Vibration at 60-75...

[JohnMcCarthy]

I have changed the front coils, (1 1/2 lift), the track bar, and sway bar for the Thuren products on my 2018 2500 2WD. This gave me a MUCH improved ride. But now I have a slight vibration that comes at 60 and goes away above 75. I must say, I made a BIG mistake and changed the wheels and tires at the same time for the Power Wagon wheels and Nitto Dura Grapplers 285/75 R17 tires. I think, and so do the alignment techs, feel it is the tire/wheel combination. I have had Discount Tire balance the combination twice, and each time there is a totally different combination of weights and their placement, no change in the vibration.
I read in issue 103 page 58 a post that EDankievitch posted that said these forged aluminum PW wheels need to be bolted to a plate with lug nuts to properly center them on a balancing machine to get true balancing. Does anyone else have experience with this?

And Alignment specs.....these made no difference either.

 

[Elsbury]

Not on a Ram but my wife wanted 20's on her Ford. Bought what I thought were good rims but one of the lug patterns was drilled just a little off center. Had the same problem. Dealer replaced the rim and it was all good.

 

[JohnMcCarthy]

Elsbury,
How did you determine that one of the rims was drilled off a bit? Did you have the same symptom as I have listed?

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Those are OEM rims you put on???
On aftermarket rims, you have to remove the brake rotor retaining clips from the lug studs because there is no recess on the back side of the rim to clear the clips like there are on oem wheels.
This slight misalignment between the rotor and the wheel will cause a vibration.
Guarantee you that it isn't in the suspension alignment settings though.

 

[JohnMcCarthy]

Those are OEM rims you put on???
On aftermarket rims, you have to remove the brake rotor retaining clips from the lug studs because there is no recess on the back side of the rim to clear the clips like there are on oem wheels.
This slight misalignment between the rotor and the wheel will cause a vibration.
Guarantee you that it isn't in the suspension alignment settings though.

Yes those are actually OEM Power Wagon rims.....and I have removed all the retaining clips to make sure that the wheels indeed fit flat against the rotors.....I even tried centramatics on the truck, but no real change.

 

[sag2]

Since you did both changes at once the best advise would be find someone with stock wheels and tires and try them. Then you know it is the wheels or the lift that changed the driveline angles. But you should be able to feel the difference between a wheel speed and driveline speed vibration.

 

[JohnMcCarthy]

[

Since you did both changes at once the best advise would be find someone with stock wheels and tires and try them. Then you know it is the wheels or the lift that changed the driveline angles. But you should be able to feel the difference between a wheel speed and driveline speed vibration.

The front coils only raised about 1 1/2", this is a 2wd truck so I don't think it would really change much in the driveline....? I guess I will head back to discount tire and see if they have a true way to balance these wheels to assure that they are truly centered on the machine.
QUOTE="JohnMcCarthy, post: 2669202, member: 992543"]EDankievitch[/QUOTE]

 

[GCroyle]

Vibration analyzer time? This was just reviewed and written up in the magazine.

Drive shaft u-joint inspection time?

 

[jgillott]

Do you still have your original clutch and the dual mass flywheel? My first indication of flywheel failure was a vibration at 60 mph.

 

[IH8CALI]

I always blame tires first; what tires are those? Were they on the set of wheels when you bought them? They look new but I can't make out the sidewall other than "Highway Terrain", what are the specs?

 

[GCroyle]

Do you still have your original clutch and the dual mass flywheel? My first indication of flywheel failure was a vibration at 60 mph.

Darn, I missed a clutch question and worth checking.

IF questioning the clutch and it's the OEM DMF/SAC combo. Run engine, trans in N, set parking brake. Accelerate engine do not drive truck, when you hit the vibration sweet spot RPM vibrates yes or no?

Good catch jgillott

Gary

 

[JohnMcCarthy]

Yes, I still have DMF, but all this started when I changed the tire/wheel combo and put the Thuren springs/trackbar/swaybar on. Truck has about 29000 miles on it. Tires are Nitto Dura Grapplers 275/75 R17. I think it must be the Nittos because when they are cold the vibration is much more pronounced.

 

[IH8CALI]

I can't find that size on the Nitto spec sheet. Regardless, if you bought the wheels/tires as a combo from someone, their may be a reason. I want the PW wheels bad, but i've never seen anyone pairing with those tires. If you purchased the tires separately, used, again there may be a reason for that. Start troubleshooting with what was recently changed before chasing anything else. Driveline vibrations caused by Thuren parts would be the last thing I investigated.

 

[GCroyle]

Doesn't DT have a road force type balancer system?

And subject to expert correction, wheels have one of two locating systems, hub centric or lug centric. Wheel centers on hub or lug nut cones? At my DT they called em finger plates for lug centric balancing.

 

[bigblock_doc]

If you bought them mounted, dismount and check for water inside the tire.
Compressors need to be drained every night.
I had one that didn't balance, changed every time, had water in it.
Also make sure the balancer is calibrated. Or try another tire store.
Again with my truck tires, my stores machine was the culprit, new machine no problems again.

 

[JohnMcCarthy]

Doesn't DT have a road force type balancer system?

And subject to expert correction, wheels have one of two locating systems, hub centric or lug centric. Wheel centers on hub or lug nut cones? At my DT they called em finger plates for lug centric balancing.

That’s what I needed to know, I will ask them if they used the “finger plates”. I believe these power wagon wheels are lug centric, thanks!

 

[AEdelheit]

You have wayy too much toe in, I would correct that first https://www.thurenfabrication.com/tech/alignment-and-handling.html

 

[bcbender]

I always pose the question of front DS when there is a 60-70 MPH vibration...often overlooked even by dealers (as in my case) easy to pull and rule it out.. Since you did change the running angle, when was the last time you greased it, check it, etc...

 

[AEdelheit]

I always pose the question of front DS when there is a 60-70 MPH vibration...often overlooked even by dealers (as in my case) easy to pull and rule it out.. Since you did change the running angle, when was the last time you greased it, check it, etc...

Well is a 2wd and the 14+ 4wd have a Center axle disconnect so the front driveline still doesn't spin like it did on the 3rd and early 4th gens.

 

[AnonEd]

FWIW, my understanding is the PW wheels switched from forged to cast with the 2019 model years...the ones pictured could be either.