I rec completed a full front end rebuild while installing a lock right in the front end.

everything went pretty norm,

prior to the rebuild, i put some 35x10.50 mickey thompson bear claw, i think?
on the truck,,drove it approx 500 miles and had no prob,,drove fine considering i had the left knuckle that was pretty bad ,, needed to be rebuilt,

anyway it didnt virbrate at 40 mph,,

After my rebuild i cant get over say 50 mph and the steering wheel is JERKING BACK IN FORTH ,,,FROM left to right approx 2-3 inches.

i have done the axle nuts several times thinking they might be loose?

i have them torqued to 25 ft pounds, maybe less...anyway there is very minial play if you shake the tire ,,while holding top and bottom of the tire

PLEASE ,,I HAVE even had the front end alligned..it drives straight if you let go of the wheel,,not pulling Just and obsered vibration from the front end..

sorry if this reads a little crazy...I am half cricket eyed at the momant!!:flipoff2:

What model truck are you working on? Is it full time 4WD, or do you have selectable hubs? If you have full time 4WD, you can't run a Lock-Right. What exactly did you torque to 25 ft/lbs, the axle nuts or the hub bearing nuts? Optimally, there should be no play when shaking the tire from top and bottom. Did you lift the truck, and if so is the caster correct? Did you put the same two tires on the front, in the same direction?

-Spike

Shes a 84 SR5, with manual hubs, and the spindle nut

are you saying i should have none at all "slack" top to bottom,,if so just guessing i could prolly torque the spindle nut about another half turn to tighten them and still should rotote descent,,?they will free wheel one full rotation and mabe a little over..it was already lifted when i got it...it is a homade 2 1/2" body lift maybee 3",,

and all tires are on correctly,,i was gonna swap the fronts with the rears tom

as Spike asked, any other 'stuff' done while in there?

Sounds like death wobble to me. You note vibration and then wheel shaking hard 2 to 3 inches. All U bolts tightened? Steering arms tightened?

Don't over torque those wheel bearing retainer nuts. But the tire slop does concern me.

Get some other tires on there before you do too much. Put the old ones back on just to remove any doubt about the Mickey Thompsons.

and keep us posted.

in regard to the spindle nuts,,what would you tighten them to? 22ft or 40 ft pounds?

i had a guy tell since i am running 35" tires i need to tighten spindle nuts or the axel nuts to 40 ft pounds?

When you say 'rebuild', did you replace the trunion (kingpin, pivot, steering) bearings? If so, did you shim them properly? Pre-load is supposed to be 6-12 pounds on a spring scale pulling the steering arm.

There is no torque spec for the axle nuts. They are supposed to be tightened to ~50ft/lbs, then backed off loose and tightened until a spring scale pulling a lug bolt reads 6-12 pounds of pull before 'breaking' (hub spinning). Then the axle LOCK nut is installed and tightened to ~50ft/lbs (I think the exact spec is 54) and the pre-load checked again with the spring scale. There are several threads here and on ih8mud.com on this procedure- search 'birfield' or 'front wheel bearing' or 'front axle rebuild'.

If you crank on that axle nut your bearings won't last long. It's just possible that your bearing is seizing up and causing the steering wobble, but that's just a theory. I don't know why you have play in the wheel up and down, that makes no sense especially if your wheel bearings are too tight- it usually means they are too loose or your trunion bearings are toast.

-Spike

yes i changed the kingpin bearing and went with 40mm shims and i got 14 pounds to pull

axel nuts are 25 ft pounds,,i am refering to the nut that the lock nut butts up against. so i should be going with 50 ft pounds on that..if so thats my prob,,i didnt want to get those to tight in order to save my bearings..so i might need to crank them down a little more to 50 ft pounds?

The axle hub nut is tightened to ~50ft/lbs, then LOOSENED. You only tighten it to seat the bearings. Then you spin the hub a few times and loosen the nut. Then you tighten it by hand until a spring scale pulling on a lug bolt until the hub spins measures between 6 and 12 pounds. WARNING: if you tighten the axle nut to 50 or even 25ft/lbs and drive the vehicle you will DESTROY your bearings. The outer nut (lock nut) is then tightened to ~50ft/lbs, and the preload is checked again. If the preload is now over 12 pounds, you loosen everything and do it again.

If I were you, I'd do some searching here and on www.ih8mud.com before going any further.

-Spike

Man PLEASE NO YELLING

i think i found the culprete,,could the bottom bolt in the pass side shock being slightly loose have anything to do with it,,,I THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!1

the nut was tight but not tight enough,,it was moving approx 30 thousands i could see where the bolt was moving back and forth ,,it was fresh looking metal where the washer was moving next to the shock mount...

anyway i got my spindle nutzzz perfect..not to tight not to loose

cant drive it tonight to see if my putting a larger bolt in the bottom of the shock mount and tightend the shit out of it.......

LOL, not yelling, but I didn't want you cranking on your axle nuts and then come screaming back at me about how it's all my fault your shizzit's all skranked. Good job on finding the culprit.

-Spike

wELL nO dice

i have tightened up that shock mount and just got thru drivin the truck,,still shakes like crazy..at 45-55 mph you cant hold the damn steering wheel...i am running out of shit to check...

it drove fine before i replaced, kingpin bearins,wheel bearing, and the lock right locker,,i also replaced the bearing deal on the rear driveshaft,,whatever you call it "carrier bearing" and its riding worse,,man there has got to be something i am overlooking...

if you have an top and bottom side wobble i would recheck your trunion bearings. Also check u-bolts and leaf bushings/nut and bolt.

I had a similiar issue that i thought I had pinpointed and it turned out to actually be the trunions.

UPDATE UPDATE..

FOLKS ye aint gonna beleive the outcome of the vibration and steering jerk...

took it to a shop to have them balanced..and discovered this

IT WAS A FLAT PIECE OF RUBBER 4"WIDE 8"LONG 1/4"THICK,,, THAT APPEARED TO COME LOOSE FROM THE INSIDE OF THE TIRE ON THE FRONT RIGHT PASS SIDE...IT WAS FLOATING AROUND INSIDE THE DAMN TIRE..

the thing is,,,what the hell is it? its not a patch..no hole in the tire.. IT looks like something Mickey thompson left in my tire...when the balance them from factory?

OH YEA AND TWO bent rims didnt help..

That's funny- the very first thing you should check for when you get a vibration is mud stuck in the inside of the wheel. We all overlooked that whole 'loose weight' scenario. The simple lessons have to be taught over and over and over...

-Spike