi less in one tire than the other! With that said, correcting that issue fixed the wobble but, I still feel as though something up front is wearing out for that to happen. Steering shock??? Thoughts? :huh:

 

[Fish]

Definitely check pitman and idler arms, as Zach stated.

ditto. Mine were shot around 40k miles