Death Wobble

Solid Axle Death Wobble

If your truck is having a death wobble event slow down as safely and as fast as you possibly can until it stops wobbling.

Do not keep driving it with it shaking really hard, something could catastrophically fail and kill you.

Any death wobble event could cause damage to other parts that were not damaged before that death wobble event. Every time you have an event, new damage can happen.

I know you just want it fixed and you don’t want to be a Death Wobble expert, but these things can be very hard to find and will come back right away if the root of the problem is not found and fixed.

Remember, just because someone has a social media account, does not mean they are qualified to be giving anyone guidance. Just because someone has a repair shop or an online store, does not mean they are qualified to be giving anyone guidance. If it is bad information, it is of no consequence to the internet experts if it costs you time and money. More than anything, we want your truck to drive correctly for as long as you own it.

“Just put in cams” will NOT FIX your Death Wobble problem. Yes your truck needs more than 2 degrees of castor but just adding castor will not make the compromised track rod joint right as rain. We can sell cams to you, we are an SPC dealer and we have the same cams everyone has # 501198 & # 501199. We even have more options remove cams you have and add more castor and we sell them for less than you can buy them other places. #105070

But there is no “just do” or “just buy this” that will fix your truck until you find the real cause of the death wobble problem. If anyone is selling you an “end all - be all” fix to death wobble, buyer beware, they are not to be trusted. If you have seen a YouTube video telling you to buy something to fix your Death Wobble, did you notice they did not tell you to be 100% sure you don’t have a bad joint or to really inspect the truck to be sure the band-aid they are selling will even stick to the truck.

If you had a death wobble event and you added and aftermarket “fix it” part then, a month later its back, now is the time to look deeper into your truck, or better yet, don’t throw money at it until you know what is wrong.

Over 5 million super duty trucks have this front suspension starting in 2005 to now. It is a common design found in many solid axle trucks. This is not just a Ford problem. Dodge, Toyota, Land Rover, Mercedes all use a radius arm solid axle design that is susceptible to this Death Wobble Oscillation when a component allows uncontrolled sideways movement. Ford did change suppliers for the assembly line and the new suppliers quality control is not as good as previous suppliers. This front suspension is swapped into other kinds of tucks more than any other front suspension because it is a robust suspension. Nobody is putting a GM suspension in a Ford truck for a reason.

One or any combination of these reasons can bring on the Death Wobble oscillation.

Slop or looseness in any component can get death wobble oscillation started.

Everything has to be in the correct place and in the best working order.

If your truck is having death wobble oscillation, start at the top of this list and work to the bottom until you find the problem. Some are very rare, this all-details list is to avoid “why didn’t anyone tell me that?”

1, Alignment (See our Alignment page in Important Info)

Castor is less than 4 degrees. (OUO has simple fixes for this available.)
Caster = min 4°/max 8°, optimal is 5° to 6°,
max cross center caster 1° as needed to reduce pulling.
Toe = Toed in each side min .12°/max .18°, .18° is optimal, max toe in is optimal.
Camber = ± Min 0°/Max .5°, optimal is 0, max cross camber .5° as needed to reduce drift.

2, Tires

Cupped, worn, out of round, out of balance or separating belts.
1 or 2 tires, new or used, just randomly stopped working on your truck. Sounds crazy but True.
Brand new or used tires have a side wall / belt construction that is not compatible with a solid axle truck.
Incorrect air pressure
Extra low-profile tires with no sidewall

3, Wheels

24” x 14” wide or larger wheels are too heavy and have too much leverage outside the king pin axis.
Wheel Spacers move the center of wheel too far from the king pin axis.

4, Shocks

Worn out.
Low Nitrogen.
Shock valving not a good match to a solid axle truck.

5, Track Rod (Also known as Panhard Bar or Track Bar or Panhard Rod, Locates the axle side to side in the truck.)

5.1-Track Rod Joint at the axle end is worn or destroyed.

Joint could have been destroyed from being overextended during a level / lift install. Joint could have a been bad out of the box from the OE supplier on Ford’s assembly line. Just because the truck is new doesn’t mean the joint is good.
The factory joint is a good joint when installed correctly and not over extended.
Over extended is when the axle is let hang on the Track bar, destroying the internal liner of the factory joint. Ford joints usually last past 50k to 100k and are easily replaced for very low cost.
The same Track Rod Joint in a F250 is also used in the F550 at 2000 pounds more front axle payload. If you have a death wobble event from tires or lack of castor it could ruin this joint, and you will battle 2 problems until you fix them both. To be on the safe side, error to the side of caution and replace this joint.

5.2-Track Rod Joint at the frame bracket.

Bushings or joints is worn.
It is rare for the factory rubber bushing to wear out. If it does wear out, they are very low cost and easy to replace. You don’t need a new Track Bar when a $20 bushing will fix your problem.
If you have an aftermarket track bar with Teflon lined joints, check to see if they are loose, we don’t recommend Teflon joints for street use because they don’t last long in wet environments or on truck suspensions. We found them to be a down grade from stock. We couldn’t get any brand to last 10k miles in a track rod application. They have no cushion of isolate road forces from the frame and cause premature wear in all of your other steering parts from the increased shock load. Teflon joints amplify bump steer, road noise and squeak. A few companies sell them but that is so they can keep selling you $100 joints.

