Ball joints caused death wobble in my buddy's 2004.5 4x4 QC. If the trackbar bushings look to be reasonably in tact, seriously interrogate the ball joints.

 

Didn't get a chance last night to work on it, but in researching other peoples problems, it definitly goes back to ball joint and track bar.

I can't help but think, there was no problem before the level kit. And if I didn't trust the dealer when they checked the ball joints, tie rod ends etc. I would go there and maybe have to anyway.

How can I determine if my track bar is long enough?? What is the best way to determine and set up an adjustable track bar.

Thanks

 

Here'sSteve's DIY for your track-bar install https://dodgeforum.com/m_1040856/tm.htm. Generally a leveling kit does not consititue a track-bar change. In theory any change in ride-height you would need to change the bar length, but practically speaking.... It sounds more like a ball-joint problem than anything to me...

 

for the death wobble... fix whatever is loose up front, then when you get it re-aligned, have the alignment tech add as much caster as he can w/o rubbing. tell him to forget the spec. this has worked for me 100% of the time and has worked for alot of other motorheads...

 

Just a quick update, since the trackbar was the easiest as you would guess, new bushings did nothing. As mentioned, the lenght doesn't seem to be an issue, it came in and out with the truck sitting on the ground.

Next on to looking at ball joints and steering linkage.

 

before you go off doing all that, get an alginment & fix the caster as I mentioned. your DW will be gone, then you can go & find what's loose, if anything.

 

Well, I thought about doing just that and may yet. However, my situation is this, it needs front brakes and rotors. The steering components and ball joint all have 90000 miles on them so I'm sure its just a matter of time. I'm going to check for play in the components just for giggles and see what happens.

 

I'm going to have to disagree Steve. some shops charge like $50 just to pull the vehicle on the alignment machine. if his ball joints or tie rod ends are bad they may not be able to get it aligned. then he gets charged for nothing. but if he checks them out before hand and fixes it then gets it aligned than he will only have to pay the fee once.

no harm in checking. if they are good than do what steve said.

 

I took my truck in for a front end inspection, then alignment and the found the loose front end parts and charged me nothing (Les Schwab, west coast shop). If you get the alignment done, add the caster to it and it fixes the DW, then get the other parts swapped if needed, he could easily do the re-adjusting him self w/o having to go back to the alignment shop. doing the toe adjustment on the SFA's is a piece of cake. a little time consuming but it is easy. when I did my tracbar install I did just that and it worked out awesome.

Also, my truck has 85k on it and my ball joints are fine. did alot of off roading last summer and abused it some... I guess my point is some shops will tell you anything to get your business, I've run into a few like that and always get a 2nd opinion, sometimes a 3rd... it would suck to go and spend the $7~800 bux to get the joints swapped when they dont need it.

 

I guess it will depend on whether or not they will charge to use the machine.