Death wobble is some crazy scary ****, I had it on my 87 ford when the ball joints went.. Basically the front end gets worn out and loose.. so when you hit a bump the front end goes from this... I---I (the I's are tires) to this when you come down from the bump.. /---\.. then jumps around like crazy doing this.. /---\ \---/ /---\

I found the only way to stop it was slam the brakes and slow down to like 25km/h I tried once to power through it by slamming the gas and it just made it worse.. the whole truck shakes like crazy..

 

Late model SuperDuty Fords have a similar issue.

 

Never had a issue on my 06 2500, But, Dodge has done a recall on the drag link on the front suspension, my truck was ok, but some where in the build process, Dodge quit building trucks as solid as mine.

In my travels, I have seen a lot of lifted rams, 1500 and 2500 up side down, woundering out loud if the CTD are more prone to this due to the extra LBS of a diesel engine.

Ford, Dodge, Gm areall getting thier ball joints, tie rods, idler arms, ect from the same suppliers.

For the record, I have never kept the front suspension in tact on any lightly driven new F-150 I have owned.

 

I have owned a lot of trucks in my life. All of them 4WD, and all of them straight axels. I have never run any tire smaller than 35”. I have never had this death wobble problem in any of my trucks before. I realize that Ford seems to be having a similar problem, but with Dodge it is only a problem on the 3rd generation trucks (2500 & 3500 series) with these AAM axels. I have not heard it being a prevalent issue on 1st and 2nd gen. rams. It is not just a lifted truck that has the problem, as you can see from the news link I posted earlier. The girl on the news link is driving a stock truck and is having the Death Wobble.

I hate to beat a dead horse and beg, but PLEASE if you are experiencing this Death Wobble problem, go to the following link and file a complaint. I believe it WILL make a difference.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

 

45 complaints on 5 years worth of trucks sold? Most people would call that an excellent ratio. At the minimum that truck was wearing much larger than stock tires and looked to have a small lift going on. The guy who lost control and went over the median needs to stop driving.

 

After reading the posted article, I'm not sure that my truck has the "death wobble" as such since it is a stock 1500 besides the tires which are 265/70 vs the stock 245/70, the front end is also good and tight. But, on the highway at anything over 45 MPH or so it becomes a wild ride. The smallest bumps cause the truck to jump all over the place, the rear end always seems to be trying to catch the front. If you aren't paying 100% attention at all times, that truck will bite you hard. These tendencies made me think it had the death wobble, but it doesn't sound like my truck should be affected. On road trips I can't keep up with my buddies on the highway because if I drove as fast as them I'd be upside down in a ditch very fast, or at least that's what it feels like when I hit a bump.

 

^^^^ That's the nature of the beast. Good shocks usually cure that.

 

I think that there are not more complaints because people don't know who to complain to. Up until last week I had no idea that the National Highway Traffic Safty existed. And was even more suprised to find that they have an Office of Defects division.

I posted it here so that people who don't know who to complain to can bring this problem to light, and complain to the proper authority. I have been reading on Death Wobble for at least 2 years. This is the 1st time I have found a place to report it to. I suppose there are others who were unaware of where to report it to as well.

 

Take a second look at that truck. It is a Powerwagon. These trucks come from the factory with 33"tires. Their suspension is about 2" taller than a regular 2500. It looked like the stock tires to me. I own a powerwagon (had it since it was new) and that truck looked stock to me.

 

That is NOT a powerwagon in the video. They clearly show the rear and the door, neither say powerwagon. That truck obviously has a lift and tires.

I feel bad for folks dealing with the wobble, but once you put a lift on and tires on you can't go back to dodge and complain about the handling.