Death Wobble Diagnosis Help

[Smutty j]

I'm currently diagnosing my recent occurrence of death wobble, just looking to pick some brains on the issue. Here's the rundown: 2003 Denali XL AWD, 192K mi. I replaced inner/outer tie rods (ACDelco Pro) and wheel hubs (Timken) and had an alignment done immediately after (around March 2022).

Wobble crept in slowly on my way back from a trip to Tampa (700mi round) this past weekend, and it's now in full send (basically undrivable). I jacked it up and checked all of the lugs and for play in the hubs, all are solid. I'm going to get the tires rebalanced and rotate them this week just to eliminate that (305/40R22s all round, about 4K miles on them). Next I'll check the CV Axles and U-Joints on both driveshafts. Beyond that, what should I be checking (and potentially replacing) to identify and resolve the issue? If you've experienced this, what did you conclude was causing it?

I'm very tempted to proactively replace all of the main suspension parts to prevent issues down the road, but my wallet would prefer I snowball it, cheapest parts first.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I had a similar issue with my 01 Yukon, after going through changing ball joints upper and lower, inner and outer tie rods, pitman, idler arms, also rotating the tires, alignment and balancing the tires. My culprit was warped rotors. My Abs was not letting the calipers completely release. The brake fluid was not releasing the pressure on the calipers. I don’t know if you’re having that braking issue, but it’s worth a check. It doesn’t cost a thing to lift the vehicle to see if your wheels turn freely. Just my 1.5 cents.

 

[tooleyondeck]

I had a similar issue with my 01 Yukon, after going through changing ball joints upper and lower, inner and outer tie rods, pitman, idler arms, also rotating the tires, alignment and balancing the tires. My culprit was warped rotors. My Abs was not letting the calipers completely release. The brake fluid was not releasing the pressure on the calipers. I don’t know if you’re having that braking issue, but it’s worth a check. It doesn’t cost a thing to lift the vehicle to see if your wheels turn freely. Just my 1.5 cents.

I think I got it pinned down to the tires having tread separation knots. I replaced two already and rotated the old ones to the front and now have the same issue. New tires are in and I'm pending an install. Im really hoping this fixes the issue because it makes me not want to drive what is otherwise probably my favorite vehicle. Tires are 305/40R22 on 22x10" Avenue A612s with hub centric rings.

 

[tooleyondeck]

Also for context: the vehicle sat for about 8 months before I purchased it. I'm assuming that contributed to the tires being complete shit, aside from them being cheap Dilente DS8s. I only went with the same brand for the sake of having matching tires BUT I am pretty much decided that after these go to crap I will look into some all terrains. These wheels are a bit too "dope boy" for my taste (the truck came from Atlanta), but I know I'm limited on options thanks to Z55 suspension. Hopefully I can squeeze some beefier tires in there without torsion keys or a body lift.

 

[DadsToy]

I had the same death wobble. I used to own a Jeep, know it all too well. I fix mine by replacing the shocks. Look at replacing the shocks. That might have cause the bad tire wear.

 

[02escalade]

I had an issue like that soon as I hit uneven road or even a small pothole .. my steering wheel would shake like crazy until I slowed down… it was a bend in the rim .. not a crazy bend but it was enuff to put it all over the road I used some wood and hammered it as strait as I could and swapped it to the rear .. no more shakes or wobbles .. aftermarket cheap 24 rims they were btw

 

[tooleyondeck]

Well, since this thread was recently resurrected I figured I would give an update. It's been about a year since I replaced all 4 tires and I haven't has s single problem since. I did, however, discover that a previous owner apparently deleted the Autoride on the rear bc it has Bilsteins installed and I don't see a bladder on the shock (nice!).

My attention has turned to the interior since, as I replaced some torn seat bottoms, updated my gauge cluster to the Esky style, and threw in a dashskin cover to start my two-tone theme (way too much TAN in these things). But now that its finally starting to cool down a bit here in FL I think I'm going to explore what my options are for leveling this monster to prep for a wheel/tire swap. Here's what she looks like as of now (I need to take more/better pics).

 

[MikeW]

Did you ever find outwhat was the culprit. Currently am having same issues but really only after I hit pot hole.....

 

[exp500]

Another thing to check is front driveshaft. If it is getting to the unlubed age funny vibrations happen, especially on accel/decel.

 

[rockola1971]

Did you ever find outwhat was the culprit. Currently am having same issues but really only after I hit pot hole.....

Have a look at your upper control arms. The eccentric cams specifically. See if there are signs of being moved which throws the angle of the tire where it meets the road out (caster/camber). Also a common result of a deep pothole is a bent tie rod. It will be obvious and it will be your inner that is bent since it is the most fragile compared to the outer tie rod.

 

[firsthere]

I'll throw my 2 cents in . The only time we ever experienced the high speed wobbles on a stock 04 Tahoe was when running older studded tires down the I-5. I immediately removed them and have not had a problem since.

The front end had recently been rebuilt with Moog parts so kinda ruled out loose link issues, although the alignment was not perfect. I figure the soft rubber compound combined with low tire pressures (winter driving) lead to the carcass sidewall deforming at speed.