Death Wobble

Wheel bearings could be the issue as with out of balance tires...but the only way I've ever corrected a death wobble issue is with king pins.

Steering damper is just a band aid, doesn't fix the real problem.


Were I you, I'd snug the wheel bearings up and then push in HARD on the top of the wheel. I mean REAL HARD. the movement you're looking for is small and somewhat hard to detect. Any back and forth movement at the top of the wheel is too much. Someone probably knows the specs, but the tires off the ground, the knuckles should take a little effort to turn in the steering motion. Disconnected from the other side I'm thinking it's around 15 ft lbs, but you better verify that to be sure.

Allen,

In the only case of death wobble that I fixed, it took replacing the tie rod ends, and, as I recall, whatever can be replaced or tightened in the steering connecting rod.  It was getting rid of every bit of looseness in the steering mechanism.  If your wheel bearings are a bit worn or loose, I'd fix that.  That was all in my first '46. 

As it turns out, the only two times I've had the death wobble since is in the current '46 and only when I went to visit Oakes in Falls Church on one street near his sister's place.  When I was taking Bill for a ride, it happened again at the same spot.  Bill made the comment afterwards what sometimes, if the steering column is not tight against the dash/cowl, tightening up that bracket will fix it.  My own theory is that any bit of looseness needs to go away to get rid of the problem.

I have only had it happen to me once. I was going downhill at almost 50, when I hit a pot hole. It went away after braking hard. The worst part was figuring out how to clean the seat covers

Thanks for the advice!

Although several here have had to take the slop out of the kingpins to cure the wobble, my own experience suggests that kingpin looseness is not the only cause of this condition.  Several of us are saying that other combinations of loose steering components can lead to the condition.  Just because the last fix made before a cure was to fix the kingpins does not prove that if the other loose components were left as is and the kingpins fixed, that the wobble would have been fixed.  Only if the the first and only condition fixed were the loose kingpins would it be rational to conclude that the loose kingpins caused the problem.

there is much written about the death wobble whether here, Willys tech, the 3B page or the G503 site.  All cures that one comes to are not necessarily the cure that will work for you.  As I stated above, I replaced everything but the kingpins only to find out they were the cause.  Did my steering box need a rebuild?  probably as well as my bell crank, tie rods etc and all were rebuilt or replaced still with no luck.  I took it to two front end shops and they could not cure it, granted the were the 21st century mechanics.  Trying to isolate the problem to the kingpins was tough because they did not show any signs of wear from the normal wheel on test.

No.... I want to hear all the opinions and experiences!!!! Might have focused on the king pins too much as the rest of the components all feel real tight. The bell crank has a minute amount of play compared to how Mules was and the bearings definately need to be tightened. I'll have to go through all of it as I get time as this is an experience that  I feel once is enough.

 

I don't really have any good stories about it...might be cause I'm too dumb to be scared of it.  My 85 Chevy 1 ton still has yet to be fixed, but I rarely drive it.

Had a few other vehicles that had the affliction. Typically brought it out of it by jamming the brakes and turning the wheel as much as I could one way without running off the road. Sometimes turning the wheel helps, sometimes not...at very least it makes you feel like you're influencing the situation.

Also, if it has not been mentioned before check your tire pressure. My MB only had 15 lbs. and was wobbly in the front, I aired up to 20 lbs. and now it is fine. Let us know what you find.

Russ