sway bar

[ChevyKev]

Care to explain this a little deeper? I never heard kingpins associated with DW before.

Kingpins are a metal cone that is then surrounded with a polyurethane bushing type of thing to fit over that cone - on top of the bushing is a spring that presses between the cap and the bushing - which allows a small amount of play. If the spring wears out a tad, then you have more play. If the poly-bushing wears out a little - you have play. When one side bounces or moves a little, the other side does, too (equal and opposite reaction type of thing) If there is a sway bar in place, it can help limit the action/reaction by absorbing some of the shock and movement between one side and the other. Without the sway bar, this absorbing doesn't happen and all the more death wobble (DW) :expert:

The same DW can be created from worn out ball joints, or steering joints, anti-sway linkage, etc...

The fact that my tires don't balance create some wobble, the wobble causes the kingpin springs to move (which over time will wear them out faster - creating even more wobble), which isn't dampened by the sway bar (because it won't fit with the crossover steering.) When I had the boggers on there I had virtually no DW, because they balanced much better.

Another way to reduce the DW with Kingpin axles is to add a washer to the top of the spring to "pre-load" the spring tension and allow less room for movement. But there is a maximum you can put in there without completely compressing the spring. Stompr John's truck had this and we added the washers and the DW went away. Unfortunately I can't find the measurements for what thickness of washer we put in, but I'm sure a quick search on Pirate or somewhere similar would get you the info on that.