deserteagle56
Adventurer
About a month ago I received a redesigned track bar and steering dampner from Quigley because my '07, after it had 31,000 miles on it, started having serious death wobble problems. The redesigned track bar looked exactly like the old one - except that instead of having thick rubber bushings in the ends, it looks more like a heim joint with no rubber in it at all. There is a very thin layer of what appears to be some kind of carbon or plastic around the ball in the joint, whether for lubrication or to prevent metal-to-metal contact I don't know. Installation was very straightforward - I put the van up on stands, unbolted the old track bar and bolted in the new one. The other change was the steering dampner. Originally my Quigley came from the factory came with two steering dampners. Per the instructions with the new dampner, I removed the upper dampner altogether, including it's mount to the frame. I replaced the lower dampner with the new one supplied by Quigley. This new dampner, by the way, has a Ford part number stamped on it - 8C34-3E651-DB. The new Quigley track bar has a part number of QTB-E-0702.
When I talked to Quigley about the death wobble problem (and boy, do they get upset when you call it death wobble!) I asked about alignment on the front end. The build sheet on the unit shows alignment was done to meet specs of a 2001-02 F350, which of course is leaf-sprung and not coil. I know that Ford issued a service bulletin (TSB 07-10-10, Steering Wheel Oscillation) to alter alignment specs when they started having death wobble issues on the coil-sprung Superduties and so I thought this might be contributing to the problem. Quigley told me no, just leave the alignment as is.
I just completed an 1800 mile trip into the Utah back country and I have to report that the new track bar and steering dampner worked wonders. Before, on any rough road surface it felt as though wobble was imminent at any time and the steering wheel seemed to move with every road imperfection. No more. It is rock-solid and steady, with no hint of wobble no matter how rough the road. Time will tell if this is a permanent fix but for now I am a happy camper. Can't believe the difference a couple rubber bushings made! No photos - I never even thought about it until the job was done so my apologies for that oversight.
When I talked to Quigley about the death wobble problem (and boy, do they get upset when you call it death wobble!) I asked about alignment on the front end. The build sheet on the unit shows alignment was done to meet specs of a 2001-02 F350, which of course is leaf-sprung and not coil. I know that Ford issued a service bulletin (TSB 07-10-10, Steering Wheel Oscillation) to alter alignment specs when they started having death wobble issues on the coil-sprung Superduties and so I thought this might be contributing to the problem. Quigley told me no, just leave the alignment as is.
I just completed an 1800 mile trip into the Utah back country and I have to report that the new track bar and steering dampner worked wonders. Before, on any rough road surface it felt as though wobble was imminent at any time and the steering wheel seemed to move with every road imperfection. No more. It is rock-solid and steady, with no hint of wobble no matter how rough the road. Time will tell if this is a permanent fix but for now I am a happy camper. Can't believe the difference a couple rubber bushings made! No photos - I never even thought about it until the job was done so my apologies for that oversight.