6, Track Rod bracket

6.1-Joint bolt not torqued to 400 foot pounds.

The 20mm bolt holding the track rod in the track rod bracket needs to be at 400 foot pounds.
No exceptions. Have the shop that did your work show you they have a 400 foot pound torque wrench. You can’t make them use it on your truck but am 100% sure if they don’t own the tool they could not get your bolt torque correct. If not torqued this will cause popping noise and death wobble.

6.2-Bolts holding bracket to frame are not torqued.

We have seen many instances where the bolts holding the track rod bracket to the frame have worked loose and allow play that feels like a bad joint. OUO track rod brackets have an additional hole to help eliminate this problem.
Teflon Joints are known to pound these fasteners loose requiring the bracket to be retorqued.

7, Steering Column

Steering column U-Joints are worn. (We have seen a these from a bad batch installed on the assembly line)
Steering column rag joint is worn.
Loose clamp bolt
Worn splines
Slop in any part of the steering column could produce a flutter the steering control valve in the steering box and induce death wobble.

8, Steering Box

Steering Box attachment to frame bolts are not torqued.
New or used steering box does not have its lash adjusted correctly.
Steering box is damaged internally or was rebuilt with non-optimal parts.
Steering box has a worn or damaged power steering control valve.
Broken Sector shaft hidden Inside the Box
The Box is loose on the inside can cause the play needed to get death wobble.

9, Pitman Arm

Pitman arm is cracked.
Pitman arm splines are compromised from being loose.
Incorrect pitman arm or Pitman arm not machined correctly or a bad batch of metal .

10, Pitman Arm Nut

Pitman arm nut is not torqued to 400 foot pounds.
No exceptions. If a powered wrench was able to get to 400 foot pounds it would shear off every 14mm wheel stud you put it on. 3 Uga-dugas is never enough. Have the shop that did your work show you they have a 400 foot pound torque wrench. You can’t make them use it on your truck but am 100% sure if they don’t own the tool they could not get your torque correct.
OUO has an upgrade pitman arm nut that will let you go to 500 foot pounds torque to be sure your arm doesn’t crawl up the tapered splines of the sector shaft.

11, Steering Stabilizer

Worn out, defective or low quality.
Steering Stabilizer is not torqued or bolts loose.
The Aftermarket dual steering stabilizer bracket on the truck is low quality. OUO has the strongest stabilizer bracket with the least amount of flex to get the most action from the stabilizers.
Factory Stabilizer mounting causes chatter and premature wear on the drag link joints. The stiffer you make the stabilizer mounted to the drag link the more it induces bump steer.
OUO has designed the most advanced stabilizer upgrades available that resolve chatter and bump steer to provide the longest lasting best driving truck possible.

12, Drag link - (The steering link from pitman arm on steering box to passenger side knuckle)

Joints are worn.
Drag link coupler is not torqued.
Joint Nuts are not tight
If you have an aftermarket Drag Link with Teflon lined joints, check to see if they are loose, we don’t recommend Teflon joints for street use because they don’t last long in wet environments or on truck suspensions. We found them to be a down grade from stock. We couldn’t get any brand to last 10k miles in a Drag Link application.
A few companies sell them but that is so they can keep selling you $100 joints

13, Tie rod (Bar that goes from Steering Knuckle to Steering Knuckle)

Joints are worn.
Joint Nuts are not tight
Tie rod center link clamps are not torqued.

14, Radius arm Frame Mounts

Loose factory rivets holding the radius arm frame mount to frame. (Also causes clunking under foot)
Radius Arm bushings or Radius arm joints are worn. (Also causes clunking under foot)
We do not recommend greaseable joints for the back of the radius arms at the frame for street use. We only use greaseable joints instead of bushing on competition trucks because they take continuous maintenance, and they transfer road noise and road force straight into the frame. The more rigid the rear arm joint is the less articulation you will have. The Factory rubber bushings support 20” of travel without binding so the idea that a ball style joint will give you more wheel travel is not true.

15, Ball joints

Ball Joints are worn.
Ball Joint Nuts are not

16, Wheel bearings

Bearing is worn.
Bearing nuts are not tight.
Axle not free spinning inside bearing.

IF YOU ARE BUYING A NEW TRUCK

Be aware, drive that truck for 15 – 30 minutes at all speeds before you take possession of the truck. Be extremely mindful of the steering. Do not let the salesman talk to you when you are driving it. Focus and be critical of every bump.

If that truck has any bump steer or chatter, do not buy that truck. Do not take possession of it even if you special ordered it. That new truck is a defective unit.

OUO has 25 years specializing in innovating Super Duty suspensions with many patents, inventions, and original designs. OUO is involved in a variety of motorsports including Drag Racing, Truck Pulling, Monster Jam, Diesel Power Challenge, Ultimate Callout Challenge, and even half mile air strip attack.