PW excessive wheel hop on expansion cracks

[Vandy321]

15k miles on a '21 PW. Live in the DEN area, plenty of concrete sections on the freeway with expansion cracks.

The PW feels like it wants to shake itself apart at 70-80mph over those expansion cracks...sometimes for miles.

Have owned a Ram 2500 CCLB and a 3500 CCSB without this issue as well as a tacoma DCLB, also no hop. Dealship says its "normal/could not replicate", and I adamantly disagreed.

New springs would address it, but wanted to ask if there is a fix under warranty I could ask for, or if you would just deal with it?

Have tried adjusting tire pressure, didn't work. It's so bad yoy can't even have a conversation over that part of the road. But whe you hit a quick overpass section or other break in the expansion Crack, its smooth as butter.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[olyelr]

How about a video?

 

[Vandy321]

Not home to take one...not sure it would show much. It's not in the steering, not death wobble, etc. Simply the spring/spring rate shocks cannot dampen our the expansion cracks. It's a constant up and down hop, a bad one at that, almost embarrassing to be honest. The moment you get a break in the concrete/expansion cracks, it stops. Normal bumps and freeway cracks are fine...its the continuous spots of expansion cracks that get the riggt harmonics going or something and just leads to excessive, jarring hopping.

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

Not a Power Wagon but had the same problem, even after installation of a full Thuren 3in/1in, King shocks system, there was still some chop/bounce, especially on a certain section of hwy at the bottom of our mtn!

My fix when empty was to add some 50lb sand bags from Home Depot (I covered mine in thick contractor bags to avoid leaking,) aprox 6 bags if I remember correctly, you can play with the qty for the perfect balance, I put mine in the bed side pockets to retain use of the bed, but again, you can configure the arrangement that best suits you...
Currently, after installing a Rigged hitch mounted swing out spare tire carrier with 37in spare I now have enough weight that I was able to eliminate the sand bags!

 

[tonov12]

My 2017 does the same thing up there. To be fair my 08 Silverado 2500 HD did the same thing

 

[SeppW]

Thuren rear track bar might help some, but the soft springs, mediocre shocks, and empty bed aren't helping either. Throw in some weight, like RR ties, and see if it helps.

 

[Vandy321]

Sure, weight could be a bandaid and I appreciate the suggestions fellas...but for a $70k truck, is this really acceptable to folks?

Between that and the noice on cold start by the manifold/cats, FCA should be embarrassed.

A very capable stock truck offroad, I won't argue. But I'm far from happy overall this far.

 

[SkeeterBait]

My two cents... add 400lbs of sand bags and slow down.

 

[CanRebel]

When I got my Rebel, I noticed it was bouncy. Think it was one first posts I did.
As note, I was driving F150 and chevy car, other vehicles on same highway.

Mine wasn't shaking though, just bouncy. It happened were they have metal strip between road sections.
Like on overpass, certain corners.

One thing, some members mentioned, was check PSI on tires. From factory they were all 'high'
Other was my speed, but the vehicles, including F150, I drove faster without issues.

I lowered the PSI, in all tires. I also added hellwig sway bar. If that bar changed help or not. Could have just been
I was getting use to it.

Then I changed rim/tires and adjusted PSI. What I think might have helped the most. I installed a hard cover.
That added some more weight in back.
Which is basically what @SkeeterBait said above. Don't know if it will help. But it's cheap way to check.
If it doesn't. then could be something wrong, you would need dealer to check again.
I would get their *** in truck and show them. Which I had to do when I had issue with lights turning on and off during bumps.
They claimed no issue, until I told made them sit in the truck and showed them.

 

[SeppW]

Sure, weight could be a bandaid and I appreciate the suggestions fellas...but for a $70k truck, is this really acceptable to folks?

Between that and the noice on cold start by the manifold/cats, FCA should be embarrassed.

A very capable stock truck offroad, I won't argue. But I'm far from happy overall this far.

You might see some improvement in ride and handling by adding suspension components or kits from Thuern or Carli. You could replace components in stages, e.g. replace both track bars with aftermarket units. If no noticeable improvement, upgrade shocks. I get it, $70K truck, but performance expectations are not there and throwing more money at it makes no sense. I see 3 options: Live with it, make mods to improve ride/handling, or let it go.

 

[HW285PW]

Since Denver’s average speed limit is 55-65, maybe try slowing down to the speed limit rather than 10-20 over and see what happens. Sounds like user error as there are several of us from the Denver/foothills area who have never had any issues.

 

[retired]

You said you tried adjusting tire pressure but what pressures did you try?

 

[Airmousam]

We have a lot of these in my area too, I feel like the PW does better on these joints than a std Ram HD did...drove em both before getting my 21PW...drives like a dream for what it is...

 

[Vandy321]

Since Denver’s average speed limit is 55-65, maybe try slowing down to the speed limit rather than 10-20 over and see what happens. Sounds like user error as there are several of us from the Denver/foothills area who have never had any issues.

Rather than making assumptions and sounding uninformed...maybe ask what stretch of highway im referencing, or ask what the speed limit is? Had you done so, you'd know the speed limit on the stretch I'm talking about is 75...would you like a picture of the sign or did you just stop by to be confrontational? It also does it on a couple mile stretch as it transitions to 65mph (there goes your theory). You should call the state patrol and tell them someone is driving the the speed limit on I-25... crazy kids, slow down! Thanks for stopping by, friend. Very insightful.

 

[Vandy321]

You said you tried adjusting tire pressure but what pressures did you try?

I've driven it at 50/55/60 and 65 PSI...not much of a change in either.

Service manager agreed to come for a ride next week.

 

[crazy jerry]

Sounds like someone was an engineer at FCA who couldn't fix the problem, so now you just get upset when anyone calls out your shotty design.

Glad your happy with sub-par performance Jerry. Thanks for stopping by.

around here theres miles and miles and miles of concrete highway with 10' expansion joints. clipping along at 75mph those axles go up and down several times per second as i said before. let me remind you again theyre 600-700lb axles , 800 -900lb with tires and rim.
its a tall order for any shock to handle that work load.
its very clear youve only driven cars and havent a single clue about the mechanics of unsprung loads or truck suspensions.

 

[retired]

I've driven it at 50/55/60 and 65 PSI...not much of a change in either.

Service manager agreed to come for a ride next week.

I run 45 up front and 35 in back no hopping on mine. Empty you have about 3000lbs on the rear tires total ie 1500lbs a tire. No need to be pumped up like you are carrying a load.

 

[Airmousam]

I agree with your points Jerry, but I can assure you the PW drives many times better than an Excursion, which was basically a slightly softened 2000 F250 (V10) with an SUV back instead of a bed...an a giant POS I might add...I bought one in 2000 and regretted it..carry on

 

[Airmousam]

You likely meant a newer Expedition

 

[Dan90]

Not experienced with power wagons but for my truck I lowered tire pressure down to 45 (35x12.5 tires). Added hellwig sway bar and aftermarket track bar (poly bushing on axle, johnny joint on frame). Helped tremendously. Based on some of the other comments it sounds like they have had some success with these changes also. Hope you are able to find a solution that works. Power wagon is a very cool vehicle.