does death wobble only occur on 4x4's?

 

Certainly, but by common definition it's a condition which is confined to SFA trucks. As in 2500/3500 Rams, Ford F250/350 or GM 3/4 & 1 ton trucks.

Not that a IFS truck can't have serious vibration issues, but it's just not referred to as the condition known as "Death Wobble"...

 

oh ok. gotcha. i joined this forum to see if i could try to figure out what my truck is doing and how to fix it. its a 4x2 1500 2007 but has symptoms of death wobble. i had never heard of that until this site. so i was curious if that si what my truck was doing.

 

Front end vibration can be caused by:
Ball joints
Tie rod ends
out of balance tires
out of balance drive shaft
a lift/level kit
worn/cupped tires
damaged wheel
wheel bearing
alignment
improper air in tires

and I prolly missed a few.

I'd get the front end off the ground and rule out the ball joints/tie rods/bearings & check the tires first. If they all check off the list, then it's prolly tire rotation and alignment time. If that don't get it then you need to dig into the not-so-common issues like the drive shaft...

 

Ok, this may be a stupid question but I have to ask what is a Death Wobble vs a Bump Steer?

 

A bump steer is when traveling at any rate of speed upon hitting a bump your truck takes a hard dart to the left or right.
Alot of guys experiencing this have a rack problem most of the time.

What you are refering as a "Death Wobble" would be violent shakes of the steering wheel and or truck while traveling at interstate speeds.

What u described sounds like the afore mentioned list Hammer has listed, start with tire pressure, shake the front end down, then balance rotate. ECT.

 

O and not trying to be a D1K but some of these veterans on this forum have talked about topics like this for some time now, so alot of these questions might not get responses.

The search tool in this forum is quit helpfull for questions like this. Hope we help, and let us know what u find.

 

thats the thing. i have personally checked and have had somone check everything out by my guy at the dealer. tires are in perfect balance. has new rotors and pads.the guy at the dealer said with 06 and 07 models, they had some issues with the bushings and replacing them might or might not fix the problem so he says. just wondering if anyone had heard of that fix and if it works or is there something else that can be done.

 

and as far as searching i have. most posts talk about 4x4's not 2 wheel drives

 

I have found that if it seems like the steering wheel is going to shake out of your hands and you are driving at 45 mph, it is usually the tire balance and if it occurs at 55 mph, it is usually the front end alignment. That is of course after assuring all front end parts are in good working order. Also look at the tires to see if a belt may have broken. I hope this may be of some help. Best of luck.