Clunk and death wobble

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

mike759

mike759

Joined
Oct 5, 2025
Threads
3
Messages
19
Location
Denver
I recently installed a set of hand-me-down radius arms with caster correction bushings already pressed. I've been told that the ome poly correction bushings result in a harsher ride but I'm getting a clunk when driving over bumps. Additionally I get a steering wheel shake but only when I hit the brakes around 40-30 mph with no pulse in the brake pedal. I'm curious if the radius arm to frame bushing is roasted, are they known to fail? Are there some common culprits I should check before going crazy on this thing? Taking the truck to Moab this weekend which could be the ultimate shakedown I guess.

*It’s a 1994 with a 2” Ironman lift*
 
Last edited:
You can always hang your hat on what was the last change you made to the vehicle. Did you torque the hardware for the arms fully at rest? If so I’d assume those bushings are shot. I’d just buy some DeltaVS control arms if you have caster issues.
Also do you have a lift? If so how much. Give as much information if possible. Or maybe the stiffer bushings are showing issues that you old flogged bushings were hiding. That’s what you need to figure out.
More rich chocolatey info please!
 
Two clunks to check for are the steering / tie rod linkage hitting the top of the radius arms and then for the springs hitting the edge of the bump stop perch. The clunk could be a bushing but could also be because you rotated the axle and pushed the springs off-center or removed too much clearance between components. If you drive it / clunk it enough you could start seeing some visible wear at the contact point.
 
I did the whole install with wheels on the ground so I guess it was torqued under its weight. By torqued I mean tightened the best I can so I’ll check again with torqued wrench. What is the torque spec for these? Noticed this morning one of my front shocks became loose which is definitely contributing to the clunk, but death wobble as well? I’m assuming it came loose as I was working the axle back and forth to line up bushings.
 
Last edited:
130# and the hardware is single use per the FSM
 
Turns out none of them were torqued anywhere near 130. We’ll see how she drives tomorrow
 
Lube the back sides of the non-grab sides of the hardware. You shouldn’t ever have to recheck torque under normal circumstances. Off road is another subject. Also poly bushings are garbage buy Delta arms if you suspect a need for caster correction as they are the best state side option for caster correction.. as far as I know.
 
I was going to throw some loctite on there and realized I’m an idiot and put the bolts through backwards. As I was lying under the truck it seemed easier to slide them through from that side as there was more room to work. Was not thinking about the fact they are staked :censor: Could be contributing to why they don’t feel right.
And yes I know delta arms are the way to go This is just a placeholder until that becomes an option.
 
mike759 said:
I was going to throw some loctite on there and realized I’m an idiot and put the bolts through backwards. As I was lying under the truck it seemed easier to slide them through from that side as there was more room to work. Was not thinking about the fact they are staked :censor: Could be contributing to why they don’t feel right.
And yes I know delta arms are the way to go This is just a placeholder until that becomes an option.
Click to expand...
I always say if you have a warm mouth you should never have a empty wallet… go get your hustle on 🤣
 
I’m going to swap in new tie rods as the current ones are original with 172k on them and have a bit of slop. I would have to assume this is contributing to the steering wheel shake as it is only in the wheel. My thinking is if it was all bushing related I would feel it more in the vehicle as opposed to just the wheel. Is this sound reasoning?
 
mike759 said:
and have a bit of slop
Click to expand...

Slop in any of the steering components can contribute to vague, wandering steering, and potentially death wobble or an oscillating shake through the steering.

My work truck eats front wheel bearings. First sign is a shake in the steering and the body of the truck at speed. (Curse the puny, non-serviceable, non greasable Ferd wheel bearings!)
 
mudgudgeon said:
Slop in any of the steering components can contribute to vague, wandering steering, and potentially death wobble or an oscillating shake through the steering.

My work truck eats front wheel bearings. First sign is a shake in the steering and the body of the truck at speed. (Curse the puny, non-serviceable, non greasable Ferd wheel bearings!)
Click to expand...
I was thinking it could be a bearing I just find it odd that the only feedback I’m getting is steering wheel shake. No extra body vibration and the brake pedal is smooth. Even the steering is decent when on the gas at highway speed
 
mike759 said:
I was thinking it could be a bearing I just find it odd that the only feedback I’m getting is steering wheel shake. No extra body vibration and the brake pedal is smooth. Even the steering is decent when on the gas at highway speed
Click to expand...

Checking for play in front bearings is a 10 minute job per side. Super easy, low hanging fruit.
If you find play there, fix it first. If no play, look else where. Bearings may be fine.

IME loose bearings will show up as a steering shake first, then brake shudder a it gets worse.
 
mike759 said:
How would one check the condition of the front panhard?
Click to expand...

18" pry bar. Pry bar between the panhard bar and the frame bracket, and between the bar and diff housing bracket. Wiggle the panhard bar to see if bushings have cracks that open up when you wiggle it, Or if there's looseness around the bolts.
If you don't know the history of the bushings, probably a good idea to add them to your PM list.
If they are original, they owe you nothing, the rubber will be hard and inflexible, and likely to be cracked, or likely to crack.
 
mudgudgeon said:
Checking for play in front bearings is a 10 minute job per side. Super easy, low hanging fruit.
If you find play there, fix it first. If no play, look else where. Bearings may be fine.

IME loose bearings will show up as a steering shake first, then brake shudder a it gets worse.
Click to expand...

mudgudgeon said:
18" pry bar. Pry bar between the panhard bar and the frame bracket, and between the bar and diff housing bracket. Wiggle the panhard bar to see if bushings have cracks that open up when you wiggle it, Or if there's looseness around the bolts.
If you don't know the history of the bushings, probably a good idea to add them to your PM list.
If they are original, they owe you nothing, the rubber will be hard and inflexible, and likely to be cracked, or likely to crack.
Click to expand...
Thank you, this is super helpful! I’ll give these a check and report back. Bearing play would be wiggling the tire at 12 and 6 right? Or is there more to it. I’ve read about preload issues but they were done about 15k miles ago (if I remember correctly) by the PO
 
Last edited:
mike759 said:
Bearing play would be wiggling the tire at 12 and 6 right
Click to expand...

Yes.

If you have someone who can help, while you have the tire clear of the ground, have them rock the tire 3 to 9 o'clock while you watch the rod ends.
If you see any slop here, change TREs. Slop would be steering arm moving back and forth a bit before the tie rod moves
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom