Death wobble, I-beam & Controll arm Bushing replacement- pics

[Aaron Berk]

Well if you even THINK you have a little wobble or clunking going on in your front end....... CHECK IT!

Mines a 97 2wd coil sprung Ibeam truck, and I was getting a little clunking when going from reverse to forward, or doing weird bumpy tight turns in parking lots and such.
Then 3 days ago it started shaking during right hand curves at freeway spds.


Well my I beam or AXEL PIVOT bushings were shot. The passenger side was so far gone that it egged out the hole in the axle. I'm shopping for a new axle now but still driving the truck.
The clunking was coming from the lose mount connecting the drivers axle to the frame cross member. 1 Bolt was broken clean off, and the other 3 were loose like crazy.

These bushings are a 1 day job or less. and easy to do Don't wait, change em out! I did the axle pivot and the control arm, all while watching 5 of my kids, and 2 runs to Napa.

[Aaron Berk]

Just got in from my test drive.

Holy Smokies! what a difference. I could even feel it just backing out the driveway.

Every thing is so much tighter. My steering pulls pretty bad though, it had previously been aligned and the shop never caught (or didn't say) the bad bushings.

I spotted em as soon as I went under the front end.

Once I get it aligned I'll be back as good as new!

[Aaron Berk]

The shop wouldn't do an alignment, turns out I have a bunch more issues.

All 4 ball joints have slop and also all the tie rod ends.
Looks like I'll be busy here in a few days once the parts get in.

And I need to find time to swap in my new radiator as well, sheesh this truck is getting spendy.

[Aaron Berk]

I've got a hold up on my parts, what size is my front Twin I beam?

Do I have a "up to 4200lb" or "4200lb and up" front end???

My truck is NOT an Ambulance prepped truck, so I'm guessing I have the "up to 4200lb" but I don't want to order the wrong parts.

How can I find this information out? Any help please....

[Aaron Berk]

95 views and I'm the only one responding to my own thread?


Was it something I said?
Does my breath stink?

come on wake up, somebody throw me a bone here

[catlinB]

look up the OBS Chat and post your questions in there

[alberta 7.3]

Maybe none of us have that info handy. Go out to your truck, open the driver's door and look at the sticker. The number for "Front GAWR" will answer your question.

[Maverick1701]

check out the sticker on the door and use the decoder.

That will tell you everything from spring weights to anything else you need to know about your rig.