Front end violently shaking like its Death Wobble
December 7th, 2015 | 3:50 PM
#11
CF Beginner
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Violent Death Wobble On Cube Van
Recently purchased 2009 Chevy 2500 Express Conversion Van has 90,000 miles violently shakes (front end) when going over slight road bumps.
Ok under 40 mph. i see previous owner at 74,000 had the steering gear Repaired/Replaced. from my understanding they generally need replacing every 70,000?? in any case the steering wheel at 3 mph rocks left and right a few inches when ever slight bumps. What's going on?? what part of the Front End do i focus on first??
Ok under 40 mph. i see previous owner at 74,000 had the steering gear Repaired/Replaced. from my understanding they generally need replacing every 70,000?? in any case the steering wheel at 3 mph rocks left and right a few inches when ever slight bumps. What's going on?? what part of the Front End do i focus on first??
May 20th, 2016 | 3:42 PM
#13
CF Beginner
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1
Likes: 1
On the Violent wobble:
I replaced my drums because they were worn unevenly. - Didn't Work
I replaced shocks thinking they were bad.- Didn't Work.
I had wheels rebalanced at tire shop. -Didn't work (wobble came back soon)
Only happened when hitting the brakes, stopping abruptly, from high speed to red light.
I had front end alignment checked out. Checked out fine. Didn't Work.
I replaced my calipers on both sides. Didn't work!
Death wobble so violent I thought on a downhill in mountains I was going to drive off a mountain on a turn!
Only two options left, replace brake pump, lines and reservoir or have ABS looked into.
Other choice: Replace all 4 rims and tires.
I went for the 4 new wheels and tires...and Wahlaah! Turns out the dang tires had small bumps and flat spots that nobody had noticed before.
Hope this helps you, check for bad tires! Will save you about $1,000 to $2,000 !
I replaced my drums because they were worn unevenly. - Didn't Work
I replaced shocks thinking they were bad.- Didn't Work.
I had wheels rebalanced at tire shop. -Didn't work (wobble came back soon)
Only happened when hitting the brakes, stopping abruptly, from high speed to red light.
I had front end alignment checked out. Checked out fine. Didn't Work.
I replaced my calipers on both sides. Didn't work!
Death wobble so violent I thought on a downhill in mountains I was going to drive off a mountain on a turn!
Only two options left, replace brake pump, lines and reservoir or have ABS looked into.
Other choice: Replace all 4 rims and tires.
I went for the 4 new wheels and tires...and Wahlaah! Turns out the dang tires had small bumps and flat spots that nobody had noticed before.
Hope this helps you, check for bad tires! Will save you about $1,000 to $2,000 !
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the Brain (April 12th, 2022)
July 16th, 2017 | 4:35 PM
#14
CF Beginner
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2
Likes: 1
Had the same problem art 06 Chevy express Van.
had the violent shaking on an 06 Chevy express Van three-quarter ton. This vehicle had 70,000 miles on it the problem lies with the steel wheels if you have steel wheels on your van or shaking on the Chevy with steel wheels you may want to change those to aluminum alloy wheels I found a set of American racing aluminum wheels for 200 bucks and problem-solvied
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the Brain (April 12th, 2022)
July 16th, 2017 | 4:40 PM
#15
CF Beginner
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2
Likes: 1
If you have steel wheels replace them with aluminum alloy
If you have steel wheels
Recently purchased 2009 Chevy 2500 Express Conversion Van has 90,000 miles violently shakes (front end) when going over slight road bumps.
Ok under 40 mph. i see previous owner at 74,000 had the steering gear Repaired/Replaced. from my understanding they generally need replacing every 70,000?? in any case the steering wheel at 3 mph rocks left and right a few inches when ever slight bumps. What's going on?? what part of the Front End do i focus on first??
Ok under 40 mph. i see previous owner at 74,000 had the steering gear Repaired/Replaced. from my understanding they generally need replacing every 70,000?? in any case the steering wheel at 3 mph rocks left and right a few inches when ever slight bumps. What's going on?? what part of the Front End do i focus on first??
April 3rd, 2019 | 7:46 AM
#16
CF Beginner
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
On the Violent wobble:
I replaced my drums because they were worn unevenly. - Didn't Work
I replaced shocks thinking they were bad.- Didn't Work.
I had wheels rebalanced at tire shop. -Didn't work (wobble came back soon)
Only happened when hitting the brakes, stopping abruptly, from high speed to red light.
I had front end alignment checked out. Checked out fine. Didn't Work.
I replaced my calipers on both sides. Didn't work!
Death wobble so violent I thought on a downhill in mountains I was going to drive off a mountain on a turn!
Only two options left, replace brake pump, lines and reservoir or have ABS looked into.
Other choice: Replace all 4 rims and tires.
I went for the 4 new wheels and tires...and Wahlaah! Turns out the dang tires had small bumps and flat spots that nobody had noticed before.
Hope this helps you, check for bad tires! Will save you about $1,000 to $2,000 !
I replaced my drums because they were worn unevenly. - Didn't Work
I replaced shocks thinking they were bad.- Didn't Work.
I had wheels rebalanced at tire shop. -Didn't work (wobble came back soon)
Only happened when hitting the brakes, stopping abruptly, from high speed to red light.
I had front end alignment checked out. Checked out fine. Didn't Work.
I replaced my calipers on both sides. Didn't work!
Death wobble so violent I thought on a downhill in mountains I was going to drive off a mountain on a turn!
Only two options left, replace brake pump, lines and reservoir or have ABS looked into.
Other choice: Replace all 4 rims and tires.
I went for the 4 new wheels and tires...and Wahlaah! Turns out the dang tires had small bumps and flat spots that nobody had noticed before.
Hope this helps you, check for bad tires! Will save you about $1,000 to $2,000 !
July 4th, 2020 | 8:24 PM
#18
CF Active Member
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 159
Likes: 17
I'm going down this road again. The first time it happened it was because I warped the front rotors on a long grade (I did not realize that tow-haul mode on the 2004 did not aid in descent control on hills). New pads and rotors made the problem go away for a few years. It was a very scary experience as you could not hold the steering wheel when pushing on the brake pedal so we went to the next town and parked it until it was fixed.
This time I had the front end apart to replace the spindles and do a 5" lift. Now I get an intermittent heavy vibration while braking but it is very similar to when I warped the rotors. It doesn't do it every time...something needs to be in the correct position for it to happen. Any ideas? Getting an alignment did not make it go away but it got a bit better. I am going to pull the front pads and grease the sliders tomorrow as they fell out when doing the lift. I'm trying to figure out if I have play in the steering gear, something is slack in that area when you wiggle the wheels with them off the ground. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
This time I had the front end apart to replace the spindles and do a 5" lift. Now I get an intermittent heavy vibration while braking but it is very similar to when I warped the rotors. It doesn't do it every time...something needs to be in the correct position for it to happen. Any ideas? Getting an alignment did not make it go away but it got a bit better. I am going to pull the front pads and grease the sliders tomorrow as they fell out when doing the lift. I'm trying to figure out if I have play in the steering gear, something is slack in that area when you wiggle the wheels with them off the ground. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
July 6th, 2020 | 10:00 PM
#20
CF Active Member
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 159
Likes: 17
I noticed that one of the wheel bearings did not have rolling resistance when I had it apart but neither of them are loose when you grasp the wheel to check them. Cleaning the front brake pad sliders and greasing them with the orange ceramic has helped. Over a 4 hour drive I went from some shaking to almost none. I am still getting some noise from a front brake fairly frequently that goes away if I touch the brake pedal. The only other thing I did was scrape the inside faces on the wheels with a file to remove some rust buildup.