Really confused what's going on.... around town everything is perfectly fine, whenever I get on the highway and keep a steady 65+ for more than 5 minutes, my truck starts to shake. I can feel it in the steering wheel, all the way to the gas pedal. A constant, rhythmic, shaking. (shaking frequency slows as I slow to a stop)

YET, I pull over to the side of the road, wait a little bit, and start going again... 0 problems the rest of the trip, no shaking at all. This has has been like this the last 4 consecutive trips I've had. Very confused...


Any ideas??

99 Ram Sport 4x4
Stock everything
67,000 miles

 

sound like the " death wobble " try a search and see if you agree.

 

try rotating your front tires to the rear and see if there is any change.

 

ooooh I never thought of that, this all started this last summer. My buddy had a Grand Cherokee with crazy death wobble. I suppose it's similar to that. (though his was far more extreme)

Though that would be a likely hypothesis. It begins to shake over time, then goes away after pulling over... though it's still odd that it never returns for the rest of a 150+ mile trip...

Time to do some research....

As a matter of fact, last fall I swapped my front tires to the rear, the last owner only picked up 2 new tires and the front ones had fairly low tread. So now, the front tires have great tread, and the rears are have the lower tread... not sure if that would have anything to do with it. Had the tires also reset on new (stock)rims and all balanced.



Also I should note, my steering is quite sloppy and has a lot of play. I've been meaning to get underneath and take up the slack. Not sure if that would have an effect.. (I'm sure the shaking makes it worse over time)

The car recently had a full inspection, reported that all components were fine, nothing checked on the ball joints or suspension...


It's got to be a form of that death wobble though.... I'm not sure if tightening the box will help any, but I may pick up that stabilizer bracket...

 

Just got back from a 40 mile trip. After about 2 minutes at 65+, started to shake, pull over to the side of the road. As I'm slowing down, the shake remains in rhythm, I can feel the pulse through the brakes every shake down to a full stop.

I put it in park, turn off the car, start it back up and merge in... no more problems. The rest of the trip.

I'd imagine if it was "death wobble" it would occur once I hit high speeds again, nothing has really changed... I pull over once and suddenly it's smooth sailing the rest of the trip? The last 4 trips now, this has been the routine.... so confused...

 

1. When have you had an alignment done (If you have not had one done...that is a problem)
2. When was the last time you had your tires balanced...if you never have, that can be a problem.

Your ball joints could be going. Your tie rod ends could be going.

THere are a lot of things that can go wrong with the steering. I am guessing it is alignment and wheel balance.

 

When was the last time you had your Brake shoes replaced? I just replaced mine and it is A LOT better. My misalignment is the only thing right now.

ALso, it could be your front brakes as well (Rotors/Pads). The pulse you are feeling is your brake pads and shoes not cleanly hitting the drums/rotors.

If you never had either serviced...that is probably your problem. People overlook brakes for the first year they buy a used car (ussually). Mainly because they think they are getting a car with new brake shoes/pads.

 

OH, I had this same problem, and when brakes are worn, it is very inconsistent (sometimes they catch clean, sometimes they don't). The death wobble is more consistent.

Check your fluid. It could be brown. You want clear/yellowish brake fluid. If it is brown, then condensation got to it (water).

 

I'm definitely going to go in for an alignment soon... I had the tires recently balanced, yet I don't think I got an alignment.

The brakes were just a side scenario, I noticed when coming to the stop I could feel the brakes pulse in and out with the rhythm of the wobble... which I thought was odd as the wobble would be unrelated to the braking... I pretty much don't even touch the brakes until after the issue has occurred. Though I'll definitely look into them as well...

 

if your rotors are warped, then that will cause the wobble when not braking. You know, one brake pad per side is ALWAYS touching the rotor.