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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Technical Discussion - Beginner / Repair => Topic started by: XEARLX on August 29, 2011, 04:46:43 PM

Title: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: XEARLX on August 29, 2011, 04:46:43 PM

got the truck entirely back together today and i went to drive down the street, made it half way through 2nd and got the death wobble goin bad. not sure how i should go about fixing that.

Please help if you know how.

Earl

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: talonxracer on August 29, 2011, 05:46:10 PM

I would suspect your castor angle is off considerably causing the notorious shopping cart wheel syndrome.

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: XEARLX on August 29, 2011, 05:55:45 PM

So how would I go about fixing that? All I can think of is to pull the hi steer in a bit to give more camber

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: ack on August 30, 2011, 07:05:32 PM

I am under the impression that this truck is a Samurai based on your electrical post...

Camber is not easily adjustable on the solid-axle Samurai (it involves monkeying with the kingpin bolts).  You can adjust Caster and Toe in/out.

Your "death wobble" condition is usually attributed to one of the following:

Poorly balanced tires

loose tierod ends

worn Birfield felts/seals

worn steering damper

Play in the steering gear box.

loose/worn kingpin bearings


Check them in roughly the above order.

My borderline-mystical psychic abilities tell me your truck has a suspension lift...

If you do and you use a "Z-link" style draglink, you'll also get something called "bumpsteer" every time you drive over a pothole.

Check out this link for an explanation:

http://www.acksfaq.com/bumpsteer_explained.htm (http://www.acksfaq.com/bumpsteer_explained.htm)

I hope this helps!

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: john1974 on September 02, 2011, 08:45:28 AM

Yep this is one of those things you have to just start with checking camber then go from there.  If you are getting any noises in the drivetrain it could be bad u-joints or out of sync driveshafts also.  Are your tires balanced? my samurai sat for awhile and got water in the tires cause bad wobble.

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: XEARLX on September 05, 2011, 10:58:30 AM

thanks guys, and no the tires are not balanced but im not sure how i would adjust the camber. i know hoe to set the toe by adjusting the hi steer but thats different

Title: Re: DEATHWOBBLE!!!!!!!
Post by: ack on September 05, 2011, 04:31:34 PM

I would worry less about camber (which is really not easily adjustable) and more about caster.

Rotating the axle to point the differential at the transfer case - often done by folks who mistakenly believe that it will make the U-joints last longer - screws up the caster angle of the front wheels.  You end up with the "shopping cart" effect where the front wheels can oscillate side-to-side like the bent front wheel casters on a grocery store shopping cart.

Caster can be reset to the OEM angle by rewelding the spring perches or by using shims.  Rewelding works best.  The caster angle can be found in just about any year Samurai Factory Service Manual (fsm).  Do a search for 'fsm' at Ack's FAQ (http://www.acksfaq.com).

I hope that this helps!