Ram 2500 vibration after Bilstein leveling kit install

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22hemi13

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Thuren or Carli. Those guys specialize in hd trucks. Thuren is pretty much a solid ram guy. Also check out cjcoffroad. They’re legit and have lots of videos and good info. Based in LA I believe.
 

Thorny

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I've had issues with "square" tires causing vibrations at certain speeds. The Goodyears that came on my Ford, the Duratracs that I put on my Jeep, and some others. And I actually have a vibration in my new 2500HD at 70 mph with the stock tires right now that I need to sort out.
- Tires have heavy and light spots, as do wheels. Sometimes the fix is to have the tire remounted on the wheel in a different orientation so the heavy parts of each are not aligned with each other. Look at how much wheel weight is needed to balance your tires currently and if it seems excessive, ask a good tire shop to re-do the job. There used to be dots on the tires and wheels that indicate the heavy spot, but I don't know if that's done any more.
- I also recall feeling that floaty feeling on my first set of duratracs (which I installed after a leveling kit on my F150). Part of the issue was that when you level the truck you also adjust the dynamics of how it handles. Lifting the front end allows more air under the truck, less over the top, which changes the downforce caused by the wind. A sensitive person might feel that. Also, the duratrac is known to feel floaty if it's under inflated due to how the sidewall moves. It can also feel that way if fully inflated (80psi) due to it having 19/32" tread depth and the knobs wiggle a bit between the tire body and the road. As the tire wears in and the contact patch grows a little, it'll feel more planted. I settled on 55-65psi in the tires I as a comfortable pressure with good handling, but that was a 33x12.50x18 tire on a eco-boosted F150, not a heavy diesel.

Please keep us informed as you track down your vibration. If it's not tire related, I think we'll all benefit from learning what the cause is.
- do you know how RAM balances their driveshafts? If it's with exterior weights, you might have lost one of those.
-Any chance you have worn rod ends on your drag link or tie rod? those could allow the tires to move and vibrate at speed.
 

Nickx86

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So I ended up putting new tires on the truck just to try and eliminate that variable. It definitely helped but I still feel like there is more vibration than what there should be. Also the truck just doesn’t feel right in the front end. Steering seems a little loose and unresponsive. Could be the oversized tires. I’m considering taking it to a 4wheelparts store but the closest one is 2.5 hours away from me. I just don’t really trust and of my local shops at this point.


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Is your caster set right for the loose and unresponsive. I forgot which way the caster needs to be to tighten up the steering to make it feel more responsive.
 
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Bennutts

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I honestly have no idea at this point. I’ve had it aligned by 3 different shops in the last 6 months and every time it has come out different. There is an HD truck axle and spring shop in town that replaced ball joints as part of a recall and aligned it when the local Ram dealer couldn’t get it aligned. At that time they switched from an offset to a straight ball joint because the offsets wouldn’t align properly. At least this is what I was told. That was before the Bilsteins and that was the last time everything felt right. I think I’ll try them as soon as I have time to get it in. Have to plan ahead because their turnaround time is not very quick.


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mtnrider

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If you have a vibration it's either you tires/wheels (most likely) or you have something worn or loose.

How many times have the ball joints been replaced? You said you went from offsets to straight? The truck comes with straights so is that 3 sets of ball joints that have been pressed in? If so did the use a splined type then go back to a smoother bore? That could possibly cause you issues.

I have the Bilstein lift on my truck and have no issues.

.
 

Therottenjohnny

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Look up some youtube videos on dodge death wobble. I'm starting to get the vibration myself and don't have the billstein. Just an unknown leveling kit and add a lead in the rear.
Tried this in the Lifted forum and didn't get much feedback...

About a month ago I installed the Bilsteinleveling kit with shocks on my 2015 Ram 2500. Ever since then I have a pretty bad vibration between 70-80mph. I also installed 35" Duratracs at the same time. I thought maybe the tires were the problem but I switched back to my previous tires and still had the issue. I ended up putting the 35's back on since my older tires were getting worn. I have had it aligned with both sets of tires, had both sets of tires balanced twice and still have the issue. Any ideas on what's causing the vibration? I know when I installed a lift kit on my old Jeep the difference in the angle of the transfer case and the front drive shaft caused a bad vibration. Could this be the same thing?

View attachment 167068
 

Brian2081

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The steering wheel being off center is caused by the axle being pulled to the left, due to the leveling kit. The fix is an adjustable track bar.
 

Ratket

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The steering wheel being off center is caused by the axle being pulled to the left, due to the leveling kit. The fix is an adjustable track bar.


Thuren and Carli both have a nice adjustable track bar-

CJC off road has a ton of videos with info pertaining to ram HD Trucks.
 
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Bennutts

Bennutts

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I actually did put a Carli track bar on it. It still seems like there is a vibration. I’ve rotated the tires and that doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.


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Bubba5154

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I had the vibration. I have the 18 Big Horn gasser. I had a set of Nitto 33s installed when I had the local shop install the Thuren King 2.0 kit and sway bar. I later added Thuren's steering damper and Synergy's steering brace. The ride was smooth up to around 60-70mph. That's when the vibration would start. It was difficult to localize but it was definitely coming from the front and I felt it in the steering.

Truck only has 11000 miles on it. I remembered the guy at the shop told me to go back after I get some miles on it and check all the fasteners. I bought a couple good torque wrenches and went to work checking all the new bolt-on fittings and tightening whatever needed it to specs. The front Thuren shocks in this kit have a unique torque spec: snug down the bolt then tighten two more turns. I put my low profile air gun on both and it easily turned at least once. I didn't go too far as to damage the bushing. In the end, about half the fasteners at least budged, some I got one turn until it reached torque.

I took it out on the road, vibration gone.
 

Clark Kent

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Sounds like somethings a little loose or you have a wear issue. There isn't much here, radius arms, shocks, steering linkage. Check the radius arms and see if the offset alignment bolts are relatively close to each other left to right side.

I have the Thuren Kit, functionally the same as the Bilstein. I installed the kit myself and torqued everything to spec except the top of the shocks. Those were "tight" by feel. I also loosened the radius arms to realign the frame side bushings for the new ride height. Installed a RC adjustable track bar and cut the welds on the drag link so I could align the steering wheel. I went back in 4-500 miles later to retorque everything (nothing was loose) and then my local shop aligned to caster specs provided by Thuren. After that I rewelded the drag link and then this year I swapped that out for a 2020 drag link.

The Thuren kit went in at 400 miles on the odometer, now I'm at 11,000 with no issues.
 

BDub7732

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Did anyone find out what the issue was or update the fix?? I am having the same issue currently
 
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