SOLVED: Lift now a vibration

[tex68w]

I installed the Thuren 2.25" level on my 2021 RAM 3500 this past week and now when I am turning at low speeds to the left I get a vibration or pulsing reverberation on the right side as I accelerate. I've checked all of the hardware from the install and nothing is loose or out of place. Could this be vibration coming through the rod end on the track bar or maybe even the drive shaft? Any ideas?

 

[Quick_Shifter]

I installed the Thuren 2.25" level on my 2021 RAM 3500 this past week and now when I am turning at low speeds to the left I get a vibration or pulsing reverberation on the right side as I accelerate. I've checked all of the hardware from the install and nothing is loose or out of place. Could this be vibration coming through the rod end on the track bar or maybe even the drive shaft? Any ideas?

Where the new coils clocked where the factory coils were?
Did you torque all suspension components with the truck under its own weight with all 4 tires on the ground?
Did you install a drop bracket or longer track bar?
How many miles are on the truck?
How are the u joints?

 

[tex68w]

The truck is brand new, it had 1000 miles on it at the time we installed the lift, it has nearly 1300 miles on it now. The coils went in place of the factory coils as they were removed, it's hard not to have them in the same place as the isolator pads have alignment nubs. All torque values were verified with the weight of the vehicle on the ground. A Thuren adjustable track bar was installed and was set to the proper length for the lift from Thuren themselves.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

The truck is brand new, it had 1000 miles on it at the time we installed the lift, it has nearly 1300 miles on it now. The coils went in place of the factory coils as they were removed, it's hard not to have them in the same place as the isolator pads have alignment nubs. All torque values were verified with the weight of the vehicle on the ground. A Thuren adjustable track bar was installed and was set to the proper length for the lift from Thuren themselves.

Post what kit you bought the overland kit, Fox kit, Fox with resi kit?
And anymore information that may be beneficial like your track bar settings you followed from the instructions

 

[tex68w]

At the moment they don't have actual preset kits, you simply pick your components and make your own kit. I went with the Fox 2.0's with reservoirs simply because they were available, I ordered King 2.5's as well but I likely won't see those until the end of year at the earliest.

The track bar comes preset for the springs I ordered (2.25" for diesel), it specifically states on the paperwork enclosed that it's set to 39 1/16" for use with their coils and that the jamb nut is set and torqued as well.

 

[RAM-pagingMN]

First things to check- pitman arm, track bar.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

At the moment they don't have actual preset kits, you simply pick your components and make your own kit. I went with the Fox 2.0's with reservoirs simply because they were available, I ordered King 2.5's as well but I likely won't see those until the end of year at the earliest.

The track bar comes preset for the springs I ordered (2.25" for diesel), it specifically states on the paperwork enclosed that it's set to 39 1/16" for use with their coils and that the jamb nut is set and torqued as well.

https://www.thurenfabrication.com/collections/kits-3500-13-22
These aren't Kit's? that you select the height to each kit when you order? Am i missing something

 

[Quick_Shifter]

@tex68w post your alignment sheet as well

This is from Thurens site and is quite common on HD trucks when the alignment shops are trying to get it in spec:
It is VERY important on these trucks that you don't adjust the driver and passenger side cams too far out of balance. In other words, make sure there is not much manual cross caster. If one cam is for example pointed straight down, the opposite side cam should be no more than one mark forward or back. I have seen alignment shops do some crazy things here. If you do put them far out of balance, you can get some drastic lean in the suspension. Reason being, radius arms make the front axle act like one big swaybar. With the caster cams far out of balance, it gives a similar effect as having different length swaybar links, which would force a chassis lean. 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.

 

[tex68w]

Those kits are for front only options, I have shocks for all four corners and I'll likely be adding a 1" block to the rear soon as well.

My alignment was done by a shop very familiar with these trucks in lifted states and they followed the suggestion posted by Thuren that came with the kit.

 

[tex68w]

First things to check- pitman arm, track bar.

Thuren doesn't require or suggest any adjustment or replacement of the pitman arm for their kits. This is part of the reason why their kits don't go beyond 3" in height. The track bar was preset for this kit by Thuren and was installed as such.

 

[tex68w]

Called Thuren and talked to Tech/Install Support and they recommended I go ape on the frame side track bar bolt. I was already at 215lb/ft, I guess we will push it to 300. I'll report back my findings once I get some seat time.

