Death to the Wobble

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OK, I'm getting serious now! :D I removed all the tie rod ends and are getting them replaced tomorrow. In the process I found out that there was some play in the steering box. I'm hopeful that this could be the solution. I had a lifetime warranty on the box so went down and swapped it out for another one. The new one is much tighter than the old one.

I'm hopefull.


Next day................
OK, last night I installed the replacement steering box. It definately has less slop than the previous. I need to chase down some tie rod ends.

Question: Are the tie rod ends with the Saginaw conversion the same as stock??
 
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I have not put the beads in. I'm going to either go with airsoft pellets or order up some ceramic bead tomorrow.

I am running 35" Baja Claws.
 
lol weird never heard of the airsoft thing.

not a likely scenario but this happened to me once... then i noticed the tread seperation on the front right tire... no more chasing the mystery wobble anymore :P
 
Azrocks said:
Strange, I tried to order on their website but their checkout page is down. I'll have to call them later today.
Click to expand...
i ended up calling b/c i had some questions.

also, I would recommend taking your truck to a tire place and have them take the lead weights off and throw those ezbags of beads in the tire. They open up when you spin the tire.

I put mine through the valve stem and it took fawking forever......not fun.
 
Dang! I put on the ole tires in the front and had no wobble. Had the "new" tires balanced along with some airsoft pellets (about 12 oz). Still wobbling. This is driving me crazy.

I think the next step is to sleave the tie rod. It has a slight bend to it and I'm thinking that might allow it to oscillate back and forth causing the wobble. After that I guess rebuilding the knuckles is the next step.

Any other suggestions??
 
Azrocks said:
Dang! I put on the ole tires in the front and had no wobble. Had the "new" tires balanced along with some airsoft pellets (about 12 oz). Still wobbling. This is driving me crazy.

I think the next step is to sleave the tie rod. It has a slight bend to it and I'm thinking that might allow it to oscillate back and forth causing the wobble. After that I guess rebuilding the knuckles is the next step.

Any other suggestions??
Click to expand...

Looks like you found your issue... One or more of your Baja Claws may not be round or may have another issue. I would try adding more airsoft pellets and see what happens.
 
I had the front tires balanced at a tire shop along with the pellets. They said they balanced out. I'm thinking this has more to do with the larger tires weight starting the wobble. I don't know....this sucks. I took these tire off my rock crawler. On that I could go freeway speed with no problem. Now with the FJ40 I can barely make it out of the garage.
 
I have an idea. Don't use those tires... "BRILLIANT!!" :beer:

thank me later...








































j/k...
 
Does anyone know why death wobble is common in cruisers, but almost non-existent in minitrucks? There must be a simple solution as the two axles are very similar. The only difference I can thing of is the caster angle, but I've cut and turned mine and still get wobble. I actually added a few degrees over stock caster and still get wobble. I've completely rebuilt my axle with all new bearings, races, new steering joints, checked the pre-load and none of it seemed to help. My solution is going to be hydro assist and forget it. I really don't need it other than for the wobble. Granted I do run 38.5/16/15 swampers which are way heavy and poorly balanced...

Anyway, what is the difference between lc and minitruck front axles? Are the lengths of the steering arms different, or the arms at different ackerman angles and that's what makes the difference? I cant think of much else that would explain the difference.
 
Not sure how to answer your questions. I do know it sucks! I ordered some longer pins and some shims because I appears the pin wasn't tall enough to really seat well. That may be causing some movement. On the positive side I've been able to get a lot done on the body.
 
I changed the spring pin length and now they seat excellent. Still have DW.

How does one check to see if their bearings need to be replaced?
 
Jack the truck up until the tire clears the ground, support the truck with a jackstand, and see if there is any up and down movement in the wheel if you pull out on the bottom of the wheel, or jack the wheel up and down. If there is you have play either in the wheel bearings, the knuckle bearings, or both.
 
I don't think I have any play but I think I'm going to rebuild the knuckles anyway. I'm getting some gunk coming out of the knuckle anyway. I can "feel" some play somewhere in the system when I drive but I don't know if it's within acceptable tolerances.
 
Well, rebuilt the knuckles and while it made a big difference, I still get wobble. That leaves me with the tires and/or wheels. I'll probably replace both although I really don't want to.
 
Just keep increasing the tire size until it all balances out. Next stop, 46s!
 
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