I think I have a worn left front shock... but wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar issue when their shocks went.

Above 40mph... if I hit consecutive small bumps with the front left of the truck I get an out of control violent vibration. The thing that is throwing me off with the diagnosis is that usually when a shock is worn (on a car) you get a "floating feeling". The truck feels tight when I hit a single bump at high speeds. The condition only presents itself at high speed consecutive bumps.

I don't think it is the death wobble, but would like to hear any stories you have to share. Only time I have felt the death wobble in real life was in a Wrangler. I thought the whole front end was going to fall off this thing and that is not what I feel in my Ram.

I did the 2500 T-link steering update, all Moog. New track bar, Red Head Box, Borgeson Shaft and new steering column bushing. Steering damper is old with no signs of a leak but might need to be replaced.

Any input is welcome... thanks!

 

Sounds an awful lot like death wobble to me...... How is your track bar

Edit: Ok, just noticed, NEW trackbar...... What about wheel bearings?

 

Need to check them and ball joints.

 

could be the front steering dampener (looks like a horizontal shock absorber).

I had the same problem and I got new shocks, new trackbar, new tie rod ends, new ball joints. Then I was still pissed. Someone said my tires must be out of round. Got new tires.

Ends up it was the steering dampener. Replace that with the STOCK part (I had a rancho on for a year and it crapped out). YOu can do that yourself in 15-30 min.

Someone may say it is not the steering dampener. But I would replace that as it is cheap and easy.

 

Something is loose on the passenger side. Seems like the passenger
side upper ball joint. You can feel play when grabbing the wheel on the top and bottom, but not side to side.

Driver side is tight both directions.

Looks like I will be doing ball joints and a steering damper to be safe. I don't know when this will be (house + kid > spare truck) , I will try to report back.

Thank you for the input!

 

when checking the ball joints. Raise that side of the vehicle and wedge a rod underneath the tire (looking from the front of the vehicle). Try to pry it up and look directly at the ball joint. If it moves, then its bad.

I have heavy wheels and tires, so sensing it by wrestling the tire is hard. The prybar works with minimal resistance. I just used the handle from my jack.

Now back to not knowing what exactly is wrong with my truck. Engine is good, tranny is good. But the driveline components at the terminal-ish points are showing the signs of age on a 15 year old truck (2001 model built in 2000).

 

Does that help to clarify matters any?

Every ounce you add in wheels/tires is magnified by its distance from axle center of rotation, so when you choose to add weight there you also choose to accept accelerated wear of hubs, bearings, knuckles, tie tod ends, track bar ends...

 

ah, your right. But 285s aren't that big. The darn tires are just heavy.

Also, it is taking a whole bunch of lead to balance those wheels/tires. I think I need to get new (lighter) wheels.

 

That'll help a little, but as force multiplies as the square of the distance (from center of rotation) the taller tires will always be the dominant factor determining how deeply dented your checkbook will be. On the upside, it's a great excuse to do a manual front hub conversion -- they're a lot cheaper to maintain once they're installed.

 

As good of an excuse for an upgrade as any others I have heard.