HELP! New tires = death wobble

Sailor Jerry · #1 11-04-2014, 05:00 PM

I just put a new set of 265/75/16 Mastercraft Courser AXTs on my 98 Ranger. My shocks, tie rods, and ball joints are all new. The shop also did an alignment and replaced the cam bolts (stock ones did offer enough adjustability to align the front end properly). My torsion bars are slightly cranked (about 1.5 inches). My old tires were 245s.

Here's the problem: I was driving home on my brand new tires in the rain and any time I hit a bump (small pot hole, uneven pavement) the steering wheel would shake back and forth very quickly (death wobble). Normal driving did not cause any issues, just bumps. I had to slow down to 25 mph or less to stop the wobble (nothing else worked). I'm certain the larger tires are contributing to the problem, not sure if they are the cause.

Here's my question: What's causing this if all of my suspension parts are new I the truck was just aligned? Is this an early symptom of power steering failure due to the larger tires? Will a steering damper help? I'm taking it back to shop tomorrow and have them look at it, but I'm afraid they'll try to sell me an expensive solution to the problem. How can I fix this?

casey.mikl · #2 11-04-2014, 05:13 PM

Sounds like time for a steering stabilizer. Never had the issue. I have a rough country one. Except it's still sitting in the toolbox. Haven't put it on yet.

96_4x4_XLT · #3 11-04-2014, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casey.mikl

Sounds like time for a steering stabilizer. Never had the issue. I have a rough country one. Except it's still sitting in the toolbox. Haven't put it on yet.

He doesn't have a steering stabilizer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Jerry

I just put a new set of 265/75/16 Mastercraft Courser AXTs on my 98 Ranger. My shocks, tie rods, and ball joints are all new. The shop also did an alignment and replaced the cam bolts (stock ones did offer enough adjustability to align the front end properly). My torsion bars are slightly cranked (about 1.5 inches). My old tires were 245s. Here's the problem: I was driving home on my brand new tires in the rain and any time I hit a bump (small pot hole, uneven pavement) the steering wheel would shake back and forth very quickly (death wobble). Normal driving did not cause any issues, just bumps. I had to slow down to 25 mph or less to stop the wobble (nothing else worked). I'm certain the larger tires are contributing to the problem, not sure if they are the cause. Here's my question: What's causing this if all of my suspension parts are new I the truck was just aligned? Is this an early symptom of power steering failure due to the larger tires? Will a steering damper help? I'm taking it back to shop tomorrow and have them look at it, but I'm afraid they'll try to sell me an expensive solution to the problem. How can I fix this?

I would take it back to the shop and have them fix the issue instead of you doing it your self

tmcalavy · #4 11-04-2014, 05:33 PM

Take it back to the shop...they screwed the pooch somehow. That small a difference in tire size shouldn't cause a death wobble.

camodown · #5 11-04-2014, 05:43 PM

You have a problem getting wobble with IFS. I would guess the tie rods. I know you can get a bad jerking if you get air in your rack

smokinAMD · #6 11-04-2014, 05:48 PM

Alignments don't cause death wobble. Did they ACTUALLY tighten the lugnuts? First thing I'd check.

pcityranger · #7 11-04-2014, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smokinAMD

Alignments don't cause death wobble. Did they ACTUALLY tighten the lugnuts? First thing I'd check.

Lmao my thoughts exactly

johnday · #8 11-04-2014, 06:35 PM

I've got almost the same setup, except mine is a 2" crank. No problems at all. I do need new tierod ends, but I've got no wobble at all. How about the balancing? Lug nuts is a good suggestion as well.
I've come to the conclusion that the "bigbox" tire stores leave a bit to be desired. Discount tire downstate wanted to replace the struts on my wifes Focus. The reason? It's customary to replace them at 50k. They told me as well, that my alignment on my Ranger was bad, after I'd just had at it done at my dealer. I showed them the printout, they said that couldn't be right. Well, even with my tierod ends having slight freeplay, my tires still wear fine.
I guess my suggestion, although it may cost additional $, is take it to a dealer, if the shop can't fix the problem.
Oh, BTW, my alignment "looked" bad, because the left front tire was sitting in a hole.

2002FordRanger · #9 11-04-2014, 07:06 PM

Maybe during the alignment the tire became unbalanced somehow? Maybe a weight broke and fell off causing the wobble?

Idaho99ranger · #10 11-04-2014, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Jerry

I just put a new set of 265/75/16 Mastercraft Courser AXTs on my 98 Ranger. My shocks, tie rods, and ball joints are all new. The shop also did an alignment and replaced the cam bolts (stock ones did offer enough adjustability to align the front end properly). My torsion bars are slightly cranked (about 1.5 inches). My old tires were 245s. Here's the problem: I was driving home on my brand new tires in the rain and any time I hit a bump (small pot hole, uneven pavement) the steering wheel would shake back and forth very quickly (death wobble). Normal driving did not cause any issues, just bumps. I had to slow down to 25 mph or less to stop the wobble (nothing else worked). I'm certain the larger tires are contributing to the problem, not sure if they are the cause. Here's my question: What's causing this if all of my suspension parts are new I the truck was just aligned? Is this an early symptom of power steering failure due to the larger tires? Will a steering damper help? I'm taking it back to shop tomorrow and have them look at it, but I'm afraid they'll try to sell me an expensive solution to the problem. How can I fix this?

