Horrible "death wobble" after new wheels/tires?

[wafflecakes13]

The fastes way to check if it's the way the truck is currently set at, switch to a set of stock size or something close, then road test over the same road.

Yup, of course i sold the stockers right before this happened. Smmfh

 

[Steve A]

So I discovered something that may or may not be unrelated on my way home tonight. I think I mentioned earlier that when I slammed on the brakes it seemed to get worse. Without any apparent "wobble" riding fine doin about 40mph I hit the brakes pretty hard and it nosedived towards the passenger side. I tested it a few times with the same result. Maybe the need for the longer sway bar end links? Or shocks? Pretty weird stuff

Nosedived toward the passenger side? Sounds like a brake caliper dragging which would definitely add to the steering troubles.

 

[wafflecakes13]

Can that happen over time? The brake job was done probably a year ago and they've ben great

 

[Steve A]

Check the brake pads, if the pads on one side are noticeably thinner than the other side you could have a caliper not releasing like it should.

 

[aslondon]

Had similar event at high speed on a motorcycle. It turned out to be tire related. Swapped for a different brand and all was well.

I think i'd go to tire shop and have them check the belts and out of roundness.

 

[yates ™]

Your axles being at that angle shouldn't cause this but I doubt they will last long. If all you did is crank then everything is stretched out, now factor in wider tires and things get amplified from before. The diving is a strange issue though. Double check that nothing is in a bind from cranking. Also if you have access to one, get a go pro and put it in various places under the front and watch your suspension. You will likely see the issue.

 

[wafflecakes13]

I didn't notice the weird nosedive until during the episode where I lost control on the highway, a week and a half or so ago. And I've definitely used the brakes enough to notice it before then. So it's way too early for me to just eyeball the pads to check the caliper.

 

[Steve A]

A caliper piston can stick at any time, even though it may not be likely. On older single piston calipers the mount bolt sleeves could stick as well, this may not be an issue with the newer dual piston calipers.

 

[wafflecakes13]

Just read a great how-to from 2carpros. Take it for a hard drive and then use a laser temperature gun to check the temps of the rotors. If there is a massive difference then it is a stuck caliper. About to try it now!

 

[wafflecakes13]

Well, the temperatures seemed to be about the same maybe due to the fact that I didn't drive it long enough or something. Still leaning towards that being the cause, which might also explain the highway episodes. Dragging caliper plus heavy wheels/tires...even doing about 50 it feels way more unstable than it used to a few weeks ago. Similar to when I had more play in the steering, but it doesn't feel like the play used to at all.