Death Wobble
Death Wobble
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Hello Cummins World! Just purchased a 2008- 3500- Laramie-Mega-4X4-4:10 rear gear-SRW. Has all the bells and whistles (roof, nav, satelite DVD, etc). Found on ebay, drove 700 miles to pickup. On our way home towing our car on a u-haul dolley, experienced the dreaded "death wobble" while passing a car on a bridge @ 65 mph. Scared the living _ _ _ _ out off us. It was on a weekend so we had to baby it home (600 miles) @ 58 mph. My only concern is the incompetency of the local Dodge Dealership. They told me it was the Bilstien Shocks. Anyway, got on the internet, found about 40 solutions (none of which really made sense). Finally realized the truck had a leveling kit under the front that severly throws off the steering geometry. Causes the front steering linkage to function like a pair sizzors. When you hit a bump, the frontend goes up higher than normal which changes the camber, forces one or both wheel off the ground and out of alignment with the other. The "Sizzor" action of the front steering linkage then counteracts with the front spings and causes the action to continue until you reach a low enough speed for the weight of the truck to overcome the stength of the spings. Dodge didn't advertise this, but the 2009 model (2008.5 I believe as well) steering linkage was changed to address this issue. The solution to my death wobble was fourfold. Added the 2009 front steering parts (drag link bar, track/pan bar & tire rods=$378); removed the 2" leveling kit from the front springs; repositioned the stablizer shock so that it was level with the drag link bar; placed 65 lbs of air in front tires---Problem Solved! Truck now drives and rides perfectly. Hope I enjoy my Cummuns as much as some of you guys seem to.
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12-04-2011, 07:24 PM
Linear Mode