New doesnt mean good, have them rotate the tires and see if anything changes.

smokinAMD · #11 11-04-2014, 08:25 PM

Alright....I'll chime in here again.

First off, there's a detail here some people are not noticing. It's fine until he hits a bump or otherwise a difference in pavement elevation.

Bad tires would cause a CONSTANT vibration, or a lateral pull (to the side). Out of balance tires would be a CONSTANT vibration that got worse at higher speeds. A terrible alignment wouldn't cause a death wobble. It would either cause you to eat up your tires, steering wheel to be off centered, or again, to have a pull to one side.

Death wobble is caused by either loose (bad) parts, or improper steering angle inclination (SAI), HOWEVER, having improper SAI on a ranger is next to impossible, it's more common on vehicles with SOLID front axles, with crappy 500 dollar lift kits that don't take into affect correcting the SAI with different steering linkage that basically acts as a bump steer stop. And there's your lesson about your typical Jeep death wobble.

Just because you have new tie rods, doesn't mean they are any good. I've thrown on tie rods at work that are brand new out of the box that have more play in them than the garbage ones I'm replacing. Yay Chinese parts. If the shop that put on the tie rods and ball joints used cheap ones, and neglected to grease them, It's entirely possible they have play already. Seen it happen more than once.

First thing to check is to make sure the wheels are properly seated on the hubs, and that the lugnuts are properly torqued. Damn well better believe a loose wheel will cause death wobble. I've had cars come in for death wobbles after they left other shops only to find out that the lugnuts were barely hanging on. If that doesn't fix your issues, go back and start checking parts out.

Idaho99ranger · #12 11-04-2014, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smokinAMD

Alright....I'll chime in here again. First off, there's a detail here some people are not noticing. It's fine until he hits a bump or otherwise a difference in pavement elevation. Bad tires would cause a CONSTANT vibration, or a lateral pull (to the side). Out of balance tires would be a CONSTANT vibration that got worse at higher speeds. A terrible alignment wouldn't cause a death wobble. It would either cause you to eat up your tires, steering wheel to be off centered, or again, to have a pull to one side. Death wobble is caused by either loose (bad) parts, or improper steering angle inclination (SAI), HOWEVER, having improper SAI on a ranger is next to impossible, it's more common on vehicles with SOLID front axles, with crappy 500 dollar lift kits that don't take into affect correcting the SAI with different steering linkage that basically acts as a bump steer stop. And there's your lesson about your typical Jeep death wobble. Just because you have new tie rods, doesn't mean they are any good. I've thrown on tie rods at work that are brand new out of the box that have more play in them than the garbage ones I'm replacing. Yay Chinese parts. If the shop that put on the tie rods and ball joints used cheap ones, and neglected to grease them, It's entirely possible they have play already. Seen it happen more than once. First thing to check is to make sure the wheels are properly seated on the hubs, and that the lugnuts are properly torqued. Damn well better believe a loose wheel will cause death wobble. I've had cars come in for death wobbles after they left other shops only to find out that the lugnuts were barely hanging on. If that doesn't fix your issues, go back and start checking parts out.

Wrong, bad tires WILL cause a wobble when hitting a bump, change in pavement, ect ect

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Idaho99ranger

Wrong, bad tires WILL cause a wobble when hitting a bump, change in pavement, ect ect

Let me rephrase, bad tires CAN cause wobble with no other signs.

smokinAMD · #13 11-04-2014, 08:36 PM

Waaaait....so let me get this straight....you believe a bad set of tires won't cause a vibration only until you hit a bump or a variation in pavement?

Sailor Jerry · #14 11-04-2014, 08:46 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys. I forgot to mention that all my chassis parts are Moog (K part numbers, not the Chinese R part numbers; installed them myself). I grease them at every oil change, as they are just over a year old they're in pretty good shape.

At this point I'm fairly certain I have air in the power steering system, but I'm going to have the shop that did the tires and alignment look things over (didn't have this problem when I dropped the truck off this morning).

My truck has 207K on it and I think the P/S pump is the orginal. I'm looking into a saginaw upgrade (if I can find one). In the mean time, I'm hoping the shop can make this right because it's damn scary to drive as is.

Idaho99ranger · #15 11-04-2014, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smokinAMD

Waaaait....so let me get this straight....you believe a bad set of tires won't cause a vibration only until you hit a bump or a variation in pavement?

A bad tire wont always have a vibration, thats a fact. A bad tire can cause an extreme wobble after hitting a hole, change in pavement, or going around a curve at highway speed, thats a fact. Clear enough? Im not saying thats the problem but he needs to rule out things before spending money.