2018 2500 Leaning 1" towards driver side

[gsfitzsr]

I took my truck to the dealer about 1 month ago because I noticed it was leaning towards the driver side. A quick check with a tape measure showed 1" difference between the right and left fenders at the front. The dealer confirmed this and said they wanted to change the left rear coil spring. They ordered one, changed it and the problem still exists.

The dealer then ordered a front driver side spring and replaced it. Same problem.

The dealer contacted RAM and they are now changing the entire front axle housing.

I checked new trucks in their inventory and all 2500's are within 1/4 inch level at the front and rear wheel wells. My truck is lower than all new trucks by 1" on the drivers side. The passenger side is equal to new truck height. Whats baffling is you can measure across the front springs and the driver side is 13" and passenger 14". I can see nothing wrong with either shock tower. All top/bottom coil spring rubber spacers are in place.

The truck is having the axle housing changed this week.

Truck details:
2018 SLT 2500
15,500 miles since new
Cummins w/auto transmission
Stock Firestone tires.

Has anyone else had this issue with their 2500 and what was the remedy?

Thanks for any input or advice.


Greg
League City TX

 

[reloaderguy]

Its your alignment. Dealerships are filled with parts swapping morons. Get your truck back and take it to an alignment shop, give them the alignment specs from Thuren's site.

 

[mtnrider]

^ I agree, I bet it's alignment.

.

 

[BWL]

Watching to see if it's alignment. My 1500 is 3/4" low on the front left. Back sits level right to left. Fuel tank is at a 1/4 and me out of the truck, which only has 3150 km on it. Would love to find a solution.

 

[reloaderguy]

Watching to see if it's alignment. My 1500 is 3/4" low on the front left. Back sits level right to left. Fuel tank is at a 1/4 and me out of the truck, which only has 3150 km on it. Would love to find a solution.

IFS trucks don't work the same. The axle in a radius arm, solid axle truck acts as a torsion spring when caster is unequal side to side. The result is leaning to one side. Since the factory alignment specs are so sloppy, the truck can be "in spec" while the alignment is actually causing an inch of lean. Naturally the parts swappers at the dealership are stumped because if it's not in a manual it's outside of their knowledge base.

 

[Don_T]

I had the same issue with a ‘14 2500. The problem was the alignment cams were not set to the same point. If they are cranked in opposite directions the front can be off nearly 1.5” side to side. It is easy enough to crawl under the front and look at the cam settings on the lower control arms.

 

[22hemi13]

Look there. I learned something mine leans about an inch also. Guess I need to find a good shop for alignment and see if it fixes it.

 

[Don_T]

Before you go to an alignment shop look at it yourself. It was a dealer doing an alignment that messed up mine. They claimed the front end was in spec. I rotated one of the cams to match the other and the truck leveled up and drive straight from then on.

 

[22hemi13]

Whats the cam im looking for .Yep i just asked that lol .Dont shoot me. Any pics?

 

[gsfitzsr]

I can't say when the truck first started to lean. I've had the alignment done when it first started pulling to the right, but it was already leaning at that time and the alignment was done by a local truck service shop.

I can say the caster is probably off because the upper/lower ball joints on the drivers side are not aligned vertical, meaning the top is tilted backwards. The passenger side is dead on vertical.

The reason the dealer said he needed to change the front housing is because they see cracks in welds.

I'll look for the alignment specs mentioned above and see what the alignment shop can do. Somehow they convinced Dodge this was the solution.

 

[reloaderguy]

The balljoints don't turn on the same axis.

 

[RamCares]

I took my truck to the dealer about 1 month ago because I noticed it was leaning towards the driver side. A quick check with a tape measure showed 1" difference between the right and left fenders at the front. The dealer confirmed this and said they wanted to change the left rear coil spring. They ordered one, changed it and the problem still exists.

The dealer then ordered a front driver side spring and replaced it. Same problem.

The dealer contacted RAM and they are now changing the entire front axle housing.

I checked new trucks in their inventory and all 2500's are within 1/4 inch level at the front and rear wheel wells. My truck is lower than all new trucks by 1" on the drivers side. The passenger side is equal to new truck height. Whats baffling is you can measure across the front springs and the driver side is 13" and passenger 14". I can see nothing wrong with either shock tower. All top/bottom coil spring rubber spacers are in place.

The truck is having the axle housing changed this week.

Truck details:
2018 SLT 2500
15,500 miles since new
Cummins w/auto transmission
Stock Firestone tires.

Has anyone else had this issue with their 2500 and what was the remedy?

Thanks for any input or advice.


Greg
League City TX

Hi Greg,

We're sorry to hear that you are having this concern with your Ram. If you are in need of additional assistance while your Ram is in service, please send us a PM with your VIN and mileage.

Darlene
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[bigdodge]

The cam in reference is the bolt just under the shock in the picture

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[22hemi13]

The cam in reference is the bolt just under the shock in the picture

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

That the front? I was under my rear looking I don’t see it. But I’m dumb too so there’s that

 

[G. Mcpherson]

That is the Front. The indicator is on the other side of the bolt. Use the Thuren suspension site information for spec.

 

[gsfitzsr]

I picked up my truck yesterday and it now leans towards the passenger side 1 inch..... What a fiasco..

I can see the caster angles are different so I will post photos of the cam adjustments soon plus other measurements.

Another issue with the truck is ring/pinion noise about 63 MPH unloaded. They acknowledged it was excessive and will disassemble to inspect.

More will follow.

 

[gsfitzsr]

Photos of L/R cams. They seem to be set identical.

View media item 26168
View media item 26167
I checked tightness of both CAM bolts and the drivers side easily moved by hand force. The other was tight.

Did a crude caster angle check with an electronic protractor but can't believe the readings of 6 degrees, even though they were the same both sides. Placed the protractor on a machined surface where the lower ball joint is bolted.

Checked toe in with a tape measure across the tire treads, front vs. back and it came out to 1/4 inch. Even using a string across the tire sidewalls showed almost the same. Adjusted the toe to near zero measuring with the tape. Drove the truck on a nearby freeway and it seemed fine, did not pull but the steering was a bit off center.

Spoke with the service manager at my dealer about the leaning and he said they do not measure body or fender panels to ground, only frame points to ground or to another frame point. So the leaning I see fender well to ground is not related to a frame problem. So basically it is what it is.....

For a test, I cranked the drivers side CAM fully CCW moving the caster to near zero degrees. This did affect the height, fender well to ground but not enough to achieve level. Moved it back to the original location when done and tightened the bolt.

I'm taking my RV this weekend for a short trip. All I can do is watch everything and report back if something changes again. The real axle work will begin after Labor day.

I'll try to answer any questions if you post them.

 

[G. Mcpherson]

Have you tried this when adjusting?

• If you do need a little caster bias fine tuning, which is pretty normal, loosen the upper radius arm bolts at the axle also, then re-tighten once the handling is good. This will let the axle center up as best as it can, by using slop in the hardware to help the chassis find neutral.

 

[gsfitzsr]

See attached photos of front springs. Took these while rotating tires.

I'm going to adjust the CAM's to get the body level left to right. I will then attempt to measure the caster angle again with my electronic protractor from the ball joint mount flange. I will post results later.


View media item 26182
View media item 26181

 

[dlromo]

might be a long shot but, have you checked the rear? i would think that if a rear corner is high or low then it would make the opposite corner high or low