NEW GUY chasing death wobble

[20PW05]

2005 PW single cab
Mods:
1" Daystar spacer
2" longer Rancho shocks up front
1" Synergy shackle
MetalCloak control arms
Rough Country dual kit with replacement Ranchos
305/70/17 Toyo Open Country with 10k miles on them (maybe)
So not heavily modified!

Not my first fight with death wobble. I do this for a living. During thanksgiving I developed it ain't while driving to the inlaws in the rain. The next business day the inspection began. This showed I needed a whole rebuild again. 3rd one in two years. So it now has:

New mopar track bar
New 8.5+ updated steering linkage
New mopar ball joints
Balanced and rotated tires

My problems seemed to be cured until I hit just the right bump on a bridge. It wobble violently back and forth for a bit then stop out of no where. May only last a few seconds. So back to the drawing board! After some thinking and talking I decided I would do a new steering box and brace. Ordered a PSC brace, which doesn't fit PWs, and had to return it. Great company to work with though! So at this point I ordered a updated Mopar box. Massive unit compared to what came off and redid my alignment and pushed my caster a far out as I could get it only netting something like 5.5 almost 6 degrees. Other than a little better response nothing changed.

I am on my last leg wanting to trade the truck. It's so clean and we use it everyday on our farm we want to keep it so here is my cry for help. I have attempted to join DORs forum but can't get accepted even DM them on Instagram with little to no response and through five emails probably I think I maybe got two replies. So if anyone knows a steering brace that works with PWs and isn't their product share that info too.

[FirerescuePW]

I have a DT Profab on my '05, but I still have the original steering box. You might check with them.

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[rbpowerwagon]

I had death wobble after only 5000km after installing a dual stabilizer kit from bds. After looking into this I removed both and found that they had about 1/2" of play. The oem stabilizers are better then these dually setups. But for a little more I went with carlis dampener. They seperate the gas from the liquid side. The rancho is an emulsion style. Check tie rod ends. Tires I would say your good on that end. The bfg can contribute to death wobble. These trucks like a stiff side wall. Check out thuren fabrications tech section, he has some really good info.

[Pit Slave]

First and foremost, welcome! Second I am also an owner of a 2005 single cab PW that had the same problem in the past. I no longer have any death wobble. I am not a fan of the Mopar track bar and until I changed it out with an aftermarket unit, such as with a Thuren or Carli unit, I would have a violent death wobble. Enough vibration to shake the drink from the cup holders and cause traffic to slow down behind me! So in short I suspect it to be a loose track bar. The aftermarket units available will stiffen up the joints.

Second possible issue is the ball joints are already worn out. Mopar joints are known to wear out even after 3000 miles. Replacing them with a dynatrac or Carli ball joints will allow a tighter fit for better control.

Third possible issue is that the unit bearings are wearing out and that will cause wobble as well.

How many miles on the truck? Farm use can be extreme on the components just like Offroad use and cause premature wear for something designed for highway use.

On a not related subject, the regular cab configuration PW is the most rare! I wish I was able to buy it from you if you did decide to sell it. But I hope you decide to keep it! We on the forum will get you fixed up!

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[flattire]

'05 single cab? Count me in!

Silver / gray #992.

No death wobble so far...all stock.

Can the 1" spacer up front be an issue?

[nts007]

It's ball joints almost for sure with a possible blown shock or two. That horrible bouncing after a bump that goes away. I had that on my 06 pw. installed dynatrac bjs and it was gone. The factory ball joints are a sad excuse of a part

[20PW05]

95,000 miles all new components have less than 1000 miles on them. I guess I'll look into a track bar and different stabilizer set up. Thank you Firerescue for the recommended box stabilizer.

[Ducky's Dad]

I bought my '05 new and have never had DW. BUT... I made sure I only use Load Range E tires, all Toyo 35's in my case, MTs and AT2s. Your P-metric tires may be LR-D, so check that before you do anything else. You have so many minor mods on your front end that it's hard to pin the blame on any one component, but the DayStar spacers would be my second guess after the tires, and the Rancho shocks would be my third guess. Ball joints are a known issue on these trucks but yours are new.

My truck is running a DT ProFab steering brace with the original box, and the brace just bolted right on. Highly recommended. About 18 months ago I replaced the stock stabilizer with a Carli unit and that seemed to improve steering feel, but I also added fresh Thuren Fox shocks at the same time, so who knows if the stabilizer accounts for the improved feel? Everything on mine is just fine but I just got a set of Carli control arms and a Carli track bar, because good enuf is never good enuf. The Carli stuff seems pretty stout, but it's not on the truck yet. You might want to call Carli and Thuren and see what they think about your problem.

[Retired BLM Rig]

What's your toe-in set at?
Try increasing the toe-in 1/8" in and you may see the problem improve or go away completely.
If it doesn't work, at least it didn't cost anything to try it.
Just my 2¢.

[20PW05]

I may try that!

I discussed it with my wife. I'm going to call Thuren tomorrow and see what they recommend.

[rbpowerwagon]

You can't go wrong with Thuren. Awesome products. Just don't be surprised if you don't get a response immediately, he's a super busy guy.

[TwinStick]

I have never had it. I never want to have it.

That being said: IMHO, you have a decision to make. Do you like the truck enough to keep & fix it, or do you want to trade & get something else ? Everything has issues-everything. I really didn't have a choice. Mine went bad at 18,000 miles. I ordered the truck new & took delivery with 3 miles on it. I towed a 10,500 lb camper with mine then & couldn't even keep it in my lane. It was under warranty. My Dealer sucked big-time then. They claimed there was nothing wrong with it & blamed my Cooper STT's in 285/70/17 size. The factory used a whole bunch of cheap ass shoddy parts. In doing so, it helps dealer make a shitload of money trying to repair it, because USUALLY, no ONE PART is so worn that you can point to it & say "there's your problem right there." In my situation: Did I want to fight with dealer to replace with more cheap ass factory parts ?, or do I bite the bullet & fix on my dime with quality parts ? I chose to fix with quality parts & keep the truck.

Could be's:
tires/pressure/load range
Control arm bushings
tie rod ends
track bar/bushings
steering shaft
steering gearbox
front end alignment
front axle u-joints
upper/lower ball joints
unit bearings

We feel your pain. Hard to explain to my wife why we have to spend $5000 on my new-under warranty dream truck, while we are still making $600 a month payments on it. I did not replace everything on that list but i did replace most of them. Unit bearings & steering gearbox are still stock. My 08' has 45/46k on it now.

[Ducky's Dad]

IF I needed to put $5K into the front end of my '05, I would swallow hard and do it, because there is NOTHING that compares to an '05 PW when it's right. Sure, I could build something comparable, but mine is already the way I want it.