''Hey tiny'',or any one with a 50 chevy front end????

hey tiny,are you running a 50 chevy truck front axle set up on you truck too ?
I cant get the death wabble out of mine from 55-60 mph.and its driving me crazy,did you have the same problem and if so what did you do??????

had the same problem, didnt make it that fast!!! mine was all tight so couldnt figure it at first but it was the towe in!!! also i got a hop with no shocks, if it hit a hole is would start see sawing and get crazy, when i set the toe in all that went away!

Rev Tex Devlle said:

had the same problem, didnt make it that fast!!! mine was all tight so couldnt figure it at first but it was the towe in!!! also i got a hop with no shocks, if it hit a hole is would start see sawing and get crazy, when i set the toe in all that went away!

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I tried tow in and tow out and have the caster sety at 7 too, Drives great other than that .
i am about to pull my hair out ,i wish i could figure it out!!!!!
The only thing left is to put the friction shocks on and hope that helps????
I wander where the best place to measure the caster degree is on this axle???mabie thats the problem?

chopper tom said:

I tried tow in and tow out and have the caster sety at 7 too, Drives great other than that .
i am about to pull my hair out ,i wish i could figure it out!!!!!
The only thing left is to put the friction shocks on and hope that helps????
I wander where the best place to measure the caster degree is on this axle???mabie thats the problem?

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check you tire balance?

Caster should be checked on the top of the kingpin, and your toe-in should be set at 1/16 - 1/8". Check your wheelbase as well. Tires at proper pressure and balanced. You also have to remember - that axle was never intended to be mounted in such a manner, so there are a lot of places that could have a problem...

Yeah--lotsa places can cause a front axle bounce.

I was having a rear brake caliper siezing up last week, and the FRONT axle was wanting to get that wobble!! Freed up the rear caliper an the bounce went away!!?? Thats kinda touchy!!

PA41

Hey Tom..check this thread, same problem but bigger car. Maybe get some ideas from it.
http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9492&highlight=death+wobble

thanks guys but still havent got it figured out yet ,i'm gonna try to put the friction shocks on it to day and hope it makes a differance?

Ok ,got the home made friction shocks made.[ i couldnt beleive that they actually worked ] They did help it ride and drive better.but did not stop the wheel hopping at 55 -60 mph.it doesnt really whoble,its more of a bounce .
It dosnt bounce when i hit chug holes either.
I am at a loss ?
Tires are ballanced ,now have shocks ,i am running 1/8 tow ''out'' ,6 degrees on the caster.
Any one got any ideas ,i'm fresh out!

Do you have any "SLOP" in the frontend parts at all.?
If there is any slop, you need to fix it as well.

Tom,
Just another idea....make sure all 4 tires are radial or all 4 are bias-ply. The 2 different tires DO NOT play well together.

That is all I can offer.

Thanks for the imput flat ,i bought bran new hooser prostreet ''radial'' tires just for that reason from the start. But they do do good and even in the rain they do good for such a big ass tire ,and it did'nt take much to ballance the front [havent found any one who can do the rear yet,15x15 rims and 33x 21 50's at least localy]
RPM says to keep trying the tow ,so tomaro i will try again?

You are in Kentucky,
take those fat meats to a place that does 4X4 wheels and tires......


If you cant get it figured out, You may have no choice but for me to come take it off youre hands.....

Im just kiddin Tom, Stick with it, you will get it.

I'm trying flat but it sure is frustrating ,especially with the shades of the past coming up and i really wanna take it down there.But that 70+mph trip will be rough if i can't get it straitend out?

Put 2 more degrees of caster in it and see what happens.


Just be patient with it ....

A suggestion

Tom, if I may suggest something its small, but I have been building cars for a long time. Again, maybe I just am not seeing it well, but the steering arm I like to be parallel with the tie rod, or centered over axle when the wheels are pointed straight ahead, like in a cross steer car its very important for the drag link to be parallel with the tie rod. It looks like it is angled to the rear were it ataches to the drag link. If we could see a side shot of the car maybe we can also see something in the steering geometry from the side, not visable in the picture you have provided. There are some forces come into play with the tie rod out front of the axle, I will see if I can dig up some of my old info on that, also, consider a Steering stabilizer, there cheap and sometimes VERY effective at eliminating that elusive DW after all else has failed. Make sure when you fiqure caster, it is at ride height on the ground to allow for "rubber rake" as we say, that does affect final caster angle, use the LOWER clevises for the wheelbase, and the uppers for caster, also suggestion for toe-IN on a radial tire car..0-1/16" , good luck buddy.

Greasing your king pins

Something I have learned to do properly over the years is raising the front end off of the ground before you grease your king pins, ask anyone with a tractor trailer, they will tell you that is the only way to grease up king pins, with the fronts or steers off the ground, I know its not the reason for the DW, just a little info for the new guy's following along, keep us posted.

DW or Bounce ????????

Tom the more carefully I read your thread, is it the dreaded DW or TIRE-BOUNCE, I know you purchased what should be very good quality tires, but they still can be out of round, ANY TIRE can be. Try another set that are known to have a good balance and are not giving to any issues such as bounce or out of round. You might have found your problem. Dont laugh, but what about tire pressure, dont forget, your rig probably dont weigh 1500 pounds, you might only need to run 24 or so PSI, and yes with that light of a car you can run the pressure like that SAFELY. 30-32 PSI in your rod could very well develope a serious bounce.

2muchtorque said:

Tom the more carefully I read your thread, is it the dreaded DW or TIRE-BOUNCE, I know you purchased what should be very good quality tires, but they still can be out of round, ANY TIRE can be. Try another set that are known to have a good balance and are not giving to any issues such as bounce or out of round. You might have found your problem. Dont laugh, but what about tire pressure, dont forget, your rig probably dont weigh 1500 pounds, you might only need to run 24 or so PSI, and yes with that light of a car you can run the pressure like that SAFELY. 30-32 PSI in your rod could very well develope a serious bounce.

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Wow,thanks for the info toque,sounds like you have been thruogh this a time or two.
The problem i have is a bad bounce[i was confused about the death woble ,i didnt realize the diferance till i posted on the t-bucket forums and talked to people who exsperianced it too]
The tire presure is something that ihavent been trying because i was afraid it would not handle right and wear my tread out prematurely,but i will try that to day if its prity out [take my word rain sux in a fenderless convertable ,especially prostreet tires!]but if the chopper gods are looking down on me i can get something acomplished on a day off!

WOW...
That is a lot of good info.