Death Wobble Diagnosis Help

[tooleyondeck]

I'm currently diagnosing my recent occurrence of death wobble, just looking to pick some brains on the issue. Here's the rundown: 2003 Denali XL AWD, 192K mi. I replaced inner/outer tie rods (ACDelco Pro) and wheel hubs (Timken) and had an alignment done immediately after (around March 2022).

Wobble crept in slowly on my way back from a trip to Tampa (700mi round) this past weekend, and it's now in full send (basically undrivable). I jacked it up and checked all of the lugs and for play in the hubs, all are solid. I'm going to get the tires rebalanced and rotate them this week just to eliminate that (305/40R22s all round, about 4K miles on them). Next I'll check the CV Axles and U-Joints on both driveshafts. Beyond that, what should I be checking (and potentially replacing) to identify and resolve the issue? If you've experienced this, what did you conclude was causing it?

I'm very tempted to proactively replace all of the main suspension parts to prevent issues down the road, but my wallet would prefer I snowball it, cheapest parts first.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Mama]

Describe the death wobble please for us not-so-smart folks.

 

[Sparksalot]

Waitaminutehere, this isn’t a Jeep forum.

 

[Tonyv__]

The only time I’ve have anything similar to death wobble was related to the wheels.

I had 24x10 iroc replica wheels that would follow the road like crazy. If there were any imperfections in the road my wheels would follow it left and right. I considered installing aftermarket steering stabilizer but I never did.

Another time I bought some 2nd hand wheels that had a smaller 6 lug pattern like the trailblazers. Well a “qualified machine shop” bored the holes out to fit larger lug pattern. 1 trip down the highway and it wobbled so bad at one point that’s all I needed to scrap them wheels and cut my losses.

Never happened with any of the other wheels I ran on the Tahoe. If I was you I’d say you’re in the right track and rotate wheels front to back and see if maybe one of your wheels is way out of whack.

 

[swathdiver]

Chase, how about the control arm bushings and ball joints? If they were replaced, when and with what? Sway bar bushings and end links? Shocks? Springs?

There was a guy on here with a lifted truck that had an awful wobble. He finally pulled the passenger side strut assembly out and discovered that the shock's strut rod was broken in half, it nearly killed him went he took it apart. Different generation but worth a look.

 

[tooleyondeck]

Describe the death wobble please for us not-so-smart folks.

So it's basically a wobble (side to side or up and down movement) of the vehicle during accel/decel and it's felt mostly through the steering wheel and center console. It shakes to the point of spewing drinks in the cup holders, rattling anything that may be loose, and makes you feel like the vehicle is going to explode or fall apart. At best, it's extremely hard to control the steering wheel until you reduce speed or come to a stop.

From what I've gathered here and on other sources, the tires/wheels seem to be the most common culprit (lumps, flat spots, unbalanced), which is why I'm having them balanced and rotated first. I have already got underneath and checked my tie rods, hubs, cv axles, end links, u-joints, and pitman/idler arms, so if it isn't the tires then I'm at a loss. There's a laundry list of components that could cause it. I may end up letting a shop "diagnose" it, but I never feel confident that they can find anything that I can't.

 

[tooleyondeck]

Chase, how about the control arm bushings and ball joints? If they were replaced, when and with what? Sway bar bushings and end links? Shocks? Springs?

There was a guy on here with a lifted truck that had an awful wobble. He finally pulled the passenger side strut assembly out and discovered that the shock's strut rod was broken in half, it nearly killed him went he took it apart. Different generation but worth a look.

Solid idea, I appreciate it. I got new ACDelco Pro upper arms (not installed), but after examining the OEMs on the vehicle when I did my hubs and tie rods the ball joint and everything looked fine. Sway bar end links look fine as well, no play. I am considering shocks since it has 192K on it, I just want to make sure I get the right ones to avoid the autoride issues I've read about here.

 

[MassHoe04]

My last daily was an 05 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. So while I have not personally suffered "Death Wobble", it is an area I have seen others dealing with often.
Majority of cases come back to worn track bars or drag links.

Track bar keeps the solid axle in line with the vehicle's center line while it is flexing and moving up and down.
If a track bar is worn, the axle can start shifting side to side after hitting bumps or uneven road. NOT GOOD!

The drag link connects the Pitman arm to the tie rod to control steering movement left and right. Worn drag links can allow the wheels and hubs to flop left and right and make the steering uncontrollable at times. NOT GOOD either...

That said... The Tahoes don't have a solid axle, track bar or drag links.

If you were experiencing anything like the true "Death Wobble" seen on solid axle vehicles like the Jeeps... I would agree that you might look at wheels/tires and the things connected between the pitman arm and the hubs. You already did the tie rods, so maybe some other connecting point between the steering box and the hubs are the issue?

I am not a Tahoe steering or suspension expert. Just thought I would pass along the little bit I knew about true death wobble, just in case it helps you in your diagnosis.

Good luck!!

 

[avalonandl]

You also need an alignment. Check Caster.

Ford SD pickups were famous for this.

 

[Doubeleive]

have the front inspected (or get under there and get a helper to move the steering back and forth and take a very close look) and have the alignment re-checked maybe something came loose enough to throw it off, in my experience it's always been an alignment issue. I have had tires & wheels cause vibration but not wobble.

