2000 Ram 4x4. Intermittent front end bouncing.

JCox

New Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Location
Walnut Cove,NC
I have purchased my 2000 Ram back from my mother. I sold it to her a few years ago. Just before that, I installed the front leveling kit from 4x4Customs.com and did the work myself. I made sure to get all the nuts back on tight. Over the years, it's been fine. She lives down near Southern Pines and has made the trip to our house several times since she bought the truck. During one trip last year, she said the front end started bouncing up and down and it was all she could do to hold it in the road. She had a drink in the cup holder and her 357Mag on the seat. Both ended up in the floorboard. She came this past June for my sons birthday party and said it that it had done it again and she pulled over on Hwy 220 because it scared her so bad. There was a couple behind her that pulled over too and they said it looked like both front tires were about to come off the truck. After the first incident, she had her mechanic look at it and he took the wheels off and checked everything and didn't find anything.

I bought the truck back from her knowing this. I took it to my mechanic and told him what it had done. Seems to do this around 60mph as well. He checked and didn't see anything but found both wheels to be off balance by 4oz each so he balanced them and put them back on and told me to bring it back when he could put it on the alignment rack which I've not had time since. I've had it on the highway several times and it hasn't done it. The other day I was on the way to Winston-Salem and on Bus.40 just past Peters Creek Pkwy heading north, I hit a little bump in the road and it started. I was doing 60. I immediately loooked in the mirror and the car behind me slammed on breaks and got way back. After it stopped (about 5 seconds or so), I accelerated back with no problems. I have looked and looked and I see nothing. The lug nuts are tight and visually, everything seems to be tight.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be that would make both wheels look like they are going to come off. As i said, it doesn't do it all the time. I'm going to take it back to my mechanic in a week or so and let him look at it. I just have no idea what this could be.
 
A friend of mine had this problem with his 97 dodge 2500. I witnessed it one day while riding behind him. It was violent. He went through EVERYTHING on the front end trying to fix it. Turned out it was the steering dampener.
 
Thats called death wobble, and is very common on lifted Jeeps.

There are many causes, most of them are a loose or worn track bar bushing. Try tightening the track bar mounting bolts, look it over really close. Have someone move the steering wheel back and forth and see if the track bar moves. It should not.

Could also be worn control arm bushings. I believe that that year Ram is coil spring in the front? Check all the bushings in the control arms.

A steering stabilizer is never the cause of the problem, It can control it sometimes. You should be able to drive a vehicle wit no steering stabalizer and not have it wobble.
 
on my jeeps, it has ALWAYS been bad ball joints. not saying its is the only cause, but its definitely the first thing I'd check.

But profender is right, if you are searchign for solutions, search for "death wobble" that is the common name for what youre seeing.
 
DEATH WOBBLE I had the same prob in Mine having to much toe in can cause it or bad trac bar also word out steering parts will do it. YOU need to run dual steering stabilizer's on it or get the heavy duty steering set up and that will eliminate it for good.
 
Thanks for all the quick replies. I'll check into these. I have one steering stablizer on it but I'll have the ball joints and track bar checked.
 
and to back up Profender, and add to stabilizer discussion. Steering stabilizers NEVER, EVER fix death wobble. Will it MASK it? maybe, but not always. It is caused by worn out, sloppy joints somewhere in the front end, or horrible alignment combined with slightly worn out front end parts.

I have never run a steering stabilizer on any rig I have ever had, and have never had any issues fixing the wobble. Steering stabilizers are not needed and are nothing but a band-aid.
 
Dodge had a scissor set up for the steering an when the joints start to get play in them it will cause the death WOBBLE an the tires will fight them selves. Dual stabilizer's will not cure it but help absorb the wobble. There are a lot of heavy duty steering replacements for that shitTy scissor setup. Just Google it.
 
Like I said.... Dude replaced EVERYTHING on the front end from hub to hub and all the steering components and it continued to do it. A slightly out of balance tire and a small bump can cause it with the steering linkage set up that dodge has if the steering stabilizer is no good.
 
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