Anybody have this happen....

Stacey Power · Apr 12, 2020

My truck now has 20k on it. I tow a travel trailer. It tows great but my last trip something weird happened.

My trailer is close to 10k lbs. See sig for my truck.

I was on the freeway cruising about 65 mph, cruise control on...did have a head wind, but all of a sudden the truck started to shudder kind of like I was on a washboard road. I immediately turned off cruise control which caused me to slow down and it stopped. I drove for a while without cruise control, still fighting head winds, and it happened again, but this time I just gave it more power and speeded up, and it stopped the shudder. I kept my speed up a little more during incline in head wind, no cruise control, and it didn't happen again.
I'm thinking it was a lugging issue? Pulling the weight in a head wind and going to "slow"?

Anybody have this? Or have ideas? Thx!

RVGuy · Apr 12, 2020

I can't see your signature on mobile so I can't see what your truck is, but are you using tow/haul? It almost sounds like you're in too high of a gear which would explain the shudder going away when you let the load off (turning off cruise control and slowing down) or increasing RPM (speeding up).

Stacey Power · Apr 12, 2020

RVGuy said:
I can't see your signature on mobile so I can't see what your truck is, but are you using tow/haul? It almost sounds like you're in too high of a gear which would explain the shudder going away when you let the load off (turning off cruise control and slowing down) or increasing RPM (speeding up).

My truck - 2018 Ram 3500 SRW 4x4 6.7 Diesel long bed

Yes I always use tow/haul while towing

MADDOG · Apr 12, 2020

It sounds like a simple aero issue with the headwinds and your forward speed, similar to buffeting pilots would experience as they approached the speed of sound back in the day. I'd call it a perfect storm of opposing airflows.

I assume this hasn't happened when you were towing at 65MPH before, correct? RPMs wouldn't be low enough at 65MPH to lug the engine or drivetrain.

Give your trailer's exterior a good inspection to make sure no panels have come loose which may possibly drive some wind up and under a panel.

csuder99 · Apr 12, 2020

Some 2500s had an "axle hop dampener" but I believe these were never used on 3500s ? In any case I can imagine a certain combination of load and RPM cause the axle to slightly roll back and forth.

RamCares · Apr 13, 2020

Stacey Power said:
My truck now has 20k on it. I tow a travel trailer. It tows great but my last trip something weird happened.

My trailer is close to 10k lbs. See sig for my truck.

I was on the freeway cruising about 65 mph, cruise control on...did have a head wind, but all of a sudden the truck started to shudder kind of like I was on a washboard road. I immediately turned off cruise control which caused me to slow down and it stopped. I drove for a while without cruise control, still fighting head winds, and it happened again, but this time I just gave it more power and speeded up, and it stopped the shudder. I kept my speed up a little more during incline in head wind, no cruise control, and it didn't happen again.
I'm thinking it was a lugging issue? Pulling the weight in a head wind and going to "slow"?

Anybody have this? Or have ideas? Thx!

Hi @Stacey Power - If you're not able to determine a solution based on suggestions from fellow forum members and you decide to address this with your dealer, please let us know via private message. We would be more than happy to provide you with an additional layer of assistance for that process.

Mark
RamCares

boxofrokx · Apr 13, 2020

Death Wobble? Do you have oversized tires? I had 295 70 17s, as the tread was wearing low, mine would do it on a bad stretch of hwy in San Antonio. No were else.

Stacey Power · Apr 14, 2020

boxofrokx said:
Death Wobble? Do you have oversized tires? I had 295 70 17s, as the tread was wearing low, mine would do it on a bad stretch of hwy in San Antonio. No were else.

Original stock tires, it is not a death wobble at all, it just feels like I am on a washboard road.

Gr8bawana · Apr 14, 2020

This may sound kind of weird but did you by any chance have one of your rear windows down? The first time I drove on the highway with one of my rear windows down, the reverberation freaked my out. At 65-70mph it is almost unbearable, if I slow down it goes away. I later saw it was mentioned in the owners manual.

IRSmart · Apr 14, 2020

Sounds like rear wheel hop to me

2003F350 · Apr 21, 2020

The windows thing is plausible but unlikely. It's more of a sound than a vibration/bouncing of the entire truck.

This sounds more like you chucked a wheel weight, or possibly a driveshaft weight. Or possibly you have a driveshaft u-joint going out. A wheel weight is more likely to be a constant shudder above 45 mph, but a driveshaft weight or u-joint is likely to be driven by resonant frequencies - meaning it's only going to appear at certain speeds and under certain conditions (once a u-joint fails completely it will make a horrendous noise at all speeds - you'll know it).

If the issue has completely gone away, though, I don't know what it could be - perhaps as stated above, too high of a gear?

Anybody have this happen....

Stacey Power

Member

RVGuy

Senior Member

Stacey Power

Member

MADDOG

Out Exploring Arizona

csuder99

Senior Member

RamCares

Senior Member

boxofrokx

Senior Member

Stacey Power

Member

Gr8bawana

Senior Member

IRSmart

I drink and I know things

2003F350

Senior Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Share this page