2016 RAM 1500 4X4 Vibration

[Robert Haley]

I have a 2017 RAM 1500 4X4 with 8k miles. I put new wheels and a leveling kit on the truck shortly after I bought it. The truck we VERY smooth when I bought it. The suspension tightened up with the leveling kit. I'm still running the original tires on the new custom wheels. I started having a LOT of variable vibration issues at highway speeds - started around 65. Rebalanced tires multiple times. Bought hub centric rings. Nothing worked. Finally the truck started vibrating violently at take-off. My brother diagnosed the problem by suspending the truck and putting a rod on drivetrain components - transmission, rear axle, front axle, etc. and found a bad vibration from the front axle. He and I could visibly see it shaking when the truck in gear at idle. Second trip to the dealership and they found an axle shaft snap ring that wasn't seated properly. That helped tremendously but didn't complete solve it. Now the truck rides as rough as anything I've ever owned. It just shakes and vibrates at any speed unless I'm on perfectly laid asphalt and then it will still slightly vibrate at highway speeds. I still sometimes feel vibrations at take off, especially if I'm turning right at the same time. It's hard to imagine a tire causing that at speeds below 5mph. I'm going to take it back to the dealership. If they can't fix it in two more trips then I'm claiming a lemon under Texas law.

 

[chrisbh17]

What kind of vibration are you seeing? Does the steering wheel shake or is it more of a buzz type resonating vibration?

 

[Gary2]

Giving up , Ram wins . I am watcing truck adds. Soon as I see something appealing the vibration is gone and it wont be another 1500 Ram . This is the 5th and final Ram . Dealer tried to tell me its the aggressive tread on my BFG KO2s . Had 35" KO2s on my 2012 Wrangler 2dr and as these are they were as quiet as could be and smooth . Tired of dealers ******* on my leg and telling me its raining . Not all owners are clueless and I hate the insult to your intelligence answers

 

[DanM]

I finally got my truck riding smooth again. If anyone is road forcing tires i suggest they turn off the smart balance on machine. Also when they mount tire on machine snug it up as wheel is coming down cone. After 4 set of tires and finally good year upgrading my tires. i balanced them on regular hunter machine and no more problems. Tires will shake if snow, ice and mud accumulate on rims. Hope this helps you all. Its funny you didn't feel shaking in steering wheel it was felt mostly on pass side and in middle of car.

 

[Nashman15]

I finally got my truck riding smooth again. If anyone is road forcing tires i suggest they turn off the smart balance on machine. Also when they mount tire on machine snug it up as wheel is coming down cone. After 4 set of tires and finally good year upgrading my tires. i balanced them on regular hunter machine and no more problems. Tires will shake if snow, ice and mud accumulate on rims. Hope this helps you all. Its funny you didn't feel shaking in steering wheel it was felt mostly on pass side and in middle of car.

What do you mean coming down cone?

 

[DanM]

when they put tire on spindle don't tighten it like that...lift tire on cone and tighten as it falls down on cone. if road forcing tires also make sure smart balance is off. I have road forced my tires at least 6 times and on regular machine a couple times and at least 5 sets of tires . I can say without doubt its the way the tire is sitting on machine and road force is not answer. i still have one tire thats not that great, but i can say I'm enjoying the ride again. Good luck.

 

[Gary2]

I've had mine done a few times each way and on a number of different machines at different places , had no effect of the vibe.

 

[PoMansRam]

I was always under the impression that Hunter Road Force balancing was the be all, end all of tire/wheel balancing! If the tech can mount the wheel in the setup with all the variances as said above, what's the point!!

 

[chrisbh17]

I was always under the impression that Hunter Road Force balancing was the be all, end all of tire/wheel balancing! If the tech can mount the wheel in the setup with all the variances as said above, what's the point!!

I think the chrome clad wheels need to be balanced differently, or at least with different hardware.

The "cone" is required for them (Im not sure why but Ive read it a few times).

EDIT: sorry, not a cone but a collet is required. https://www.etools.org/Cladwheels

 

[McBroom]

I know how you feel. I too have a 2016 Ram RCSB 4X4 with highway vibrations. And yes it has the Goodyear Wranglers too. Mine has been balanced four times. The last two were Road Force Balanced. Still vibrates.. If you find the fix please let us all know.
Oh, Good luck trying to get your Dealer to help, mine's Worthless..

Contact ram cares on this forum.
Aluminum wheels or steel clad??


I Love My 2018 RAM 2500HD 4x4 6.4L. USMC (ret)

 

[McBroom]

Goodyear tires mean just that good for less than a year. A lot of times the tires are “out of round” the only way to true them up is a tire grinder but before I’d go through the BS of trying to find one it’d be cheaper and better to just get new tires preferably not a Goodyear...


I Love My 2018 RAM 2500HD 4x4 6.4L. USMC (ret)

 

[DanM]

Road force will find all defects in tire and compensate for it. The only way to compensate for problem tire is to remount tire where problems are. They use a lug flange to tighten up on machine. But like i said 6 road force and problem was worse. After friend of mine on 3 set of tires took off smart balance and balance it without force on tires it was almost perfect. Took back to friend with new Goodyear adventure tire with kevlar and had shaking still, because he had smart balance on. I rotated tires to rule out mechanical problems and shaking still there. My friend that owns garage we balanced them and one tire seemed out of round but i got the truck really smooth again. Use weights on outside inner edge of rim and inside outer. Found that when goodyear and ram put weights on inside of inner rim and inner outside rim. Seems to make a difference. Anyway i hope this helps.. That shaking really sucked at highway speeds. its the clad tire..also when snow and mud collect on it...it will start to shake again.

