ggolub

Howdy

I have a 2003 Dodge 3500 4x4 Dually I have a problem with a shaking between the speeds of 5 and 15 mph. I have checked it in first, second, and third, with the clutched engaged and disengaged and it shake in all of those conditions. First I crawled under the truck and checked all the u-joints and the center bearing, all the u-joints seem to have no play in them and the center bearing seems to have a shim already in place. After checking that I put the front end up on jack stands and noticed that the driver side upper ball joint had a lot of play in it. So I replaced both the ball joints on both sides, along the way checking tie rod ends and the unit hubs to find no play in either. I took it for a test drive, although the shaking was better it was still present and in the same speed range. I then checked the run out on all four rotors and the back passenger side was .010, about twice the limit, the rest were between .002 and .003. I then replaced that back passenger rotor and took it for a test drive the shaking was still present at the same speed range. I had General tires on it (they came with the truck, don't buy a set of them they are junk) that were ready to be replaced so I replaced them with Michelins and the shaking is still present.

I am at a loss here, it seems to be coming from the rear-end, I can't feel it in the steering wheel, and is most noticeable when I'm decelerating or Appling the brakes with the clutch engaged are disengaged. I can travel at speed up to 75 and the shaking is only present at the speed range of 5 to 15 mph.

I have an Edge Juice with Attitude and an MBRP exhaust system on it, but other than that it is stock with a little over 100 thousand miles.

jdh

My money is on u-joints. I checked mine as well and all felt fine but when replaced all that was left was dust inside the caps. My symptoms were the exact same.

cascar

I had the same slight vibration at that speed as well, had my drive shaft balanced and it has gone away.

tcr

U-joints, and you cant tell by trying to wiggle them, they will seize up nice and tight. look for any rust or surface(metal discoloring, etc). I just had all mine replaced and boy, what a difference!

ggolub

Thank you, I yanked the rear driveshaft yesterday evening and sure enough the center u-joint was not moving freely. I replaced it this morning and the vibration is gone.

tcr

Cool deal, congrats! are these u-joints any better if you get the aftermarket greaseable ones? That's what I did and I hope they last better than the factory crap, this is my first time to have to replace u-joints because of wear.

ggolub

Unfortunately I didn't have time to track down an aftermarket replacement and wait for it to ship in. I had to go to Mopar to get it today, but I will be looking for good set of aftermarket ones as spare set for the next time. This is the first time I too had to replace a set because of wear. I have only had to replace them for peace of mind and breakage before.

I did think about drilling and taping one of the caps to put a grease fitting in it but I figured I could find an aftermarket one that had them already, so I didn't do it.