2015 Ram 1500 Highway speed vibration

[thtsaustin]

I have a 2015 Ram 1500 ecodiesel 4x4 with 181,000 miles. It has a 6inch lift with 35x12.5r20. I have had a vibration that is felt throughout the whole cab when I go any speed over 60mph. I have gotten new tires, balances, alignments, new u joints on rear drive shaft, new driver side hub assembly, new tie rods and new lower control arms. I have no idea what could be causing the vibration at this point and I am sick of it. I love my truck and want it to ride smooth but this has been happening for about 30,000-40,000 miles and I just want it to stop. Does anybody know what is causing this ?

 

[tron67j]

Have your rims checked, possible to be out of round and still balance. Have you had drive shaft checked for balance? Tie rods could also be bad. Did you do the lift, could any of those parts be failing?

 

[thtsaustin]

I’ve had the rims checked and new tie rods last week. I had the lift professionally installed, and also had the suspension checked by a few shops and they said everything is fine. I have not had the drive shaft checked for balance yet, just replaced the u joints. but will do so asap and post about it.

 

[tron67j]

One other question for the benefit of people who know more about lifted trucks, when was lift installed and how soon after did vibration start? And did vibration just show up one day or did you feel it gradually kick in over a period of time?

 

[thtsaustin]

Honestly it started a little before the lift, I had mud tires on so I just thought it was the tires. I got the lift and rode those tires out then got a new set but it was riding with the same vibration.

 

[thtsaustin]

And it just showed up one day, I was making a two hour trip one day and when I got up to 60+ the vibration started.

 

[tron67j]

This would appear to eliminate the lift components and front end drive components as they were not engaged. I am thinking a weight fell off the driveshaft or maybe something wrapped around it.

 

[Atcer2018]

Have you checked the rear control arms? A constant whole vehicle vibration is usually something in rear. Rams don’t have the greatest quality rear control arms and they wear out. If they have never been replaced at 181K miles I’d look into them.

 

[rzr6-4]

How often and how far do you drive? I have big "mud" tires and I haven't been driving mine to work lately so when I do drive it I can feel the flat spots on the tires from sitting. Small vibration for about 10mi.

 

[brian42]

After that laundry list I would definitely be checking the driveshaft balance next, especially if you don't notice it until closer to freeway speed.

 

[thtsaustin]

Have you checked the rear control arms? A constant whole vehicle vibration is usually something in rear. Rams don’t have the greatest quality rear control arms and they wear out. If they have never been replaced at 181K miles I’d look into them.

I have not checked those yet, i will add this too the list

 

[thtsaustin]

How often and how far do you drive? I have big "mud" tires and I haven't been driving mine to work lately so when I do drive it I can feel the flat spots on the tires from sitting. Small vibration for about 10mi.

I drive it daily, the only time it sat for more than a day was about a week or two ago when it was at the dealership getting a recall part

 

[thtsaustin]

Got the tie rods and lower control arms replaced at a suspension shop last week. I took it back and after another check they said after multiple checks from different mechanics at the shop, the entire suspension looks good from what they can tell. After this they said that they had no clue. Took it to a shop to recheck my rims today and they said the rims are fine and scratched their heads as well. There is no noise to go with the vibration either. My check list now includes-
-rear control arms
-driveshaft balance
-transmission mount
-rear diff

 

[Daw14]

Does it have a carrier bearing on the driveshaft ? Roadforce balance tires .

 

[thtsaustin]

I’m not too sure on the carrier bearing, looked and couldn’t find one. I got a roadforce balance before as well

 

[Daw14]

If your driveshaft is two piece it’s the bearing mid-way . Not all have them.

 

[thtsaustin]

If your driveshaft is two piece it’s the bearing mid-way . Not all have them

ohh okay, mine is the one piece

 

[thtsaustin]

Just took her down and got the rear control arms, rear diff, transmission and engine mounts, and body mounts checked out. After taking it for a test drive and feeling the vibrations they tested everything they could and what I told them to and couldn’t find the problem. They also jacked the back up and put her in drive to see if anything was vibrating but couldn’t find anything wrong. Techs were just as confused as I am, didn’t even charge me!

 

[thtsaustin]

starting to go back on some stuff and i really think it’s the aftermarket rims. even though they are not out of round and it sounds dumb but they might just not agree with the truck. going to find someone with stocks and switch them out to see.

 

[brian42]

I am still suspect about the driveshaft balance but I will say this about aftermarket rims:

I bought a car about a year ago with no issues. Shortly after that I purchased aftermarket rims and tires. Had a noticeable vibration above 50 mph. After 3 rebalances it was better but still there. Road-force balance and all were within spec for runout. Ended up "shuffling the deck" by pulling all the tires and putting them on a different rim in the group. After that the issue was 90% resolved.

Since everything was well within runout spec I'm pretty sure it's one of the tires. I think that "imperfections" just happened to line up on a tire and wheel that just make it difficult to get balanced. Once I mixed things up it all but went away.

I can feel a slight vibration in the front (when I'm going just a tad fast on the freeway) but that's only when a specific set is rotated to the front so I know it's not a car issue. I'll know for sure when I have to replace the tires towards the end of the year.

Also, I had a F-250 with 285/75-16 sized tires. The ATs balanced okay (could get to freeway speeds before they started vibrating) but the MTs would always start vibrating around 50-60 mph no matter what I did. I could take them in the next day and the weights would be in completely different places. I miss having a truck but I don't miss getting off-road tires re-balanced more frequently than they are rotated.