the death shake

[bigredram97]

heres my situation...i have a 1997 ram with a 14" lift....when i hit 35 mph the front end starts feeling shaky..if i accelerate to about 45 the truck shakes up and down so bad i have to hit the brakes and come to a complete stop...if i am stopped and i put it to the floor it rides smooth after i get to 60 and i can cruise at that speed and it rides fine...anywhere between 35 and 50 is a nightmare...any clues to what might cause this? i changed all bushings in front end with poly eurothane ones and nothing is broke...axles are fine..etc...i am left clueless..even took it to my mechanic and he is stumped...anything would help...one other thing...when it is riding smooth after 60..if i hit the slightest bump in the road all hell breaks loose and it starts shaking..im clueless

[lmagee]

what trackbar are you running on it, what kind of lift? what is your caster set at?

[Mr. Mindless]

Sounds like caster-related death wobble to me. Also how are your control arm angles? Tell me you've got a long arm kit on that show truck....

[bigredram97]

this is gonna sound dumb...what is the caster? it is a long arm. as for the track bar. it was custom made with the lift. longer than the factory.

[lmagee]

caster is the relation of the balljoints to each other. You want the lower balljoint slightly forward of the upper balljoint, around 5 degrees, What brand of lift is it? If its a Skyjacker lift I got 5 dollars that says the track bar is the problem.

[Foolish]

What size tire and how well are they balanced?

BTW some pics of your setup and its steering/suspension specifics would be great help to diagnosing problems over the intardnet, however, i think the main problem is that you don't have enough lift. :rolleyes:

[bigredram97]

the lift was custom made by appalachian off road in georgia. i dont think the amount of lift or tires is the problem..i have 14" of lift and tires were balanced with equalizer. the lift could easily fit 44's..ill try my best to get some pictures up of the front end....as for the track bar. when i bought this truck it had the lift on it already (mistake on my part) and it very much resembles a skyjacker..how could i tell if the problem is the track bar?

[Mr. Mindless]

If a track bar is in really bad shape you can try pushing the nose of the truck sideways and see if there's lateral motion of the axle in relation to the truck. I've got a friend with a TJ whose rear is that bad right now, but that's rare...

A better test is to have someone turn the wheel back and forth with the truck parked (the power steering will be a big help so let the truck idle) and watch for motion that shouldn't be there, and look for where it's coming from.