What kind of problems have you had with your Fuso?

[Howard70]

Hi has any body had any experience with a death wobble I have a 2007 fg140 its been to numerous garages and our main dealer in winnipeg is as much use as a chocolate tea pot and nobody can find what is wrong with it had all king pins ,bearings, alignment,wheel balancing and new wheels and still nothing any help would be great.

As Westyss suggests, tires can contribute. Do you know if the balancing was properly done (lug centric versus hub centric)? Most shops only do hub centric balancing these days, but Fuso's balance best with lug centric balancing, especially with aftermarket wheels.

If you have alloy wheels, pay particular attention to proper torque values for the lug nuts and be sure to tighten the lug nuts carefully in a proper star pattern. This may also be important with steel wheels, but I have no experience with those.

A few years ago there were reported problems with apparently warped front brake drums on some trucks in the US. Many of those cases could eventually be attributed to uneven / over / under torquing of lug nuts by tire jockeys in shops. The uneven torquing applied unbalanced forces on the hub and brake drums leading to a shudder when braking.

Howard Snell

 

[pugslyyy]

Hi has any body had any experience with a death wobble I have a 2007 fg140 its been to numerous garages and our main dealer in winnipeg is as much use as a chocolate tea pot and nobody can find what is wrong with it had all king pins ,bearings, alignment,wheel balancing and new wheels and still nothing any help would be great.

I would be looking at tires, rims, and lug nut torque/condition. That's what causes handling problems on these vehicles, in my experience.

 

[eustace71]

As Westyss suggests, tires can contribute. Do you know if the balancing was properly done (lug centric versus hub centric)? Most shops only do hub centric balancing these days, but Fuso's balance best with lug centric balancing, especially with aftermarket wheels.

If you have alloy wheels, pay particular attention to proper torque values for the lug nuts and be sure to tighten the lug nuts carefully in a proper star pattern. This may also be important with steel wheels, but I have no experience with those.

A few years ago there were reported problems with apparently warped front brake drums on some trucks in the US. Many of those cases could eventually be attributed to uneven / over / under torquing of lug nuts by tire jockeys in shops. The uneven torquing applied unbalanced forces on the hub and brake drums leading to a shudder when braking.

Howard Snell

Hi thanks for the reply as for the balancing I have no idea the drums were replaced on the last service and I have standard rims on the truck ive searched all over for a steering damper and had no luck even with the guys in Australia even though they are on trucks tje wobble isn't there all the time but comes and goes between 80 and 100 kmh.
Some people have mentioned that they have had this but not all trucks have this problem.

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[eustace71]

I would be looking at tires, rims, and lug nut torque/condition. That's what causes handling problems on these vehicles, in my experience.

We put 3 new sets of tires on still have had this problem and even had the wheels checked for out of balance and complete new steering assembly.

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[westyss]

Also when getting a wheel alignment make sure it is a 4 wheel alignment and not just the fronts, most places will only do a pair.

Something else to check is the king pin, hope that is the right name for it but it is the pin that aligns the axle with the leaf pack, with a hard hit on the front tire it will sever and need to be replaced.

 

[eustace71]

Also when getting a wheel alignment make sure it is a 4 wheel alignment and not just the fronts, most places will only do a pair.

Something else to check is the king pin, hope that is the right name for it but it is the pin that aligns the axle with the leaf pack, with a hard hit on the front tire it will sever and need to be replaced.

I have had the king pins checked out a number of time all good not sure about the 4 wheel balance will have to look into that .

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[PKDreamers]

Tie rod end thats what our wobble problem was,jack the front wheels off the ground and grab a tyre/tire and wiggle it .

 

[eustace71]

Tie rod end thats what our wobble problem was,jack the front wheels off the ground and grab a tyre/tire and wiggle it .

We installed new tie rods the only thing on the steering that hasn't been replaced is the power steering unit its self,i spoke with the mehcanic yesterday and he said when the truck starts to shake the front axle physically moves from side to side.

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[kerry]

We were driving north on I-25 in Wyoming about a month ago and got a death wobble at about 56 mph. Happened about 3 times in a 10 mile stretch. Owned the truck 11 yrs and 50k miles. Never happened before. I thought it might have been induced by pavement conditions. I’ve been paying more attention since that happened. I get a slight wobble on left curves over 55mph. I was thinking of getting my tires balanced. The death wobble was very violent. Never experienced it on any other vehicle.

 

[kerry]

We installed new tie rods the only thing on the steering that hasn't been replaced is the power steering unit its self,i spoke with the mehcanic yesterday and he said when the truck starts to shake the front axle physically moves from side to side.

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The king pin is not the same as the locating pin for the springs. A broken locating pin might account for side to side axle movement

 

[eustace71]

The king pin is not the same as the locating pin for the springs. A broken locating pin might account for side to side axle movement

Thanks ill get tnem.to have a look

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[kerry]

Looked closely at my front tires. There's evidence the right front tire is out of balance (some scalloping). Here's my hypothesis about why I got the death wobble: We were driving north in a very strong west wind (40-60mph) so I had to pull hard left on the steering wheel to keep the truck going straight. This loaded up the right front tire (like turning left, which is when I can feel a slight wobble in non-windy conditions). I think this pressure on the right front wheel combined with a bumpy road surface caused the huge increase in bounce, causing the whole front axle to bounce, not just the right front wheel. I plan to have my tires rotated and balanced in the next few weeks.

 

[westyss]

Tires for sure, rotating them fronts for backs might work, I had something very similar a long way from home and I rotated them also crossing over and that solved it. Bit of a hassle when you have to do that in the bush, two jacks lifting opposite corners at the same time!
Couldn’t do that with the Michelin’s as they were directional tires but the Toyos are ok, Kerry I think you still have duallies tho.
I rotate tires every 10,000 km’s minimum and do it myself.

 

[cameronsturgess]

2010 fg140 with 150000 km on it. A few things have broken that hopefully others can learn from.

fuel pump. (When replacing this be sure to retighten the injector nipples. It’s a very bad design. When you remove the fuel pump you typically remove the fuel lines going to the injectors. The injectors have a nipple on them that when you remove the fuel lines you can inadvertently loosen the nipple. Be sure to torque it before you reinstall the fuel lines)

exhaust brake. Check your bolts. When they are almost corroded thru the bracket holding the exhaust brake will likely be completely corroded. We had to replace the entire exhaust brake. You can’t buy just the bracket.

 

[kerry]

Tires for sure, rotating them fronts for backs might work, I had something very similar a long way from home and I rotated them also crossing over and that solved it. Bit of a hassle when you have to do that in the bush, two jacks lifting opposite corners at the same time!
Couldn’t do that with the Michelin’s as they were directional tires but the Toyos are ok, Kerry I think you still have duallies tho.
I rotate tires every 10,000 km’s minimum and do it myself.

Yes I have duals. I think I’m going to take it to a tire shop and have all the tires balanced and rotated. I don’t have a garage or shop so have to work on the street or in the gravel storage lot if I do it myself.