Hi guys, it has been a while.

The truck in my signature with 127K miles has started to develop an issue. I had it in storage for the winter and took it out to pick up the travel trailer. On the highway, between 50 and 75 MPH, whenever I am coasting or going downhill, there is a noticeable vibration.

When I exited the freeway, I pulled off and crawled under the truck and checked the u-joints for play, etc. but found nothing.

I put the truck in 4 Low to backup to the trailer, returned it to 4 High when I was finished hooking up, and drove home. The vibration completely disappeared when I got back on the freeway.

Do you think my u-joints are going bad? There aren't any zerk fittings on these to see if the bearings are dry.

On edit- In case my signature doesn't appear, the truck is an early 2004 2500 305/555, 6 Speed.

 

is it a long bed? Does it have a two piece drive shaft? Its possible that you have a bad universal joint at the carrier bearing . I would replace them all..just my .02

 

From experience, bad u-joints may not have any play. One easy way to check for bad u-joints is to drive the truck for a short while, then crawl underneath and put a finger on each u-joint bearing. Bad bearings will be warmer than the rest.

Having the truck in storage may have provided the time needed for Mr. Rust to grow inside the caps.

Your signature did not show.

 

Thanks for the replies and the tips. I wanted to confirm my suspicions before swapping parts.

Here is my signature
2004 Graphite Dodge 2500 SLT 4x4 QC SWB HO(305/555) 6-speed 3.73- Sport Grille, Autometer Ultralite EGT, Prodigy brake controller, Leer 100XQ cap, Performance by Edge Juice/Attitude