Weird D60 front axle vibration

[DaveB]

My wife has been complaining about a wierd vibration in the front of my 85 K30 and driving home from the Rocklogic sale Saturday I felt it too. When you go over a bump it will start a vibration and noise that sounds like you are driving on the rumble strips on the side of the road. When you hit another bump it goes away. A year or so back I got death wobble on it hitting bumps and I replaced the spring and plastic cone on the top king pin and it made that problem go away. I haven't dug into it yet but does anyone have any suggestions on this strange noise ? The side that is doing it also seems to go through tie rod ends much faster than the other side.

 

[KToy]

i had that and i started with a complete knuckle rebuild kit. that way you get all new bearings. my lower bearings fell apart when i took the axle apart and im sure thats why mine did the death wobble.

 

[smashmetal]

Is your rig lifted? my blazer did the same thing but I think the 40" tires had something to do with it. Cross over steering helped a bunch but in the end it was the unbalanced set of wheels and tires tires. Hydro assist ended up curing all of my problems and it is super easy to do on those chevys!

 

[DaveB]

My one ton is not lifted but has a heavy big block in it. I do get a bit of wheel shake up front especially when cornering on the freeway at higher speeds. The "rumble strip vibration" is something I've never had before and it seems wierd that a bump starts it and then another bump ends it.

 

[timpanogos]

I had what I'd also call "rumble strip vibration" right front wheel --- it had a bunch of mud in once spot and needed some weights ... easy first check ... tire balance

 

[smashmetal]

My one ton is not lifted but has a heavy big block in it. I do get a bit of wheel shake up front especially when cornering on the freeway at higher speeds. The "rumble strip vibration" is something I've never had before and it seems wierd that a bump starts it and then another bump ends it.

Yup Id start with the a wheel and tire balance first, heavy engines wear quit heavly on tires. I had death wobble issues with my brand new cummins. Ended up being the tires, the D rated tires where not carring the weight of the front of the truck like they should have. Swapped to the E's and not problems since.