2018 2500 Leaning 1" towards driver side

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gsfitzsr

gsfitzsr

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Update: Took the vehicle to an authorized AAM repair shop in the Houston area. They do a lot of axles for the racing boys and big rigs. They drove the vehicle and told me not to worry about the noise when coasting down but did tell me to stop using synthetic based oils and stick to conventional oils. They buy oil by the drum and they've never used any synthetic oils in any axle they serviced. It's not a cost issue they told me but based on getting more life out of the bearings and gear sets.

So I drained the oil from my axle after about 700 miles and it was already nasty looking. It was still warm when I drained it and grey in appearance. When I let it sit overnight it turned to a black color but still looked nasty. I refiled with 85-140w conventional oil per their recommendation. I'm going to do the same with the front axle in a few days.
 

RoadRamblerNJ

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My gosh^^^

I have such a hatred for dealers first and then ALL the shady mechanics that seem so nice but still screw you in the end.

I tell ya,
it was easier to find A wife then it is a trustworthy mechanic. No joke.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Only took me two tries to find a great wife.

Still looking for an FCA service dept to say that about.
 

M2everist

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Update: Took the vehicle to an authorized AAM repair shop in the Houston area. They do a lot of axles for the racing boys and big rigs. They drove the vehicle and told me not to worry about the noise when coasting down but did tell me to stop using synthetic based oils and stick to conventional oils. They buy oil by the drum and they've never used any synthetic oils in any axle they serviced. It's not a cost issue they told me but based on getting more life out of the bearings and gear sets.

So I drained the oil from my axle after about 700 miles and it was already nasty looking. It was still warm when I drained it and grey in appearance. When I let it sit overnight it turned to a black color but still looked nasty. I refiled with 85-140w conventional oil per their recommendation. I'm going to do the same with the front axle in a few days.
 

M2everist

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2018
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Update: Took the vehicle to an authorized AAM repair shop in the Houston area. They do a lot of axles for the racing boys and big rigs. They drove the vehicle and told me not to worry about the noise when coasting down but did tell me to stop using synthetic based oils and stick to conventional oils. They buy oil by the drum and they've never used any synthetic oils in any axle they serviced. It's not a cost issue they told me but based on getting more life out of the bearings and gear sets.

So I drained the oil from my axle after about 700 miles and it was already nasty looking. It was still warm when I drained it and grey in appearance. When I let it sit overnight it turned to a black color but still looked nasty. I refiled with 85-140w conventional oil per their recommendation. I'm going to do the same with the front axle in a few days.



Hi, read through all your posts, but was unclear if you fixed your original problem of the truck leaning to the left? I have the identical issue with my 2018 1500 Sport. It was modified by Prefix, they have been great, and we tried swapping the rear springs with new ones, but that hasn’t fixed it. I took it to RAM and they looked (the collision center, who they said was the most appropriate) but they don’t think it is RAM. I also had it at a local suspension shop and they agree it leans, but don’t know why! Trying to find the commen “smoking gun” here!
 
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gsfitzsr

gsfitzsr

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Hi, read through all your posts, but was unclear if you fixed your original problem of the truck leaning to the left? I have the identical issue with my 2018 1500 Sport. It was modified by Prefix, they have been great, and we tried swapping the rear springs with new ones, but that hasn’t fixed it. I took it to RAM and they looked (the collision center, who they said was the most appropriate) but they don’t think it is RAM. I also had it at a local suspension shop and they agree it leans, but don’t know why! Trying to find the commen “smoking gun” here!

First off, my truck is a 4x4. Not sure if your truck is or not.

My truck is fixed. Changing the springs did not help. The front axle housing was changed because they found cracks somewhere.

The front caster settings will twist the axle and you can make the truck lean by moving the caster too far. When it twists, the base of the coil spring moves CW or CCW and this makes the coil spring sort of lean forwards or backwards.

The caster angles are normally the same when the truck comes from the factory. You need to make sure they are the same. If they are and the truck is leaning say more than 3/4 inch, then you still have an axle problem in my opinion. I'm not sure what happens to these axles but the housing gets tweaked or twists and cannot be repaired. A new one was ordered for my truck and solved my problem.

Let me know if you need more info.
 

M2everist

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First off, my truck is a 4x4. Not sure if your truck is or not.

My truck is fixed. Changing the springs did not help. The front axle housing was changed because they found cracks somewhere.

The front caster settings will twist the axle and you can make the truck lean by moving the caster too far. When it twists, the base of the coil spring moves CW or CCW and this makes the coil spring sort of lean forwards or backwards.

The caster angles are normally the same when the truck comes from the factory. You need to make sure they are the same. If they are and the truck is leaning say more than 3/4 inch, then you still have an axle problem in my opinion. I'm not sure what happens to these axles but the housing gets tweaked or twists and cannot be repaired. A new one was ordered for my truck and solved my problem.

Let me know if you need more info.




Thanks much for taking the time to reply. Yes, my Ram is also a 4X4.
I am not familiar with the Caster settings, but will try to research this. Did RAM find the cracks in your front axle? I wonder if you can still have the same issue, of the truck leaning due only to the caster angles being out, without an issue with the front axle... Would you have any information on where to check the caster angles? If not, no prob., but I will use your advice to get someone to track this down and check to see if that is the problem. My truck leans 1" to the driver side. Some can't notice it (until I point it out and then it seems to be obvious to everyone) Thanks for your time on this!
 
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gsfitzsr

gsfitzsr

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Thanks much for taking the time to reply. Yes, my Ram is also a 4X4.
I am not familiar with the Caster settings, but will try to research this. Did RAM find the cracks in your front axle? I wonder if you can still have the same issue, of the truck leaning due only to the caster angles being out, without an issue with the front axle... Would you have any information on where to check the caster angles? If not, no prob., but I will use your advice to get someone to track this down and check to see if that is the problem. My truck leans 1" to the driver side. Some can't notice it (until I point it out and then it seems to be obvious to everyone) Thanks for your time on this!

My truck leaned exactly the way your truck is, 1" towards the drivers side.

I can't tell where the cracks were found in my axle because the dealer did not share that with me.

Below is an image of the caster adjustment on the driver side lower control arm. Basically the position of the hole in the washer must be the same on both the driver and passenger side arms. But I doubt you can get these so far off the truck leans 1 inch. In my case that was not the problem.

View media item 26167
 

Redheadhunter21

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You can definitely get 1" out with just casters being off. I had over 1.5" but they had them complete opposite, truck drove fine surprisingly
 

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