I have been a lurker here for a while now, thought i would ask for your guys opinions on my problem....

My truck (see sig) vibrates or shakes if you will going down the road, shake is in the seats notice it above 40mph. Now the weird part is, is that why your going down the freeway at say 65 and roll on the gas it still vibrates but when you let off the gas ( still in gear ) it stops smooth as can be. So first thought is tires off balance brand new toyo mt. 35x12.50 x18's so i go get them rebalanced same problem so i put the old stock wheels and tires on same problem there about 60% used up. I then tend to think u-joints so i pull the front drive line out and go for a ride same problem. While i am doing these tests i am noticing a squeeking noise come from the center of the truck in the rear while reversing. Again i think rear u joint the ujoints look okay to the eye i never did pull the rear drive line. I have an ext. waranty so i figured let dodge fix it i take it in today and get off work with a voice mail saying " your truck is done your tires are your problem no mechanical problems its ready for pick up." i let them know i just had the tires rebalanced (stockers) as well as asked them to replace and or check ujoints! all the previous day before i dropped it off. So they tell me you need new tires um... NO i ask to talk to ser. manager and he tells me u joints are very uncommon in these caliber of trucks espec. with 40k on the clock WHAT? he says they do like 1 a year ( yeah right ) so i kindly ask where do i go from here? i get told get new tires. Again i say it's not the tires tried two sets he says it's the tires buy new ones and come back if it still does it. I dont want to put my 35" on because the might not waranty it so what choices do i have if i want it done under waranty? Also took the lead tech for a ride and he says well..... it could be ujoints but i doubt it and i made him reverse and hear the squeal he says that will be difficult to track down you might have to live with that one. so they are keeping it 1 more day so when they give me the run around tomorrow what should i do?

thank you for your opinions

 

you know the funny thing is , is my dad has the same exact problem with the vibration. His truck only has 50k , he took it to the dealer and they are replacing the u-joint. My opinion would be go to a different dealer.

 

the problem can't be tires. if it were a tire problem it would be happening on or off throttle. my first thought is ujoints... i work on pete's and kenwoth's all day long...

 

First of all isn't it the "RUN-A-ROUND" you're getting?


...down here in the dry desert I rarely see any u-joint issues....HOWEVER, the boys I know back up north have said they are dang near a 40k maintenance item.

 

is it a long bed???

I would go with the "U" joints.. you can put a long screwdriver in there and see if the U joint has play... also if it is a long be check the center carrier bearing if equipped... I have heard the sometimes to get rid of a vibration the center carrier bearing needs to be shimmed up...

Gerry

 

I was a Lurker to this site for a few years off and on. Than I joined and became a Troll. Now I am a no-nothing contributor. I hope someday to be promoted to a knowledgeable contributor. I know this doesn’t help at all, but Lurking at this site has its privileges.

 

U joints is a very likely culprit. Ive seen them go as low as 25k miles! They seem to need to be replaced more often in the manual reans, but 40K on an auto is not out of the question. Cheapest and easiest thing to do. Pull the driveshaft and "feel" the rotation of the joints. They may not be loose enough to see or feel the wear by prying on them with a screw driver, but you can feel right away which one is giving you trouble if there is one bad !

 

Sounds like a u-joint to me too. I'm replacing mine for the third or fourth time at 60K miles. Hopefully these non warranty/non Dodge/non sucktastic u-joints will last longer than 20k miles...

BP

 

who makes the best u joints that will last

 

That's a good question!! I would not go with the factory ones, that's for sure...

 

I bought mine from NAPA they were Precision Power if I remember. Greasable, and looked like a little better seal than the O.E. ones.

 

And while your in there replace that hanger bearing as well as all the u-joints.
I gave less than 22 each for my u-joints when Dodge told me they were 77 and some change each. My 05 had the same vib but it had close to 180k on it when they started up. I didnt replace my hanger bearing like a fool and I bet that will go out now. :|

Mark

 

Factory u/joints are made by AAM.

 

The key is that the vibe is under power which = u joints. Go to another dealer or force this one to do it under warranty. I had to have mine done. They will only replace the bad one though not all of them. My dealer was good however and did not charge me the deductable when the second went in a few weeks.

Hondo

 

well after 3 trips down to the dealer and talking with the service man. they finally agree that the rear ujoint ( diff ) side is bad. about 5 hours later i get a call and went down to talk to them in person and they proceed to tell me that they took the drive line off and now they cant get the ujoint out. I was told it was rusted in there and they cant get it out. So now they said they have to order a whole new drive line with both ujoints in it and install that. Supposedly it will be done tomorrow when the drive line arrives ( i wont hold my breath ) Im guessing those assem. arent too cheap . thanks for all your replies i will keep you posted.