Vibration

[SargeFirstClass]

ADMIN- please move this to whatever thread it needs to be in. I have a 2016 RAM 1500 4x4 Tradesman regular cab long bed with factory 17" aluminum wheels, 2" front leveling kit, currently has 305/65-17 AMP Tires (new), no other modifications. The question is this, I have tried different sizes, different brands and different tread designs, the truck has just had a fresh alignment. I have a terrible vibration from 45mph up but it seems to synchronize on and off after say, 58mph. I have tried different wheels too. Seems to be coming from the rear (again seems to be). I do not feel vibration in steering wheel, but the console and seats rattle when the vibration is going on. I tell you, its bad enough you cannot take a drink of soda, anything in the cup holders rattles and nearly spills out. We (the tire shop) have tried different tires, different wheels, the fresh alignment today, and it still does it! We are chasing a rouge vibration! I guess Ill take it back to the dealer but they will take days to find something and I really doublt with just under 18000 miles they will admit to anything! Has anybody got any suggestions on what to check? I am going to chech the drive shaft and ujoints tomorrow! It did not do this with the tiny factory Goodyear Wranglers but I hate Goodyear's

 

[CostaRam]

If the tires are not the culprit then there can be other reasons.
- Suspension / Shocks
- drive shaft out of balance
I had my truck stuck in 4Low and a friend disconnected the driveshaft without making a marker sign of the original position.
After i got the truck back in 2WD i reconnected the drive shaft in one position, but now i "feel" vibrations.
I "feel" vibrations because i know that i/he had should put a marker to reassemble in the same position and that it can lead to vibrations,
but to be honest, i am not sure if the vibrations are more than before...

You may go to a place where they can check your suspension with this kind of shaking plates they use during annual inspection.

Chris

 

[BWL]

When it comes and goes at various speeds and gets worse the faster you go it's a balance issue more often than not. Driveshaft are balanced and have weights attached much like wheels. If done incorrectly or a weight comes off it'll do what you're talking about. You can look for signs of a weight falling off. Leftover adhesive on the shaft much like you see when a wheel weight is removed. A slightly bent axle or shaft will also do this, but anything more than a slight bend and it'll be more constant.

 

[Gary2]

Been going through the same thing for about 11 months on my Reg cab Short bed 14 . It started when the Rancho quick lifts ( 2.25" lift ) went on but only slightly . Then came 35-12.50-20s ko2s. I say its the weight or rolling resistance of the tires that brought it up to the unbearable level . Roadforce balanced , swapped two tires as road force balance machine said two tires hard hard spots ( new to me too). Went with Bilsteins and set lower at 1.4 and swapped rear Rancho 9000's for Bilsteins , switched CV shafts just because of a previous experience with a similar issue with my 03 1500. All with no change . One place I stopped by said "almost" every 1500 Ram gen 4 they have leveled ended up with a vibe . I think I will turn mine into a F-150 pretty soon. I see Chevys have the same thing. I bet locking hubs would cure it but I would rather put the 1800 bucks towards a better truck

 

[SargeFirstClass]

Im putting my betting money toward the rear shocks and/or the drive shaft. BUT, since it kind of seems as if the vibration gets worse while driving anything above say 45mph up any bump on the highway may be starting the vibration/shimmy. Im not feeling anything on the steering wheel, and the seat, console and looks in the outside mirrors like I can see the bed sides vibrating. Id like to go with a better and larger rear shock anyway. The truck only has just under 18,000 miles and I bought it new in late 2016 (and it is a 2016 model) Ill try shocks first and go from there. I want to get back up to 35/12.50 AMP tires and back to a 9" wide black wheel too because my my white truck regular cab long bed just looks and performs better with larger tires and wheels. Kind of brings that 5.7 hemi to life more! I dont do much trailer towing anyway, and I can build longer ramps to get my 2014 Harley Street Bob in the bed too! Yes, even a 57 year old retired disabled Army E7 has gotta have toys too! LOL

 

[CostaRam]

When it comes and goes at various speeds and gets worse the faster you go it's a balance issue more often than not. Driveshaft are balanced and have weights attached much like wheels. If done incorrectly or a weight comes off it'll do what you're talking about.

Thanks BWL,
the vibrations come at 100 kmh /60mph or more and are more that the truck is like running on uneven pavement than high frequency vibrations making the mirror vibrate.
I may try to turn the front drive shaft 1/4 and test again or easier get stick on wheel weights and try it this easier way.
Chris

 

[Z mann R2]

Thanks BWL,
the vibrations come at 100 kmh /60mph or more and are more that the truck is like running on uneven pavement than high frequency vibrations making the mirror vibrate.
I may try to turn the front drive shaft 1/4 and test again or easier get stick on wheel weights and try it this easier way.
Chris

Ive had this same problem since installing Bilstein 5100's and 35's.....problem is I dont know if its the shocks or the wheels/tires

 

[SargeFirstClass]

Ive tried everything from changing from the OEM wheels to Chaos 5 18x9 and back to OEM, going from stock goodyears to 35" tires back to 285 back to a different set of 35" and now to the OEM wheels and 305" tires, all being MT or AT tires. still a vibration. And always I feel the vibration worse in the console and front of drivers seat, never in the steering wheel but with the steering the Gen 4's have now Im not sure Id feel anything in the wheel would I? I am going to check both drive shafts, all the suspension for anything loose. Though the tire shop did a 4 wheel alignment for me this week and it was within tolerance. And I am going to look at the rear shocks for leaks or weakness. That about sums up anything it could be! And here is winter weather and my garage has furniture in part of it! LOL

 

[SargeFirstClass]

So, Im still trying to figure this problem out with my truck. I had the tires road force balanced three times so I am pretty sure those are not the problem. What I do think the problem is, possibly something is loose in the front suspension. I did install front leveling spacers back in early 2017. But since then I have had a four wheel alignment and now everything is within specs. I think maybe even with just over 18,000 miles now on a 2016 truck I could have a front strut issue. I probably voided the suspension warranty when I installed the spacers. The truck seems to ride very smooth until I hit a crack in the road or a hole, etc. Then after that I can never get it to settle down again until I stop and try again. I wonder too about installing a steering stabilizer, a good one and maybe even a double stabilizer. I did this on my 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara after I lifted it and put 18x9 black wheels and 33" tires and today it still drives perfectly!

