I was driving up to Costco this morning and about halfway there I need to make a stop and a left hand turn. After making the turn I noticed that my truck is pulling to the left. I wiggle the steering wheel a bit and then it starts pulling to the right. Wiggle pull, wiggle pull.

"Something ain't right", I think, so I decided to turn around and try to get back home. Once the traffic cleared, I did a tight U-turn on the highway. After straightening out again, I started to get a large wobble in the front end and steering wheel such that it was essentially not drivable. "Shit" (and a few other choice words).

I pulled off to the side of the road and got on the horn with roadside assistance for a tow home. I left the truck idling and in park whilst on hold for around ten minutes. I then thought that I'd try to hobble it up to a shady area since I'd probably be sitting there for awhile waiting for the tow truck. Lo and behold, when I put it in gear and eased it forward, both the pull and the wobble were completely gone. I was able to drive it the 45 miles home (slowly) without any further problems. Felt like I just drove it off the lot.

Best I can find on the innerwebs is possibly bad axle U-joints. This one's above my pay grade but I like to at least sound like I know what I'm talking about when I take it to the shop.

Any mechanics want to give this diagnosis a stab?

I had an F150 4WD do that exact same thing. Ford called it a "death wobble" or something like that.

Seems it was a bearing or bushing on the Idler Arm.

They said it was normal on a 4WD. Is yours a 4WD?

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I had an F150 4WD do that exact same thing. Ford called it a "death wobble" or something like that.

Seems it was a bearing or bushing on the Idler Arm.

They said it was normal on a 4WD. Is yours a 4WD?

Yep, 4WD.

"Death wobble" is not uncommon in some 4-wheel drive vehicles, Jeep is pretty notorious for that, even heard of it happening in some motorcycles. My old Jeep would do that and slowing down enough for the front wheels to stabilize allowed me to continue on my journey. Hitting a pot hole or a bump was usually all it took to set it off.

Did the whole truck shake like crazy including the steering wheel jumping back and forth? If yes, then you had Death Wobble. It can be caused by a number of worn front end parts. On my 2015 F350, it was the drag link and tie rod ends.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Did the whole truck shake like crazy including the steering wheel jumping back and forth?

I was actually going pretty slow as I had just made the U-turn and was starting to accelerate. It was a bad wobble along with the steering wheel jumping back and forth, even at that slow speed.

What I find odd is that it just went away. One would think that if a joint is bad, it's bad, and the symptom is going to continue.

I also didn't hit any potholes or other bumps (which is odd for the roads around here ) to set it off. Just slow steady turns.

Check the bolts circled in red:



My guess is they are loose, and that joint is slipping. I would not drive it until you've figured that out. Like not anywhere.

Are you familiar with the term 'crow hopping', in reference to 4 wheel drives? If you are in 4wd and in making a sharp turn your front end starts jerking and hopping.
This phenomenon is caused by the front wheels battling the rotational force of the front and rear axels traveling at different speeds. Not uncommon in full time 4 wheel drives and resolves itself when you straighten out your steering wheel and continue forward.

Qoute: I was driving up to Costco this morning and about halfway there I need to make a stop and a left hand turn. After making the turn I noticed that my truck is pulling to the left. I wiggle the steering wheel a bit and then it starts pulling to the right. Wiggle pull, wiggle pull.

A binding steering shock (dampener) will cause this. If it has auto locking hubs, one might of been engaged, if so, it could also be a bad u-joint. With the tires turned all the way in one direction and the hubs unlocked you should be able to reach in and turn the front axles by hand in 2 wheel drive.

All nuts appear tight.

rizzle: I am unable to turn the right front axle in 2WD. The left front turns freely but with a little slop in the U-joint. So, it appears that that right front hub is engaged. That would certainly explain the severe wobble...sort of (it didn't wobble in the U-turn, only when I straightened out), but would it also explain the pulling to the right and left? I could understand a rightward pull, but not left.

Had a similar problem years ago. The u-joint near the hub had rusted and frozen. Imagine 12-6 o’clock being loose and 3-9 o’clock being frozen. Somehow they swapped position and caused a binding you describe.

Solution was to lock hubs and drive circles in gravel lot. It caused the u-joints to loosen up. Didn’t change the fact they needed replaced but the thing was drivable.

That u-joint might be binding at full steering lock, not causing the axle to turn. If the axle turns with the wheels straight ahead, it's not a hub problem. The front u-joints spend most of their time with the wheels close to the straight ahead position, if that hub somehow engaged and the steering was at full turn, It will cause a steering bind.
Hard for me to say much more without seeing the truck, I would look for rust around the u-joint bearing caps ( the factory u-joints have grease fittings, too late at this point though, the grease will not push rust out of a seized cap ). I would look for any oil leaking out of the steering dampener and check for movement in the track bar ( bushing on driver's side and ball joint on passenger side ). If you have the truck on the ground , not running, have someone move the steering wheel back and forth about 4" or so. With a flashlight watch all the moving components for excessive movement.
You are correct in assuming that if one hub is locked in, It should not cause a bind under normal conditions, but with a seized u-joint at full turn, it could bind either way.

Just for giggles, I plugged it into my OBD2:

B137F: Status CONFIRMED - Steering Wheel Left Switch Pack Component Failure

Whatever that means.... I'm guessing the shop will know.

Thanks for all the input fellas.