Steering Wheel Wobble

[Danger]

On several occassions now the steering wheel on my 03 DII wobbles side to side about 1/2", but then seems to clear up as I drive. Almost like it starts to oscillate but then dampens out. Seems to start as I accelerate from a stop and then usually have to slow down to get it to stop.

Steering Box loose or Front Wheel Hub shot? Any ideas?

[Disco Mike]

How many miles on your truck?
Most likely you'll find your steering stabilizer is shot, install a new Old Man Emu and you should be fine.
Mike

[RudemanRB]

does it wobble all the time or just on braking? if braking you could have a wharped rotor.

R

[p76rangie]

The usual problem is wheel balancing. Then it could be ball joints or panhard rod bushes. Then it could be shock rubbers.
A crook steering dampener does not cause wheel wobbles, it just won't hide them as well when they occur.

[Danger]

Not wheel balance as it is temporary. Would think ball joints, etc. give sloopy steering with play and don't have that.

Not a warped rotor as it woobles only when accelerating from a stop and disappears when I slow down. This has only happened 3 times over the past 3 weeks.

I have 50K miles. Is that the steering stabilizers life expectancy? I'll be putting an OME lift and planned on changing the steering stabilizer at the same time, so we'll see.

I have also had the 3 amigos come on intermittently but not at the same time, which is why I thought the wheel hub, but I'll be happy if that's not it.

Thanks all for the advice.

[Disco Mike]

That is the normal wear for a factory stabilizer unless you wheel alot and the 30 K and they are gone.
Mike

[RudemanRB]

Hey just a thought. what brand of Tires you have on there. and check to see if they are wearing from the inner sides. Goodyears are famous for that. I switched to Falken tires
I have 18's I love the Falken tires. and I'm not Falkin kidding

[Danger]

Had Goodyear HPs when I bought it that were all scalloped and man were they noisy. Also the truck wandered and rumbled almost like out of balance, which was the dealers solution >> rebalance.

Believe it or not I found a brand new set of 4 Michelin XPC 18", as they don't make the 18" anymore. These are awesome tires and the ride is great w/ 5K on them now.

Thanks for keeping the issue in mind.

[reverendALC]

Originally Posted by Danger

On several occassions now the steering wheel on my 03 DII wobbles side to side about 1/2", but then seems to clear up as I drive. Almost like it starts to oscillate but then dampens out. Seems to start as I accelerate from a stop and then usually have to slow down to get it to stop.

Steering Box loose or Front Wheel Hub shot? Any ideas?

I've also experienced this issue, unfortunately not as intermittently as you \-;

I've seen the "three amigos" from time to time as well. Steering stabilizer was my first guess until the lights started coming on. Perhaps this is a pair of problems as I notice a whirring noise on deceleration and the wobble on acceleration.

Does anybody know a source for front wheel hubs less than 400/piece? Or the best deal on OME parts?

BTW, this is my first post, I'm new to this forum, and new to my 03se7.

Thanks in advance

c

[Disco Xpedition]

I had same problem. I rotated and balanced my tires and same thing..... my fix was the
steering dampner shock. (*Just info yours might need a different fix*)

[jmrivera]

Originally Posted by Danger

On several occassions now the steering wheel on my 03 DII wobbles side to side about 1/2", but then seems to clear up as I drive. Almost like it starts to oscillate but then dampens out. Seems to start as I accelerate from a stop and then usually have to slow down to get it to stop.

Steering Box loose or Front Wheel Hub shot? Any ideas?

I had the same issue with wobble and tried the rotating and wheel balancing several times, but only helped a bit... I also scraped the THICK layer of brake dust from the interior of the wheels and that helped a little more...

Last week I bought a set of Toyo Open County A/T's (I needed tires) and that helped a lot more... But, I agree with Disco Mike, it's gotta be the steering stabilizer since when I hit a pot hole or hard bump in the road, the steering moves quite a bit...

Since it is a relatively cheap (~$70) part, that's my next move...

Good luck and let us know what you find out!!!