 

[Addicted2fishing]

I think there was a recall for the driveshaft knuckle or something to do with it mounting to transmission. I could be wrong.... maybe it’s a messed up rear axle or bearing ??


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[chrisbh17]

My 2001 Frontier started acting similar, with weight in the back. It turned out to be a broken leaf spring...unfortunately that doesnt apply here, but maybe take a look at the REAR suspension too? Oddly enough I believe "feel in seat but not steering wheel" indicates something in the rear going on. It could very well be something driveshaft related.....are the u-joints good, is everything tight, is the driveshaft yoke free to slide in and out of the output of the transmission, etc.

I know you mentioned you were lifted....is it possible the driveshaft angle is just at the outer limits of "OK", such that when you hit a bump it throws it off enough to be "not OK" and causes a vibration?

Ive read a bunch of people talk about ball joints being the culprit for bump induced vibration, but if you arent feeling it in the steering wheel, I would start looking at the rear suspension.

 

[blackbetty14]

You clearly have messed up something with your mods. Work your way back until you find the cause. I don’t care what was done if your have a terrible vibration where u can’t even have **** in the cup holders you need to remove your mods. Sure you hate good years but if your truck is shaking is it worth it?

Convert back to stock and see if it goes away. My guess is you have screwed up the balance somewhere with the level and tires etc. remove the level and put some stock rims and tires on and all that and see what happens. Then add things one by one and test. Everything in the suspension is tuned and you have leveled it (screwed up geometry, roll center, center of gravity etc) the taller tires add a lot more unsprung weight so your shocks and springs have to work much harder. Funny thing about driveshaft balancing... I’ve never heard you have to have it in the same position when removing. The driveshaft should be zero balanced and thus doesn’t care what orientation it is. I’ve had custom driveshafts made that get balanced in my Performance cars and they get taken out and put back in any position and never have a balance issue. Unless they are adding balancing weights on the hubs at the tranny and rear and counter balance the shaft but that makes no sense. The driveshaft should always be zero balance otherwise it’s more work for the OEs.

On my 14 CC 1500 4x4 I ran stock tires and wheels in the winter and hellcat replicas 22x9s and never had an issue. But that was on a stock suspension 4x4.

 

[SargeFirstClass]

I am posting this under General Discussion for widest view. I have a 2016 Tradesman 4x4 LWB regular cab long bed. It has a front leveling kit and factory 17" wheels. I am currently running Gladiator 35/12.50-17 new tires, and I have tried several similar tires at 285 and 305 sizes with the same problem. Now for the problem; beginning at approx 45mph up on all types of roadways and driving styles I begin to get a vibration like a out of balance tire (s). Going down the road the vibration will fade and go away, like everything becomes balanced or synchronized sort of. Then in a few seconds the vibration will fade back in and so on. Seems like it may be in the rear somewhere, as I feel it in the seat, not in the steering wheel. I have tried different wheels, different tires of size and tread design and make, etc. The truck only has 19,000 miles, I cannot tell what is causing this vibration but before I take it back to dealer and wait days for them to search for it and tell me either they cannot find anything or it was my fault or something, has anyone else had this problem and if so what did you do to fix it? The front end has been alighted and the tires/wheels have been road force balanced, although I am not so certain that was done right (could be the problem, but why would the vibration fade in and out?).

 

[fastgti]

Road force balance could be a problem but I was wondering what type of wheel are you running? If they are not gun and wheel centric it could cause the vibration. An easy fix would be get ab5mm spacer that is when and hub centric.


Just my opinion.


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[SargeFirstClass]

Im running the factory wheels 17" alloys. Only thing I have not done is take truck to a different tire shop and have them do a road force balance for me. Im not so sure the originating tire dealer where I got the tires did a road force balance correctly, I could not see them doing it from the waiting room. BUT, it looks like others have similar problems on here. I found several postings with similar problems but looks like nobody has found a fix for it. My truck has about 19,000 miles so I cannot see shocks or any other parts going bad at this point. Never had a vehicle do this before and not find a fix. Craziness!

 

[fastgti]

I had the same issue and it was what I stated. Are you still running the stock spindle?


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[SargeFirstClass]

 

[SargeFirstClass]

I had the same issue and it was what I stated. Are you still running the stock spindle?


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Yes, everything but the front 2" leveling kit is stock. But the truck was aligned since I installed the kit, and the vibration was there before and after the alignment.

 

[fastgti]

Yes, everything but the front 2" leveling kit is stock. But the truck was aligned since I installed the kit, and the vibration was there before and after the alignment.

Another issue I have known to do this even if the alignment left to right is done but basically the wheel was rolled and shifted forward. A coworker had that issue with his Jeep.


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[SargeFirstClass]

It has independent front suspension, not a live axle so it cannot be rolled and shifted forward. There are no radius arms.