 

[tex68w]

Got the truck back in the shop this morning and we checked every single bolt once again and we couldn't find anything loose. My only recourse left is possibly the addition of radius arm drop brackets. Thuren doesn't use them or recommend them for these lifts/levels but it might help?! We had a guy who is on his second lifted 5th Gen ride in it to hear/feel/experience it and he didn't think that it was anything out of the norm nor did the shop owner who literally rides in hundreds of these things. We drove it around in 4-Hi too and didn't see or feel any driveline binding issues either.

It might be nothing and I am somewhat hyper sensitive to noises and sounds so who knows. The rear lift blocks will be here in a month, I'll see if that corrects the issue so that the rear of the truck isn't below the front anymore. I'm just reaching now but that's where this is at for the time being.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

The truck is brand new, it had 1000 miles on it at the time we installed the lift, it has nearly 1300 miles on it now. The coils went in place of the factory coils as they were removed, it's hard not to have them in the same place as the isolator pads have alignment nubs. All torque values were verified with the weight of the vehicle on the ground. A Thuren adjustable track bar was installed and was set to the proper length for the lift from Thuren themselves.

So did you do the install or a shop do the install? From these answers it sounded like you did it. But your updates to your issues sounds like a shop did it.
When I have trucks like yours in my shop for diagnostics and the stories alter I loosen everything, drive back and forth a few times 10 feet back 10 feet forward seating and centering then do a proper torque.

 

[tex68w]

So did you do the install or a shop do the install? From these answers it sounded like you did it. But your updates to your issues sounds like a shop did it.
When I have trucks like yours in my shop for diagnostics and the stories alter I loosen everything, drive back and forth a few times 10 feet back 10 feet forward seating and centering then do a proper torque.

a shop technically did the install but I was there assisting. We did the whole rock the truck back and forth bit, lay underneath and jerk the steering wheel back and forth bit as well. There were multiple test drives by multiple people in the shop and other lifted 5th Gen owners and they all heard/felt/noticed the vibration/reverb I am describing. We went beyond the torque setting for the track bar as recommend by Thuren and it still remains.

I am considering adding the Carli sway bar drop brackets to see if that improves things but neither sway bar drops or radius arm drops are required or suggested for these levels. If it's indeed just vibration being felt due to the joint on the track bar I can come to live with it but I'd really like to track it down and eliminate or reduce if at all possible.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

a shop technically did the install but I was there assisting. We did the whole rock the truck back and forth bit, lay underneath and jerk the steering wheel back and forth bit as well. There were multiple test drives by multiple people in the shop and other lifted 5th Gen owners and they all heard/felt/noticed the vibration/reverb I am describing. We went beyond the torque setting for the track bar as recommend by Thuren and it still remains.

I am considering adding the Carli sway bar drop brackets to see if that improves things but neither sway bar drops or radius arm drops are required or suggested for these levels. If it's indeed just vibration being felt due to the joint on the track bar I can come to live with it but I'd really like to track it down and eliminate or reduce if at all possible.

have you tried putting the oem track bar back in? the magic number is 2 1/2” when one is required so it won’t hurt anything being that you are at 2 1/4”. That would be a quick easy experiment

 

[tex68w]

I have not but that would throw the front axle back off to one side and that's not preferred not to mention that the factory track bar joints wear out in short order on stock trucks.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

I have not but that would throw the front axle back off to one side and that's not preferred not to mention that the factory track bar joints wear out in short order on stock trucks.

That will not throw anything off under 2.5” as I explained earlier. For diagnostic purposes it will help narrow down where your issue might be.
And your truck has 1,000 miles so it will not be worn out.

 

[tex68w]

Of course it won't be worn out this early on but it's not a long term solution either. I might try it to see if there's a change but it won't resolve the issue long term. For now I am going to touch base with Thuren and CJC later this week and see what they suggest. Until the rear lift blocks get here the only other thing to try would be the sway bar drops.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Of course it won't be worn out this early on but it's not a long term solution either. I might try it to see if there's a change but it won't resolve the issue long term. For now I am going to touch base with Thuren and CJC later this week and see what they suggest. Until the rear lift blocks get here the only other thing to try would be the sway bar drops.

You have to find the problem before you can fix it. I’ve never had feedback from a thuren kit other than its way better than stock. This is how the HD trucks should come from the factory etc. Any weird issues came in it was usually from a different shop that we had to diagnose and repair. Which is difficult to do

 

[tex68w]

I agree that this is difficult to track down and diagnose, but we've been going about it in the typical process of elimination format. It's certainly odd because I have never experienced this with any other kit or with the prior Thuren kit on my 4th Gen.