Quigley steering stabilizer upgrade? DW

[shawn_nj]

I swapped my stock ford shocks out and it helped a ton in handling. I was wondering if there the same gains could be had by upgrading the steering stabilizer. I had a jeep that had death wobble, bad.... It came on very slow and over 15,000 miles I could feel more of the side to side seeking in the steering wheel feel. I am starting to feel the same resonating feeling coming on in the van. It has not DW'ed yet. But I know what it feels like when its starting.

I planned on dropping it off at the dealer to have them check everything out (trak bar bushings). But in my jeep the only thing I found that long term fixed it was upgrading the stabilizer. Is this something I can look for the van? Has anyone done this. The van only has 15k and was never really offroaded or crashed. Wheels are balanced. Sucks that I have to deal with DW again....lol I was hoping after the jeep that was over. Anyone else have anything else I can check?

 

[Sheep Shagger]

Steering Stabilize will only mask the real problem if you have true death wobble. DW is very common on Quigles and ford coil front end in general, on Quigles it's always the track bar bushings.

Just to confirm what I believe the death term really is as I've heard some people refer to drive line vibration (like wheel balancing and warped rotors) as DW. DW issue is the whole front axle moves and gets into an oscillation that's hard to stop. It's the mounting between the axle and frame that's always the problem with death wobble, also why you never really hear about DW on leaf spring fronts.
This video shows it well, notice the whole axle is moving not just the wheels, around the 1min mark.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EuQ6f8rgT4"]YouTube - Ford F-250 "Death Wobble"[/ame]

According to Quigley, replace the trackbar bushings (or the whole trackbar ~$90) and also check the front wheel caster. Since the caster is non adjustable on a quigley, when the rear suspension sags which is very common on the extended vans (people start to add RV stuff / seats in the rear etc), this will increase the caster angle and help cause the issue. Generally you need to fix both caster and trackbar, also at the same time, the steering stabilizer is probably gone and should be replaced.
Caster angle should be in the low 4's, so 3.20 (ish), any greater than 4 and you have a real problem, either raise the rear of the van or give the angle to Quigley and they will send you new control arms to reduce the caster angle.

I went through this ~40k mile ago, spoke a lot to quigley and followed their directions to a T, it's been fine ever since.

If it happens again, I think I'll change the trackbar to one with better bushings, like the link below. The link below also explains the problem well, and is a similar design to Quigley's, except in the link they use an adjustable bar with better bushings.
http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/techar..._ford_super_duty_death_wobble_cure/index.html

As for steering stabilizer, there are a few kits out there using both single and double shocks, but personally I'd be trying to fix the problem rather than mask it, if it get's worse.

 

[ujoint]

Steering Stabilize will only mask the real problem if you have true death wobble.

Exactly. The stabilizer is good to have, but acts as band aid for this particular problem.

 

[shawn_nj]

Steering Stabilize will only mask the real problem if you have true death wobble. DW is very common on Quigles and ford coil front end in general, on Quigles it's always the track bar bushings.

Just to confirm what I believe the death term really is as I've heard some people refer to drive line vibration (like wheel balancing and warped rotors) as DW. DW issue is the whole front axle moves and gets into an oscillation that's hard to stop. It's the mounting between the axle and frame that's always the problem with death wobble, also why you never really hear about DW on leaf spring fronts.
This video shows it well, notice the whole axle is moving not just the wheels, around the 1min mark.

YouTube - Ford F-250 "Death Wobble"

According to Quigley, replace the trackbar bushings (or the whole trackbar ~$90) and also check the front wheel caster.


I went through this ~40k mile ago, spoke a lot to quigley and followed their directions to a T, it's been fine ever since.

If it happens again, I think I'll change the trackbar to one with better bushings, like the link below. The link below also explains the problem well, and is a similar design to Quigley's, except in the link they use an adjustable bar with better bushings.
http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/techar..._ford_super_duty_death_wobble_cure/index.html

As for steering stabilizer, there are a few kits out there using both single and double shocks, but personally I'd be trying to fix the problem rather than mask it, if it get's worse.

Unfortunatly I am very fimiliar with what death wobble is.. It almost killed me once on with my jeep while towing a trailer next to an 18 wheeler. Its feels kind of like if everyone of your tires blew out at the same time @70mph. Luckily I recognised the warning signs in the feel of the wheel, and I know if I do not do something its just a matter of time before I hit that uneven bridge joint and it sets it off!

Since the caster is non adjustable on a quigley, when the rear suspension sags which is very common on the extended vans (people start to add RV stuff / seats in the rear etc), this will increase the caster angle and help cause the issue. Generally you need to fix both caster and trackbar, also at the same time, the steering stabilizer is probably gone and should be replaced.
Caster angle should be in the low 4's, so 3.20 (ish), any greater than 4 and you have a real problem, either raise the rear of the van or give the angle to Quigley and they will send you new control arms to reduce the caster angle.

Holy crap! I think you hit it right on the head!!! The back of my extended van has been sagging alot recently, and I noticed when I drove it to FL last month (LOADED) that it did not feel "right". I had planned on putting an air ride system in the rear, but just never got around to it. Thank you again for the advice! I planned on calling quigley this week, as it is starting to worry me. And now I have alot of things to look at.