ravingmadman
Chief Knuckle Buster
It seems like everyone eventually has problems with a death wobble, or brake pulsation, or something in the steering linkage. Here's how you check everything. 
Steering:
Jack one front wheel off the ground. Pull it side-to-side, trying to rotate it through its arc of steering. If it moves, clunks, or rattles, you need a new pitman arm, and probably a new idler arm. Find those instructions here.
Pull the wheel top-to-bottom, and see if you can get the top of the wheel to move in and out. If it does, there's a good chance you need new ball joints. If you need new ball joints, you must remove your control arms, and take them to a shop with a press. You might need new wheel hubs, if you have excessive play in all directions. This is an easy job. If your wheels are tight in all directions, check your brakes...
Brakes:
You'll know you have a brake problem if you have a wobble or lurching that happens when you hit the brakes. Really, really poorly maintained brakes can cause a wobble all the time, if the disc is badly warped. Don't rely on brake squeal to tell you there's a problem. Replacing the front brakes is a super easy, super cheap job to do yourself, and will completely change the way your rig performs, and corrects most problems caused by brakes. Directions are here. You can test your rear brakes by using your parking brake. Your parking brake only applies the rear brakes, so if you have a wobble or pulse while applying the parking brake at about 20mph, you know you have warped drums. I don't have a good how-to for rear brakes, because it requires pictures, and I don't want to cover my phone in brake dust.
Most times, if your brakes feel soft, or if the pedal goes almost all the way to the floor, your rear brakes are out of adjustment. Remove the wheel and drum, and turn the ratchet wheel a couple of times so that the drum just barely goes back on.
Suspension:
Suspension is hard to troubleshoot because there isn't much to it. Look for obvious damage or leaks on the outside of the front/rear shocks. Check the sway bar linkage. It never hurts to replace your shocks with an upgrade, and it is cheap/easy to do yourself in the parking lot (not even worthy of a how-to).
If your rig feels like it wants to roll over going around corners, your sway bar sucks. If the rear of your rig squats when you accelerate regularly, your rear shocks are blown. If your rig does a nose dive when you apply regular brakes (like approaching a regular stop light), your front shocks are blown.
If everything checks out, and you still have a wobble or vibration, have your tires balanced and rotated, and check your u-joints by pushing/pulling on them and checking for any movement.
Happy hunting!!!
Steering:
Jack one front wheel off the ground. Pull it side-to-side, trying to rotate it through its arc of steering. If it moves, clunks, or rattles, you need a new pitman arm, and probably a new idler arm. Find those instructions here.
Pull the wheel top-to-bottom, and see if you can get the top of the wheel to move in and out. If it does, there's a good chance you need new ball joints. If you need new ball joints, you must remove your control arms, and take them to a shop with a press. You might need new wheel hubs, if you have excessive play in all directions. This is an easy job. If your wheels are tight in all directions, check your brakes...
Brakes:
You'll know you have a brake problem if you have a wobble or lurching that happens when you hit the brakes. Really, really poorly maintained brakes can cause a wobble all the time, if the disc is badly warped. Don't rely on brake squeal to tell you there's a problem. Replacing the front brakes is a super easy, super cheap job to do yourself, and will completely change the way your rig performs, and corrects most problems caused by brakes. Directions are here. You can test your rear brakes by using your parking brake. Your parking brake only applies the rear brakes, so if you have a wobble or pulse while applying the parking brake at about 20mph, you know you have warped drums. I don't have a good how-to for rear brakes, because it requires pictures, and I don't want to cover my phone in brake dust.
Most times, if your brakes feel soft, or if the pedal goes almost all the way to the floor, your rear brakes are out of adjustment. Remove the wheel and drum, and turn the ratchet wheel a couple of times so that the drum just barely goes back on.
Suspension:
Suspension is hard to troubleshoot because there isn't much to it. Look for obvious damage or leaks on the outside of the front/rear shocks. Check the sway bar linkage. It never hurts to replace your shocks with an upgrade, and it is cheap/easy to do yourself in the parking lot (not even worthy of a how-to).
If your rig feels like it wants to roll over going around corners, your sway bar sucks. If the rear of your rig squats when you accelerate regularly, your rear shocks are blown. If your rig does a nose dive when you apply regular brakes (like approaching a regular stop light), your front shocks are blown.
If everything checks out, and you still have a wobble or vibration, have your tires balanced and rotated, and check your u-joints by pushing/pulling on them and checking for any movement.
Happy hunting!!!
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