Steering wheel wobble

When mine was doing that it was the steering box out of adjustment. Same symptoms as you describe and also got some in certain curves.

 

you could have a broken belt in one of your drive tires, if it was steering tire would do it all the time. or maybe a bent tie rod. hope you find the problem

 

Bad or worn steering can certainly cause this handling. If the steering feels lazy, or sloppy, this is another indication of worn gears. Most of the time there is unbalance or out of round steer tire causing it. The tire likes to shake or bounce at a certain frequency and therefore there is a certain sweet spot in speed it seems to be the worst. Usually around 55 mph. The shake can come and go as the shocks and suspension can dampen it intermittently in combination with road surface conditions, temps and vehicle loading. When you have your steering check, have them jack up the steer axle and spin up the steer tires and see if they have any out of round or wobble to them. Check your tires for any irregular wear such as cupping.

 

The steering and suspension should all be checked out, but it is usually a out of round and/or wheel balance issue. Like Heavyd said, a tire vibration is a frequency. When that frequency matches the resonate frequency of the spring, it amplifies it by getting the spring to bounce with it. You didn't see this problem nearly as much many years ago when they had 2-3 times the number of leafs in the springs. 2 and 3 leaf (even 1 1/2 leaf on some) springs cannot dampen the vibration like the older ones with more leafs could. Tires need to be rounder and more balanced than they used to.

Many times this can be avoided by properly mounting tires to begin with. On an aluminum wheel, the lo point of the wheel is where the valve stem is. A new tire has a red dot on it, that is the high point of tire run out. So the tire should be mounted with the red don't at the valve stem (not the yellow dot). Then when you torque the wheel, the red dot should be in the 12 o'clock position with a hub pad up as well. This offsets the run out a tad more by allowing gravity to allow the slop in the hub pilot to be at the bottom.

Steer tires have less problems like this if mounted correctly. I just wish more shops actually read manufacturers instructions on mounting wheels. All name brand tires have this procedure published.

 

I had a leaf spring crack on me on the driver side steer axle. Had it replaced but now I get a wobble once I start going over 65 mph. Another driver said I need a 3-axle alignment since I had that leaf spring replaced. Another guy told me to replace the passenger side too since it is not balanced. Any input? Thanks.

 

A spring will not throw of balance, but you should have the alignment checked. Changing steer spring in pairs is recommended, not required. Many times the other spring will fail soon after 1 had been changed. Sometimes a new spring on 1 side only will make the truck lean because 1 side now has a stiffer spring.

 

Had a rental truck one day that was doing it bad at certain speeds. Told them I was scared of it and felt it unsafe. They came and got it and said there was a flat spot on the one steer tire. They put new tires on the front and rode and steered like a dream.

 

Had a PM done yesterday and told mechanic about the problem I am having. He raised up the front end and both my steer tires wiggle a little when you push against them firmly. Said I need to replace the kingpins. Parts aren't to expensive but labor sure will be.