Vibrating at 80mph

We have had issues with my wife's Durango since day 1 we a vibration at 80mph, but none of my RAMs. I can tell you for 100% certainty the tire is not the root cause on hers. After 5-6K miles the tires (2+) will have odd wear patterns. We have replaced the tires 3 times now and had the dealership swap the 18" rims with 20" for a test. Even with the 20" rims and tires it developed again after about 4k miles. So, first I suggest having a GOOD shop do a road force balance and check your rims (not just balance). If that is all good, start looking at drive line but good luck getting a dealership to agree their is a problem. Also, regarding 80mph, just tell them you travel to South Dakota. They have 80 mph roads. That is where we first noticed the issue, but the dealer just says the same old B.S of "we can't drive that fast to test it".

I had a vibration on my 2016 as well. Started with balancing. It helped but did not fix it. I took the plunge of getting rid of my Goodyear tires and going with Michelin's. That took care of my problem. Tire people said they have seen several "egg shaped" Goodyear's. If that fails, you could have someone investigate tie-rods and ball joints. Good Luck whith finding your problem, it can be a frustrating (expensive) item to diagnose.

Peter

Almost same thing happened on my 2018 2500. Truck was smooth up to any highway speed until I rotated the tires front to back. Then it started shaking in the rear about 70MPH and higher. Turned out the front tires were worn a bit from excessive toe in adjustment which caused a lot of wear on the outside edges of the front tires. The front tires were not out of balance just had a lot of worn areas which made them sort of out of round. I checked the toe in and it was about 1/4 inch just using a tape measure and marking the tire centers. I had to replace the tires at 39K miles and adjusted the toe in to ZERO. They wear good right now and run smooth down the road. Tires now are Michelin Defender and each had about 4 or 6 oz. of weight to correct them. The runout on each tire tread was about 0.1 inch per the Hunter machine.

If you are 1500, 4x4 and 2012 or newer check your front CV shafts and intermediate shafts for excessive side-side/up-down play. This will drive you and your tire shop crazy if you keep chasing tire problems.

Had a set of Wranglers that drove me crazy. Rebalance every 5 to 10 k. Tire dealer said high mileage warranted tires have a harder compound to get the mileage. Whether he knew beans I can not say but he balanced for free. 50k tires will need balanced more often than tires without mileage warranty according to him. I would like to know from you tire guys whether fact or BS.

But is it really a bad thing?

Pete Jensen said:

who can tell me anything about my 2016 1500 vibrating at 80mph. Roads were smooth. Thanks

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loose nut behind the wheel will do it

Papaskip said:

Had a set of Wranglers that drove me crazy. Rebalance every 5 to 10 k. Tire dealer said high mileage warranted tires have a harder compound to get the mileage. Whether he knew beans I can not say but he balanced for free. 50k tires will need balanced more often than tires without mileage warranty according to him. I would like to know from you tire guys whether fact or BS.

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I'll call BS on the high mileage warranty tires needing balancing more. I've had several sets of Michelin LTX tires which have 70K mile warranties and never had to have them rebalanced. Drove them hard over rough crap roads on heavily load vehicles (+8K lbs) and the tires always ran smooth even at 75 mph on the freeway.
I've usually had issues with off-brand tires that eventually need to be rebalanced.

Maybe check your wheel hubs the bearings could be going and that would vibrate at higher speeds

With the larger rims the speeds have changed. But for the most part vibration between 40 and 70 is usually balance (again larger rim will increase speed). Over 70 is usually alignment or suspension related.

The other issue that I am finding more and more is multiple weights on the rim in different positions. There is no reason to have weight in more than one spot on a rim unless the tire has a defect or the rim is bent. I watch these kids spin up the tires and then half-a55 reach over the tire from the front corner of the balancer to tack on the weight. There is no way in hell you are going to line up that weight where indicated leaning over from the front corner unless it has a laser marker. I have on occasion called them on it had them pull the weight when the retest show more weight needed and have them respin and place the same weight slightly further to the rear as originally called for. I try to explain they have to be centered on the tire to make sure you have the correct alignment point in which to install the weight.

As for rebalancing, as a tire ages and the bands shift in it, the tire has to be rebalanced, particularly larger size tires with respect to rim size.

Call me crazy-but i have had the same set of 20" Cooper H/T discoverer tires on for 4yrs now- only 6,000kms/yr I have not had to balance them and have not even rotated them and only had to add about 2psi to each every winter. I often run up over 130kms/hr and there is no vibration or veering to either side. Still lots of tread and its been very even wear. Will probably have to replace because of age only. Will replace with the same when i notice any cracking. Inflate according to vehicle on door jamb -not what tire says,but most drivers know that -hopefully.