OK, so I'm new to this site but I did try to seach for an answer to my problem but couldn't find anything related. I have a 1983 toyota pickup that has death wobble. It shakes like crazy when I get upto 40mph and goes away when I get to 50mph. I parked it last summer after this started happening and forgot about it until a guy wanting to buy it took it for a test drive and about crapped himself when he hit 40 and the whole truck started shaking violently, "oops I forgot about that." You can guess how that sale went. Now I did check the TRE's and wheel bearings before I parked it, I raised the front and shook the tires back and forth and up and down but everything was tight, no play(I did have a second person to help). Now that was awhile ago and tonight I'm going over it again, but if it's not TRE's or WB's what could it be? I don't know birfields very well, could it be something in there? Also my buddy said the steering gear could need adjusting, I didn't know that could be adjusted. So here I go with Haynes manual in hand, but I would appreciate any ideas or help y'all can give thanks.

 

check the drag link for play, ragjoint?

 

Hows the alignment look?

 

Check your tires. Make sure they are all aired up properly and match in size. Make sure the rims match in size, width, and offset. If thats all good, make sure all of your spring bolts are tight, and the bushings aren't worn out. Odds are your spring bushings are worn and need replaced.

 

2 common causes are worn/loose knuckle bearings and improper caster angle (too little). Could also be a worn out steering stabilizer making it worse and also unevenly worn or imbalanced tires.

 

Also check your spring bushings.

 

Basically, everything that goes into steering or suspending

I'm currently tracking down the same thing with my new purchase.

My order of operations to fix it:
1. Just upgraded to stock P/S setup, checked steering shaft joint for play, greased pitman arm/steering drag link joint while box was out - this fixed the play in the steering, and decreased the 'out of controlness' leading up to the wobble
2. Swapping in new steering stabilizer
3. The tires and wheels are probably 20 years old - going to swap some new tires on the stock steelies and balance. - after this hopefully no wobble
4. Manually Check/Align toe in.
5. My center link bushings and spring bushings visually seem fine, I'm sort of holding out on tearing that apart (fingers crossed) until thoughts of high steer /alxe/drivetrain swap(s)...

 

Alright, so I checked some things out last night and this is what I found. Lets start with the obvious, the wheels and tires are all the same size, steel wheels with weights still on and the tires have slight wear on the outside, (high low on the outer edge) that I believe to be caused by the wobble and the truck tracks straight when driven so I think the alignment is alright. So then I lifted the front of the truck a little and shook the wheels up and down to check the wheel bearings which were nice and tight and then shook side to side to check the tie rod ends which had no play in them, but it seemed that there was some play in the steering gearbox. I'm wondering if that could be my problem cause my buddy said that gear can be adjusted and might be the issue, what do you guys think? And if so how do I adjust that, do I have to remove it to do so? I don't know the names of the other joints of the steering components but they all seemed tight. The u-joints in the steering shaft are a little loose but I don't think they are causing the wobble perhaps just making it worse. The u- joints on the drive shafts are tight. Then I took the wheels off and found plenty of mud caked on which can make it worse I know but it was doing this before mud season so I don't think it's the direct cause. So if all this sounds right I think I need to focus on the steering gear but any input would be great, THANK YOU for your help so far and for any future help, it means a lot to me.

 

I'm tending to agree with the tires being the problem. I just had the same issue on my '86 runner. It sat for a while before I bought it, I got it and drove it a little, it sat for about 4 months and then when I started driving it again I got a shake/wobble about 35mph to about 45 mph. Had the tires rebalanced and rotated and that helped a little but finally broke down and bought new tires, problem solved.
Good luck on getting it fixed up and figuring out the cause!

 

I don't think it's the tires cause they were new when this started, I think they're worn because of the wobble, but I thought it might be a bent steel wheel but woundn't that shake all the time not just from 40-50mph?

 

Sorry, can't rotate it on my phone but here is how to tweak the steering gear. Don't count on it curing everything:

 

I had those, too. After replacing my steering stabilizer, they have basically disappeared. Sometimes I still feel a slight vibration, but nothing like the death wobbles I used to have. Good luck

 

.....

 

Thank you guys. What book is that OC, a chiltons? Tomorrow I'll adjust the steering gear and rotate the tires, I've already scraped off all the mud on the wheels so hopefully that will take care of it, I'll keep you guys posted. Thank you guys again you've been a great help.

 

Those are out of my 1981 toyota factory service manual.

Edit-you can also download the '85 service manual using the link in my sig-the majority of it will apply to 79-85's

 

So I went up to the garage last night to adjust my steering gear, got my haynes manual and it looks like it's going to be pretty straight forward, loosen the set nut and adjust, I pop the hood and guess what? I have a different steering box, no adjustment anywhere. So I think I was looking at the IFS version and so is OC's picture, SUCK. So I've checked everything up front short of pulling the wheel bearings out and tearing down the birfields, seriously this shouldn't be this hard to figure out. Is it possible that a bad steering stabalizer could CAUSE the death wobble or would it just make it worse having a bad stabalizer? I also don't think there's anything in the birfs that would cause a wobble from only 40-50mph. So I guess my next step is to tear down the axle and see inside. I tried uploading some pics but am having problems with that too, I'm better with trucks then computers but not having much luck with either right now.

 

I'm a believer that the steering stabilizer is just a bandage for a worse problem. Your spring bushings and bolts are good? How much play do you have in the steering wheel? Is the truck stock height?

 

I agree. The only bushings that are very bad are my swaybar end links, all the others are fine, not even fraying and I believe it's stock height. I'm having issues getting the pic on here but check my profile pics it's the tan one with the topper.

 

Just because the ends are not dry cracking doesn't mean the bolt hole part of the bushings isn't wore out. The spring bolts can even be worn. The only way to check then is to remove the shackles and the spring bolts. It can be a chore to do, as they usually seize into the bushings.

 

To start I don't think you are having "death wobble." If is starts at 40 and goes away at 50. You know it when death wobble happens and the last thing you are able or want to do is speed up. As far as your alignment goes just because your vehicle is driving strait down the road doesn't mean that it is aligned properly, the wear on the outside of the tire tells you that something is wrong. Is it worn with a slight feather to one side?