Bad Vibes

[EDankievitch]

So.. Short story. I’ve had a vibration issue with my 2013 since day 1 . Tried everything, tires, wheels, Centrmatics everything. Finally found a shop that balances drive shafts. I had the dampener come apart when I did the Ujoints recently. It turns out the drive shaft was never made correctly. It’s out of round so bad that it can not be fixed. The shop says they have never had one so far out. RAM attempted to balance it with a whole bunch of weights. Only option is replacement. Roughly $890.
I’m done . This was the last straw. I just had the Nox sensor fail . Last year the fuel rail sensor. Year before was the Turbo actuator and the Death wobble, ball joints.
I’m done with RAM junk. My last two trucks have been so far below par.

 

[nukegm]

sorry for your troubles comrade. your story sounds very similar to a 99 powerstroke i had. i threw more money at that thing each month than my mortgage. it soured me on fords. i tend to think that some trucks are just bad right out of the box ( maybe monday truck, or a friday truck , or after holiday etc ). good luck with your next truck. happy trails to you sir - cheers!

 

[JR]

Unfortunately you have lemons with every manufacture. I've owned Fords most of my life, have had one sitting in the driveway every night for the last 20ish consecutive years. I won't bore you with the repeated grievances I've had over the years but what can I say....when the boss finds something she likes I'm along for the ride at that point
Good luck going to brand B or C or Z. Just be sure to come back and let us know when it breaks.

 

[GroundSquirrel]

That's why I'd never buy a 1st year production vehicle again. We bought a 2003 Dodge 5.9; nothing but quirky problems. When the 04.5 came out, I traded the 03 in and that 04.5 became my favorite truck ever. I wish I still had it.

 

[Ozymandias]

Sounds hard, but now that you fixed all and everything going to sell the truck is really throwing money down the drain.

 

[EDankievitch]

Sounds hard, but now that you fixed all and everything going to sell the truck is really throwing money down the drain.

Who said I’ve fixed it? Another grand for a drive shaft? I know there is an injector starting to fail. I get a solid miss every now an then at idle an only at idle. Between the drive shaft an a set of injectors there is a nice down payment on something else. Just really aggravated that Ram’s quality has fallen so far. My 89 an my 05 were so much better trucks than the 12 and 13 have been. Hell these last two RAM’s have spent more time down than all my trucks before combined.

 

[HVAC2]

Our 18 is the first new vehicle with now 28k miles and no warranty issues. None.
Our 2015 ED was just the opposite.
Try a Tundra if you want rock solid reliability.

 

[AH64ID]

I put a 1 piece aluminum shaft on my 05 for roughly $300. I know prices have gone up, but triple seems crazy… then again everything is crazy right now.

At least you’ll get good money on your trade.

My 05 wasn’t flawless, but it wasn’t bad either. The 18 has been great. I’m not driving a Ford or GM and need a HD pickup, so the list of viable trucks is short.

 

[p-Bar]

That sould have never left the AAM factory. I would call them and explain the situation and see if they would be willing to replace it for you.

 

[crazy jerry]

you drove 8yrs on a driveshaft that was a mile out of round ? thought you replaced the ujoints a while back and it fixed most or all of the vibration ?
all i can say about being pissed off and wanting a different brand. if you think every mass produced vehicle is perfectly trouble free your sadly mistaken. sounds like your just one of the unlucky ones. plenty of them new fords are lemons. go to the ford forum and it dont take long to find these lemons, or just nonlemons but with multiple problems. if youve had your last straw now, what you gonna do after dumping 80k on a king ranch and the door panels fill up with water, fuel filter housing breaks and spooges fuel all over the engine bay. those other brands have no shortage of their own problems.