 

[Robert Haley]

Just an update. My truck is 8 months old, 11k miles, been back at the dealership 4 times, one tire shop twice, two other tire shops once and my dads body shop 3 times. I removed the leveling kit to put the suspension completely back to stock. The only non-stock item is my custom wheels. I'm still running the factory tires. The truck still vibrates. It can happen at "ANY" speed. I sometimes feel it in my driveway. It may go 3 days driving perfect, but that's usually when it's at the dealership being looked at. As soon as I get it back it starts to shimmy and vibrate. It's like I hit a tiny bump in the road and the suspension never settles down afterwards before I hit another imperfection. When it's driving good it rides almost as nice as my former 2011 F-150 with a leveling kit and 10 ply tires. I have a Ram Care specialist now planning to contact the dealership to work with them. One thing I have heard from numerous sources is that a tire is NOT likely to cause the issues I'm feeling since it happens at any speed and is so random.

 

[Robert Haley]

Also, I forgot to mention, all the tire shops balanced the tires (3 times), the dealership balanced them once (road forced) and my dads body shop balanced them once. They have been hub center balanced and lug center balanced. I also have hub centric rings in place. The tires have been rotated multiple times and the symptoms never change. I believe the tires have been eliminated as the culprit.

 

[DanM]

Road force not answer... If road force make sure they turn smart balance off and mount tire as it falls down colet(cone)
The way tire is mounted on machine makes a big difference . So if they put tire on spindle and snug it up i will guarantee you'll get a shake in wheel. Im finally happy the way my truck rides again. I will never buy Goodyear tires again and if i keep truck after lease will definitely get out of the Clad rims. Just so you know i went through 3 set of new goodyears and went through 2 out 4 Goodyear adventure. Its a good tire but 3 out of 4 out of round.

 

[Matthew Locke]

I have a 2016 4x4 5.7 20k miles and appear to be having the same issue with intermitant vibrations at speed about 60 to 70 it appears to be worse when tires are cold. The tires I have on it are brand new Coopers 20inch, installed 3 weeks ago. Running at about 40psi, balanced three times, this last time I watched the balancing being done so I know they are close to spot on. Had an alignment done as well and well within spec.
I am a little concerned after reading these threads. The truck goes to the shop to fix the HEMI TICK on Tuesday so will ask about the vibration and forced balancing.

 

[768mph]

I have a 2016 4x4 5.7 20k miles and appear to be having the same issue with intermitant vibrations at speed about 60 to 70 it appears to be worse when tires are cold. The tires I have on it are brand new Coopers 20inch, installed 3 weeks ago. Running at about 40psi, balanced three times, this last time I watched the balancing being done so I know they are close to spot on. Had an alignment done as well and well within spec.
I am a little concerned after reading these threads. The truck goes to the shop to fix the HEMI TICK on Tuesday so will ask about the vibration and forced balancing.

Play with your PSI. Try 55 and work your way down.


Sent from my iPhone 7+

 

[DanM]

Hey Matthew Trust me it looks like they spot on with wheel balance, But i used to do it for a living. The tire weighs a lot and its not sitting on machine correct. If road force machine they have to click off smart balance. I spent about $700 on balancing. Brought to friends shop and we put it on regular machine holding tire up and snugging it as it dropped. i finally got my truck running right. But lately tires shake there again... tires were balanced with 39 psi.. they ran up to 43psi and 44psi.. deflated them to 40 and that helped. As tires get worn i had them rebalance.. again me and my friend. It rides ok... but still a little shake. 2 more tires to do... but overall truck rides much smoother.

 

[John Ram Sport]

Dealer cannot seem to eliminate vibration from the Goodyear Wrangler factory tires. replaced 3 tires and had to road force balance all 4 and still having issues. Anyone with similar problems. Is this just crappy tires or something else mechanical going on?

Just replaced all four original goodyear's and hadAnn alignment. Started getting bad vibration that was not there before. They found one of the front tires even though it high speed balanced ok it had a side to side wobble. Replaced tire with new one vibration still there. Rear tires both had same issue put two new ones on they had same issue. They are switching them to BF Goodrich tires. Picking up tomorrow. Other sites say the goodyear's are the blame. Will know tomorrow. Note the goodyear's used to cost$260.00 plus now only about$144.00. Buyer beware.

 

[John Ram Sport]

Same boat

Just bought a new 2016 1500 two weeks ago. Shakes like a leaf on a tree. I've taken it back three times already. Today a service tech took a spin with me and said "Yep, same problem we've seen before. Sorry but we can't fix it."

I called corporate to get a case started. No vehicle should be shaking at normal highway speeds. This should either be fixed or they need to provide a vehicle that doesn't shake.

I've already got some movement from Ram on the case. Just a matter of time before some type of resolution for it.