how mush caster angle do i need. right now its at 0. and has no toe in my tires are center. i think this is causing my death wobble

 

Better check your tires for an out of round condition and their balance. Then make sure there is no slack in the front end parts. If you have manual steering zero is fine but if you have power steering you may can add a lil caster but as caster goes up so does your driveshaft angle.

 

Need a few degrees at least:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_TechInfo.shtml#Steering
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml#FAQ1

And yes, too little caster can cause death wobble. That was the fix for mine, I bumped the shackle length up 1.5" to add 1.5* of caster angle and the DW vanished.

 

so let me get this right. with the shims it will point my pinion down a lil bit

 

Generally yes, more caster angle will tip the pinion down:

- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml#FAQ6

But as noted:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml#FAQ1

If you are driving on the road, I would rather have decent steering than a decent pinion angle.

To fix both, see the link on the page above for how to cut and rotate the steering knuckles on the axle.

 

so place the shims with the thick end to the front of rig

 

Generally they go with the thick end in back to tip the axle up in front/down ion back:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml#FAQ6

To increase the caster angle, assuming spring over axle:

 

ok i got my caster checked and its at +4 degrees and set toe in 1/8" still got very bad death wobble at 35mph-45mph

 

I never had mine checked but I was near to stock angles when I used to get it. But check everything up front, worn spring bushings, oblong holes in the spring shackle side plates, worn or loose knuckle bearings (some folks up the pre-load on the bearings). And might try changing the caster angle a bit, some run up to 6*, you may need more angle for taller tires. Also if it comes on all the time, might be due to unbalanced or out of round tires. Mine would only happen if I hit a bump in the road between 35 and 40. As long as I could accelerate through that speed range on smooth pavement it was fine, but hit an expansion joint or pot hole and off it would go.

 

i'm running old gateway R buckshots that i've cross grooved and they go flat alot and sit alot. also 15x8 wheels with bead lock kit welded on them

 

Might try running some dynamic balancing on them, I run Centramatic wheel balancers plus I also added some DynaBeads to my bead locked wheels to help keep them running smooth. My old bias ply Swampers I had to have them shaved at a tire shop to round them out, they were way out of round. With the Swampers I had to take it easy and not go much over 30 for a few miles to get them warmed up. So instead of hopping right on the freeway, I might drive 1 or 2 exits on the frontage road before getting up to speed due to the flat spotting.
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ce/index.shtml

 

Be sure that the rear leaf spring and shackle bolts are TIGHT. Mine wobbled at about that speed. I always kept just a small amount of slack in those bolts thinking it would flex a little better offroad. Well, it doesn't. Snug those dudes up good!

 

Depending on the height of you're tires, I know some guys run in the 8/9* range of caster.

 

Try rotating your tires, i've found that the fronts wear a little bit funky and will develop a wobble if I don't rotate them every 10k-15k miles. The rear always evens em up for me.

 

If you are able , mount a different set of tire on your rig and see what happens .

No wobble ? Then you got a tire issue .

 

death wobble gone !!!! i regrooved my tires old school gateway R buckshots and run them on 20 psi about an hour on highway now all wobble is gone

 

Okay, having read this post, and some of the links attached. It looks like I may have put in my shims backwards. I did a RUF conversion, and with the mounts moved forward on the spring from center about 2", it just seemed like it needed the shim in front.

I'm measuring at the flange faceplate, and it is tilted up at about 8 degrees or so. My shims are about 9/32" thick. I'm making a wild-ass guess that if I reverse them, I might be in the positive 1-2 degree range.

Does this sound about right???