Front End Problem

Today, I drove about 90 miles with most it being at 60 mph. Half way into the trip I started to feel the steering wheel and what I think is the left front end shaking. The shake is bad enough that my wife even noticed it. The shake is not that bad until 50 mph plus. Yes, my tires are old and worn. I can't believe this event is tires since the issue popped up rather quickly. How do I go about troubleshooting this. With smaller vehicles, I could normally feel wheel bearing or ball joint issues. Being a 3500 4x4 I doubt I can feel anything by just moving the wheel/tire. Thanks, for any help you can give.

 

Front ends on these 4x4 trucks are a PIA trying to narrow things down when something starts shimmying.

I would start with the easy stuff to access first, jack the front end up on stands and check the wheel bearings, and ball joints. If you have a pry bar you can try flexing the steering/axle linkages.

Before the rabbit hole about death wobble opens up there is an adjustment nut on the steering gear for the sector shaft that can help. I adjusted mine and was surprised how much less play I had in my gear box afterwards. I still have the OE 4 bolt at 258K.

A lot of times the front ends end up being part cannons because there are so many pieces working together/contact with each other.

 

Don't discount the tires so quickly. Last year I was driving on a 300 mile trip. When I started, everything was fine. I stopped for fuel (yes, at a Buc-ee's), and when I got back on the road I noticed that I had a serious shake/vibration coming from my front end. If I slowed down to below 55 or 60 is diminished to almost nothing. I kept driving, and within 20 minutes the tread separated from my left front tire. The tire remained completely inflated, but the steel belts were all that was holding it together. But the damage was more than just the tire. When the tread separated it whipped the wheel well liner up, broke the back assembly of my headlight and popped out the fender a bit by the driver side door hinges. And here's the killer: The tread traveled back and caught my spare tire. It ripped it from the cable winch that holds it up under the bed, and in the process snapped the cable like it was thread.

I was pulling a 12,000lb load at the time. Fortunately the tire/wheel combo slid under the center of the trailer. If it had slid left or right just a foot or two I think it would have launched the trailer up behind me. I ended up replacing both headlight assemblies because they were fogged over, but the driver side headlight was cockeyed because of the tire. I bought a new tire winch from Amazon, but have yet to replace the front wheel well liner. I also spent a fair amount of time trying to find a replacement steel wheel for a spare, and ended up buying a used tire. So in the end it was an experience that cost me several hundred dollars. Ironically, I was going to replace all four tires the next week after I got back from this trip. So my two cents would be to immediately go out and check the tread on all your tires, and replace them if there is any sign of something being off. I admit I hadn't done a closeup inspection of my tires in the months before this happened, but I frequently do casual observations as I walk around the truck.

 

Yea a belt in the tire could slip and you have instant shake.

 

You might have even thrown a wheel weight on one of the front tires. Some shops use stick on wheel weights on the inside of the rim. My tires are mounted with stick on wheel weights the last time when I had them replaced.
Just a suggestion for another cause.

 

That's why I choose to put Centramatics on my truck. It calmed everything down and got rid of 2 vibrations at different speeds!. I think that I may have also thrown a wheel weight on the rear. Hasn't changed how the truck rides. I like that with the Centramatics, it helps stop the unbalanced vibrations which in turn, help with front end wear components and tires!

 

But the thing is, wheels don't run at high rpms. I have had a high rpm vibe since my truck was new. Never could solve it just reduce it.

 

I’ve also had a tire go bad that went from nothing to something just by going 55-0-55 at a stop sign.


Other things to consider are axle u-joints, trac bar, and front driveshaft u-joints since it’s on the drivers side.

 

@JohnHaggerty , while you are trying to figure this out, check all four tire temperatures by hand after a few miles of driving. A tire that has a broken belt or a partial tread separation generates heat. That tire will always run warmer than the rest of the tires in a short period of time. As hind sight, that would have been the first thing to check for when you first observed the vibration.

Over the years I have had tires (especially heavily loaded trailer tires) fail with broken belts or tread separation. By using the above-mentioned method, I was always able to replace the tire before a catastrophic failure occurred.

- John

 

Though it's just speculation, I really believe these trucks have enough torque to damage some tires, especially if you are climbing a lot of hills. I bought a new set of General AT3 in 315*70-17 and some of them were out of balance in 2 days. After rebalancing, they went about 6 months without any problems, then started to have out-of-balance issues on a regular basis. I kept taking them back to the tire shop where they balanced them for free. This lasted until one tire was completely shot. The shop sent them back to General for warranty and I never heard anything from anyone. I then bought a set of Nitto's in 285*75-17 and they have been flawless.

 

Definitely yes on this.
I can see this in mine, it tends to rip the tires to pieces offroad and also spins them around the rims on reduced air pressure.