Anyone else feel a vibration so bad you can hardly see out the mirrors cause they shake so bad when turning and take off from 0-3 mph or so? Such as pulling out of driveway or parking lot etc? There is no symtems when straight or after I get above 5 mph or so just the initial take off. This is in my 03 with the 10.5 AAM anti-spin differential.The dealer is trying to tell me its normal and I feel it is not.

 

If it does it all the time, it's probably not normal. I don't know a lot about Dodge rear ends, but I do know that a lot of limited slips need to have a friction modifier added regularly.

 

There is a limited slip modifier that needs to be added to the axle if you changed the fuild.

 

Not with the AAM axles. Mine did it worse after a long highway run. Stopped around the 150k mark.

 

mine just started doing that to,,right after i changed the oil in it,,got the oil from dodge so I"m sure it"s the right stuff,,,go figure

 

There are no clutch discs in this type rear as NO friction modifier. It states this in bold letters in the owners manual.This is not like the older Dana's with multi clutch discs on each spider gear. It has gears like the "gleason-torsun" unit(not sure of spelling).

 

.....words of wisdom....and YES, alot of them do it to some degree or another.

 

It may not have clutches but it does have a shoe type brake that applies pressure to stop the spin plus metal on metal contact with the gears that actuate the anti-spin. Any shuddering in a turn indicates there is a problem with binding and that is not normal operation nor is it good for the diff. Some gear lubes will cause the shudder, some won't. Adding friction modifier will generally solve the problem but then we get into the problems with the anti-spin not working correctly.

To the original poster, no that is not normal. Tell the service writer to go drive a new truck and see if it does the same thing. As these units get older there are problems showing up that are just ignored and put down as normal by the dealer. Until DC or an independent party digs into these units to see why there are failures we are stuck with guessing. The anti-spin in mine works as advertised. No shuddering in turns even under power, it will skid the tire first. Anti-spin works with sever traction differences between wheels and has since day 1. Anything else and I would be making the the dealer and DC find and fix the problem.

 

When was the last time you changed the fluid in the rear end?
They're supposed to be changed every 15k miles....
Try changing the fluid and bet the shutter goes away..

 

How hard are you accellerating when this happens? Are you sure it's not an u-joint failure? The AAM TracRite is a gear type unit. It should never shudder. If you accellerate hard enough while turning you should get some wheel hop related shuddering. Is that what you're experiercing?

The problem with getting Dodge to fix any differential problem is the lack of service information on that unit. I had the dealer reprint the service manual section on the TracRite differential. It was less than half a page. Basically it has a description of its operation and no diagnosis. It says:

I've seen the bad drawing in the service manual and I don't see how the "pinion brake shoes" operate. The description above barely makes mention of them and they are not visable with the cover removed.

The diagnosis of the unit was described in a "tech support" memo that stated:

 

Mine does it, especially with a trailer. I'm having the u-joints changed out today. Hopefully that will take care of the problem.

I've changed the rear axle fluid twice (15k and 30k) with no major visible wear on the gears, and only normal metal dust on the magnet.

I think the vibe is due to a dry u-joint or two coupled with the additional stress of taking off from a stop with the wheels turned.

 

I had a new 05 and a new 06. Both trucks had the limited slip rear axle and would shudder when making a sharp turn when taking off from a stop. Both of them did it from the time I drove them off the dealers lot. The shudder did not get better or worse after changing the fluid. Based on my experience, I think it is normal for these trucks. As a matter of fact the last three Fords I had before switching to Dodges had the same problem.The best way to minimize the shudder is to take off slowly until you have completed most of the turn. The owners manual states not to use a friction modifier.

 

I just picked up my truck after having Precision 351 U-joints installed...

Shudder/Vibration gone.

It's been bugging me for 30k miles, and now my truck is smooth. It even helped with my clutch be less grabby.

Worth a shot. The joints are only about $30 each.

 

Well I cannot fathum its a u-joint as I feel it would do it straight or turning sharp also. I does it it situations such as pulling out of your driveway etc. while accellerating from 0 to 3-4 mph. So violent you can hardly see out the mirrors. And as speed gets above 5 mph or so it goes away, and when turning very sharp it does not do it. Only when wheel is about half turned right or left from 0-3 mph is where it is most noticable. The fluid is new, as is the ring and pinion replaced under warranty for howling. I didn't notice this until I got it back from the ring and pinion change. They said they used the correct dodge fluid but ?????????? I know it did not do this before. They were doing another ring and pinion change on another truck at the same time I just wonder if our diff's may have been switched somehow. Like both sitting in the cleaning tank or something(maybe the tech new the other person and swapped mine for their screwed up one) who knows.......

 

Mine does not shudder but it keeps making me sliding sideways on off camber roads when its wet...makes me want an open diff again sometimes