 

[swathdiver]

Solid idea, I appreciate it. I got new ACDelco Pro upper arms (not installed), but after examining the OEMs on the vehicle when I did my hubs and tie rods the ball joint and everything looked fine. Sway bar end links look fine as well, no play. I am considering shocks since it has 192K on it, I just want to make sure I get the right ones to avoid the autoride issues I've read about here.

For the ball joints, any more movement than .5 millimeters is out of spec. 1 millimeter for the tie rods. If any of the bushings are cracked, replace them.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

If you do go for tire balancing, make sure that you use a shop that has Road Force balancing machines. Those machines will also check the wheel for any abnormalities, as well as give you the best balance that you can obtain outside of a race track.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Death wobble on IFS... HMMMMMM
It's most commonly seen on a solid front axle vehicles due to the interaction between the drag link (steering) and panhard (secures axle to frame).


Seeing this on a truck with IFS.... Something is very, very wrong.


Things to check:
- Post alignment specs. I know you said you got it done, but I want to see the numbers.
- Alignment - caster in particular. Caster that is out of spec in the positive direction can cause this. Like a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel
- Drop angle of the center link. Droops should be down and towards the rear of the vehicle. If it's not, it moves the tie rods out of parallel with the control arms
- Make sure pitman arm and idler arm are installed properly. Make sure nothing's installed upside down or whatever.
- Ensure upper control arm bushings are in good condition and tight
- Lower ball joints would be an unlikely cause for this... But not impossible. Checking them is tricky. You need to jack the wheel off the ground from the ball joint, then check the wheel for play. Checking with it on jack stands won't reveal any issues because it will change the angle of the joint + it will be load bearing
- Check that the idler arm bracket is tight and free of play
- Are there any notable triggers for this? Speed, going over a bump, braking, etc?
- Are the wheels and tires radially true? No major high spots?


And of course.... Happen to have a video of the problem? If nothing else, just to see if something sticks out.

 

[tooleyondeck]

Death wobble on IFS... HMMMMMM
It's most commonly seen on a solid front axle vehicles due to the interaction between the drag link (steering) and panhard (secures axle to frame).

Good info: do you know if caster is even adjustable on these trucks? If it ends up being the culprit here, are there aftermarket components that allow it to be adjusted?

 

[SnowDrifter]

Good info: do you know if caster is even adjustable on these trucks? If it ends up being the culprit here, are there aftermarket components that allow it to be adjusted?

It's adjustable via the concentric bolts on the upper control arm.
But can't draw any conclusions without alignment specs

 

[Big Mama]

Thanks for explaining. I had this on my 87 Silverado 4x4 but it had a solid axle. It turned out to be a tire balance issue. Lots of good advice here. Hope you get it solved. Please report back for the next guy.

 

[tooleyondeck]

So last night I jacked up the truck and checked pretty much all of the suspension and steering components, I found a little play in my tie rod assembly, but nothing too concerning considering you'd be able to manually turn the wheels a bit even with just one side off the ground. What I did find, however, is that my front driver's side tire (305/40R22) had a large, clearly visible bulge in it. I swapped the F and R wheels and took her for a spin and violá, significant drop in the felt wobble in the steering wheel and front end. I could see the rear wheel sort of "bouncing" at low speeds when the bulged section strikes the ground out of the side mirror, so I'm fairly confident that I'll be fine ordering a new tire (maybe 2 for good measure?).

I'm not going to change the thread title to "SOLVED!" until I get the new tire on and verify there are not other issues, but for now I'm still considering going with new shocks like @swathdiver suggested.

 

[swathdiver]

So last night I jacked up the truck and checked pretty much all of the suspension and steering components, I found a little play in my tie rod assembly, but nothing too concerning considering you'd be able to manually turn the wheels a bit even with just one side off the ground. What I did find, however, is that my front driver's side tire (305/40R22) had a large, clearly visible bulge in it. I swapped the F and R wheels and took her for a spin and violá, significant drop in the felt wobble in the steering wheel and front end. I could see the rear wheel sort of "bouncing" at low speeds when the bulged section strikes the ground out of the side mirror, so I'm fairly confident that I'll be fine ordering a new tire (maybe 2 for good measure?).

I'm not going to change the thread title to "SOLVED!" until I get the new tire on and verify there are not other issues, but for now I'm still considering going with new shocks like @swathdiver suggested.

Ahh, a busted belt. We get so many calls for suspension issues this one is often overlooked! Good catch!

It is very important for AWD vehicles to have all their tires within 1/16" of tread depth of one another. They same the same thing about 4x4s in the shop manuals.

 

[rockola1971]

Another typical cause of the wobble is the tie rods. (Inner) The funky joint will get worn and the shaft will move in and out quite a bit. The problem doesnt show its ugly head as obvious because of that boot over the funky joint BUT if you have some move the offending tire in and out you will see the inner tie rod shaft literally move in and out of that funky joint boot.
I can verify that a grossly worn out inner tie rod will cause the GM version of the Death Wobble and can verify it scares the Bejesus out of you and causes PTSD.

 

[Dalt10]

I have 305/45-22"s on my Yukon. I will get a little bit of the death wobble on acceleration sometimes. Truck shakes and steering wheel goes back and forth. I've rebuilt most of my front end but still get it every once in a while. If it happens its on uneven roads. I can usually can let off the gas, slow down a little and it goes away. Mine is drivable since it doesn't happen that much. Maybe it is the tire size. Just guessing.