2018 2500 Towing Vibration help

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kfp673

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2019
Posts
1
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Location
Gilbertsville, PA
Ram Year
2018
Engine
6.4L
Hello All..

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I am looking to see if we have anyone else with similar experience or thoughts. I have a 2018 Ram2500 with the 6.4L 4:10. I love the truck and it tows my 35' TT very well. We just got back today from a 2k mile round trip with the trailer from PA to FL. In general it towed great and was a great ride but I experienced a strange vibration that sometimes lasted for hours and other times was gone..
Little back story, most of my camping is within 3 hours from me here in PA. To get to these parks I only use small stretches of highway and generally those roads are not in great shape so its easy not to notice things or blame the bad roads. I mention this because it is rare I get long stretches of flat interstate while towing my trailer.

So, getting right to it, when under load I get a pretty heavy vibration but only when traveling between 65-75 mph and only when torque is being used. The vibration is one that my kids thought was funny because they could say ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh and it sounded like you were beating on your chest fast. Quite annoying to me but at least they found it funny... :M

A few thoughts. It seems to me like something in the torque converter or somewhere else in the drive line. I say this becuase when the TC engages is the only time I feel it. For example, if I am cruising at 70mph, the vibration might remain there the entire time and at first I thought tire balance issue (even though I had them balanced last week and they feel perfect without towing) however the second I let my foot off the gas the vibration is gone immediately. Also, stomp on the gas causing the truck to down shift and for the first few seconds after the sift, no vibration. As the RPM's drop slightly as the TC engages the vibration comes right back. So I dont believe it is a wheel or tire issue as I would think that would present itself regardless of throttle.

Now for the biggest kicker... We just got back from a 2000 mile round trip. The entire 1000 mile trip heading to FL I mentally told myself it had something to do with the road condition similar to porposing because I would hit a nice smooth patch and BAM, it's gone. BUT, that proved to not be true and as the trip went on it proved to not matter. Obviously bad roads, or uneven roads cause bouncing or even vibration, but even on nice smooth roads I would get this effect a lot of the time and randomly it would disappear. 81N in VA I had a super smooth section where I could not lose the vibration for 2 hours. Stopped for gas and got back on the road and it was gone (or much less noticeable) for a while.

Now I know taking the truck to the dealer with this info is useless. Especially becuase I would have to bring my camper along and we dont have anywhere near me I can get them up to 70mph, so I want to do as much research as possible before engaging the dealer.

Am I missing something? Anyone ever have this issue? Thanks for your help!
 

Cardhu

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Posts
178
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Location
MB CAN
Ram Year
2014
Engine
Hemi 5.7
pinion angle and / or ujoints / unbalanced driveshaft can produce vibrations as you've described. If your confident you can reproduce try things like taking off a link on your wdh or no bars at all putting more squat on the rear for diagnostic purposes.

I assume it doesn't make this vib unloaded?

haven't seen underneath the 2500 lately, try greasing slip yoke or slide on driveshaft as another alternative. Good time to check Ujoints too but seems unlikely.
 
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