Quarterly update here. Got out camping in southwestern AZ for a couple days over 2024-2025 New Years break. On the way home the death wobble that had occurred a few times in town reared its ugly head to the point that I had to take sidestreets home in Phoenix. It was bad on the highway. It was pretty infrequent and visual inspection didn't reveal anything obvious.
I still drove it to work a bit, and one morning in February, it wouldn't start (in the garage thankfully). Found the fuel pump running, but no flow or pressure. All the fuel pump trials and tribulations are detailed on
this thread.
In conjunction with the fuel pump replacement, I installed the Long Range America 40 gallon tank that I had ordered at the end of 2024. This in itself was pretty straightforward - the instructions are quite clear and aside from draining the original tank via the drain plug, it was painless. If you're considering this, don't let the job discourage you.
Here's the new pump and the modified pump hanger before installation:
So the fuel pump test drive went ok, but I could still tell the front end wanted to get funky at any opportunity it could. I finally dug into that issue, and removed the front springs to inspect the parts, bushings, and also install the
4Plus Products U-bolt flip kit.
Death Wobble
I had noticed awhile back that I had a few issues with my Dobinsons front springs.
- The first issue was the passenger side spring seemed to be twisted (thread here).
- The second issue is that the military wrap was not centered, and was contacting the rear spring hanger on both sides (post here)
After I removed the springs, I could tell a few of the bushings were ovaled out. I could see nothing bent on the truck, hangers, or the shackles. I inspected the springs and used a digital level to check for any twist - one of them had about 1.1 degree of twist and the other has 2.1 degrees of twist. Honestly I'm not sure if that's critical or not, but in the future any time I receive new springs I'll measure this before installation.
Here's a pic of the front spring passenger side rear hanger where the military wrap had been in contact:
Above is the passenger side spring military wrap, the red circle is where it was contacting the hanger. The green circles illustrate that this spring is not splayed, but you can clearly see the military wrap isn't centered on the spring eye. This is poor manufacturing if you ask me. But, I was able to swap the drivers side spring and the passenger side spring and due to the way the rear hangers are formed, there is now no contact. If you're installing Dobinson's springs, pay attention to the military wrap and make sure to install the springs so it isn't contacting (since the front springs aren't marked driver or passenger). I didn't install these springs the first time BTW.
So I believe that (possibly) the spring contact on the hanger caused the spring eye to lean to one side, perhaps leading to the perceived "twist" at the front shackle. Not 100% sure on that, but the "contact" issue is resolved now by the spring swap.
Since it was pretty clear after less than 3 years on this spring kit that the Dobby's bushings were basically shot - I ordered up a set of OME poly bushings from Cruiser Outfitters . Of course those guys are great, they said they weren't sure if anyone had installed OME bushings on Dobbys springs, but gave me the bushing dimensions and that sounded like it would work based on my measurements. 36 hours(!) later I had the bushings in my hands and confirmed they fit perfectly. The OME bushings seemed quite a bit stiffer/harder than the sub-three year old Dobby's. Got everything installed & torqued up, and there is a noticeably positive difference in feel with the front end (not entirely unexpected). There is no added harshness given the (perceived) stiffer compound of the OME bushings, I'm glad I chose that option (not to mention the OME bushings are about $30 less than the Dobby's).
Good news is the death wobble issue is solved.
