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Steering wheel shimmy

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  6speedSD 
#1 ·
On my dads 03 crew cab 2wd dually;

Started this a couple weeks ago. At first it was only when you mash the brakes. Front end shakes and steering wheel shakes back and forth. Thought it might be a warped rotor... That's what it felt like anyways. Now, as you accelerate past 45 mph it starts it. Gets worse the faster you go. Nearly shakes the wheel right out of your hand. Slow down under 45 and it'll stop, and you can speed back up as normal. I've checked everything under there. I can't find any play in tie rods, drag link, ball joints, or I-beams. Everything feels good and tight. He wants to just take it to dealership and let them find the problem. I wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas before he goes and let's them rip him off. The truck has a 20ft trailer loaded with mowers behind it 6 days a week, so we need to get this figured out!

Any ideas?
 
#3 ·
Might want to check the wheel bearings.
 
#4 ·
did you get this figured out?may be the carrier bearing. im having the same issue,need to figure out what to fix
 
#6 ·
Jack the front end up and try pull and push and 12 and 6. If you get any movement it's the unit bearing. Next get a 6' pipe or 2x4 and slide it under the tire and lift up. Have another person watching the ball joints carefully. If there is any movement up down in out sideways whatever the ball joints are shot. How many miles are on the truck? The ball joints can go out many time with diesels around 65-100K. Depending on how you drive and the area you are in. Unit bearings can be all over the place. Have seen some go 200K and others gone at 55K.

Those two are very easy to check/ The next thing while its up is check all the steering linkage. Worn out ends will do the what you describe as well. Shake and wiggle everything under there. Sometimes a dampener going bad can do it but IMO should not be the core issue.
 
#7 ·
The last time I bought new tires I took it right to an alignment shop. They did their thing and remember the tires are brand new. The tech and I went for a test drive. Same thing you are describing. I thought WTH? He said "it's a tire" I told him he was nuts. He said we'll swap sides with the frt tires. Ok here we go!! We went back to the shop. He swapped them checked the toe again and off we go. Damn if he wasn't right. You can let go of the wheel and it's solid as a rock. He told me he runs into this often. Said the way they are manufactured sometimes you have to reverse the rotation. All I know is I thought he was on crack but that fixed it.

MORAL, might just be a tire. Good luck.
 
#8 ·
He took it to get the front tires rebalanced and it helped some. They told him
both his front rims are warped, and that's what's causing it. I still
say it's tires. He gets cheap co-op brand tires, so I'm guessing he has a bad set.

I already checked all the suspension parts and found no
slack at all in anything.
 
#9 ·
May need to swap sides with them. It's worth a try.
 
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