I have a 1978 F-150 4wd with a 351 w. When i get going over around 45mph my truck gets the worst death wobble. It did not start to do it until i had changed the tie rod end. when i changed it I did an a garage alignment and put it 1/8" tow in. Is that the correct alignment? also I currently do not have sway bar drop links on the truck but from what i have found that should only make the death wobble worse because of the rolling motion of the truck. Any advice on what might be going on and how I could fix it?

 

I haven't dealt with death wobble on my f150 yet but I have seen several causes to it. Usually it is caused by an over all slop in the steering. If the tie rod you got was wrong it could cause too much play. I've seen a wrangler with a bad hyme joint that we could only see giving play with no weight on it. I've also seen really bad ball joints throw a truck into a wobble. Have you got it off the ground and shook it down?

 

All of that is true I have Alain seen the tires do it. Broken belt in the tire?

 

Also*

 

I have had it off the ground and the only thing that was giving me any play was the tie rod end.

 

I will have to pull the tires off and check them out.

 

I would verify the tie rod is correct?

 

my truck started that awhile ago and this may sound weird but it was actually a severely warped rotor with the caliper stuck. I would have to say that you might of gotten the wrong tierod.

 

You don't need to take the tires off to check them for being out of round. Find a smooth parking lot and drive forward very slowly, let your hands of the steering wheel and see if it rocks back and forth-bad front tire or rim. If a back tire is bad you should feel movement in your backside. I always go to the last place first (tie rod ends) and recheck my work and for correct parts. Good luck.

 

I've had that problem on 2 trucks. the first one was the steering damper being bad. The 2nd was a combination of a loose steering damper mixed with a steering box that was toast. good luck, that will definitely pucker you up the 1st time.