truck wobble or shake

I would check, and in this order:

1 Tires and threads. All 10. Tire shops frequently screw it up. I had a Dunlop steer tire that turned oval at 20k miles due to a manufacturing flaw.
2 Mounting of tires. All 10. Again the tire shop doesn't always do a good job. I have seen mount/ dismount done at the T/A that caused a wobble in the drive tires.
3 Front kingpins and the play on them. If there is any play, you might want to check all the linkages on the steering, the box, the whole kaboodle.
4 Front bearings and the play on them.
5 Levelling valve. It needs to be at the EXACT specified height and it needs to be working properly.
6 All brakes and drums. All the wheels should be turning freely when brakes are off. Proper brake inspection, including the valves.
7 The whole drive line, including the hanger bearing.
8 Engine and gearbox mounts.
9 Differential stabilizer.

A Speedco inspection is $60.00, and they check all of the above, if you ask them.
Do not ask the Love's/ T/A Bosselman tire guy, they don't know ####.
Wingfoot has fixed my troubles in the past.

 

This is referred to as "Death Wobble" in the industry and is very hard to diagnose, it is always caused by something in the front end/suspension, most of the time it is tire's, even new ones. Must check for any loose steering parts first and alignment has to be right, unfortunately you will have to replace parts until problem is gone. Good Luck

 

Here's a wobble problem...... View attachment 57684

 

I had the misfortune to be assigned a 2005 International 8600, single screw day cab, doing local P & D work. It had been a line haul truck, and started these weird vibrations. It was definitely something with the truck itself, as it would do it with all different trailers, all different weights on the trailers, and even bobtail. But it would only do it when it felt like doing it. But it might feel like doing it at 35 MPH, or 70 MPH or anywhere in between.

I know they put new tires on it, still did it. Our company shop worked on it. Still did it. Contract shop worked on it. Still did it. The International dealer worked on it. Still did it.

Started doing this at a little over 110,000 miles. Basically still a new truck. As soon as I got enough whiskers with the company, I pawned it off to a newer driver. But they were still using that truck, and it was still doing the vibrations when I retired a couple of years later.

 

Sorry, but that is a true sign that the "mechanic" has no business being a mechanic. I don't change ANY part until I know it's bad/defective, or by the process of elimination have no doubt that is the (only) part that it could be (if it's inaccessible to physically inspect).
I also determine WHY any part is bad/defective, and whether it caused wear on any other parts, or if any of them caused the part to go bad.

To the OP: When the wobble/shake is juust beginning, can you determine if it's felt more in the steering wheel as opposed to the seat & cab?
If you can sense it before it gets to the point of all out "shake city" you might be able to narrow down front end from rear drive components, being the problem.

 

my first local dump truck was a mack. doing the same thing.

one day, i'm climbing a really steep dirt hill on the job site. and the driveline broke. (carrier bearing)

was the driveline also checked to being bent? and balance weights on it still?

cajun might have other ideas for checking drivelines. but the only way i know to check for bend. is lift the rear end off the ground. and drive the truck with tires spinning in the air. looking at it with a naked eye whiles it's parked won't see anything.

the driveline needs to spin around in a perfect circle. if it don't, it could be the reason your experiencing what you are.

 

I've heard of in rare cases, a wobble not being caused by the truck, but a bad sleeper air suspension. Have you checked this? My columbia had a bad wobble and it turned out the truck wasn't wobbling, just the whole driver cabbing and sleeper. Replaced the shock thingy and air bagy thing on the back of the SLEEPER and it went away.

 

loose tranny bell housing bolts will cause death wobble did thr tranny get any work done i/e clutch?

 

1991 FLT? Need I say more?