 

[R.Taylor]

+1 on the one piece... Put one on my 06 2500 MC, Guess RAM figured it out cause when I bought my 18 2500 MC I was surprised to see it had a one piece aluminum D/S from the factory.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Who said I’ve fixed it? Another grand for a drive shaft? I know there is an injector starting to fail. I get a solid miss every now an then at idle an only at idle. Between the drive shaft an a set of injectors there is a nice down payment on something else. Just really aggravated that Ram’s quality has fallen so far. My 89 an my 05 were so much better trucks than the 12 and 13 have been. Hell these last two RAM’s have spent more time down than all my trucks before combined.

I feel your pain but to put some context into the conversation, one Ford that I owned was in the shop more than 21 Dodge trucks.....COMBINED! Why not just get a new truck every so many years when the warranty is ready to run out? You are either going to pay for a truck or pay to fix them. There is NO WAY AROUND IT.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Try a Tundra if you want rock solid reliability.

Off topic but the Tundra is the least capable full sized truck on the market. It's like an old man with a bad back......has some capability but you can't expect it to do any heavy work.

 

[JR]

I've watched 2 co workers have their Tundra flat bedded out of the parking lot at work. One Has had a lot of issues. They all have their fair share.

 

[Ozymandias]

Off topic but the Tundra is the least capable full sized truck on the market. It's like an old man with a bad back......has some capability but you can't expect it to do any heavy work.

I remember the Video with the dancing Tundra because of the all to flexing frame- horrible, would never buy such an inferior vehicle.

 

[p-Bar]

Son owned Eco diesel traded it in bought Tundra. I said good luck on your fuel mileage.

 

[nukegm]

my neighbor had a tundra. flatbedded it a lot to dealer. was a swat officer, so reliability was crucial. ended up buying an f 150... also eat sunday breakfast on occasion with subaru and toyota techs. the toy guys all say they would not buy a new tundra. only older ones. just f y i . they do hold their value like nothing i have ever seen, however. cheers all!

 

[sag2]

So.. Short story. I’ve had a vibration issue with my 2013 since day 1 . Tried everything, tires, wheels, Centrmatics everything. Finally found a shop that balances drive shafts. I had the dampener come apart when I did the Ujoints recently. It turns out the drive shaft was never made correctly. It’s out of round so bad that it can not be fixed. The shop says they have never had one so far out. RAM attempted to balance it with a whole bunch of weights. Only option is replacement. Roughly $890.
I’m done . This was the last straw. I just had the Nox sensor fail . Last year the fuel rail sensor. Year before was the Turbo actuator and the Death wobble, ball joints.
I’m done with RAM junk. My last two trucks have been so far below par.

That is the reason these things need to be properly diagnosed before throwing parts at them. Go back and look at TDR Issue 108 for The Rest of the Story article on NVH. There are tools available that can diagnose the source of the vibration. Also, a driveline vibration feels completely different than a tire vibration using the assometer, a tool we all possess. Tire vibrations are slow (8-12 Hz) where driveline vibrations are fast (30-55 Hz) so they are easily distinguishable from one another.

 

[EDankievitch]

Vibe only rears it’s ugly head at speeds above 70-75 mph. Really noticeable at 85. Before I relocated I was luck if I could get the truck up to 65 on the world’s longest parking lot known as the LIE . So I’d take Ainu trip notice the vibes have the tires re balanced when I’d get home an think all was good. Next trip 6 months to a year later an the vibe was there again. I should also say the Ny’s roads are very far from smooth. Now I’m in southern Jersey am the parkway is nice an smooth and speed limit is 65 we drive close to 75-80. So I feel the vibe every day. Not sure my plan. Just dumped 500 into a new Nox sensor. What a nightmare to replace. But it’s done. Really thinkin of taking the grand the driveshaft will cost an use it for a down payment on a F150 diesel. Have to see what my trade is worth.

 

[nukegm]

Vibe only rears it’s ugly head at speeds above 70-75 mph. Really noticeable at 85. Before I relocated I was luck if I could get the truck up to 65 on the world’s longest parking lot known as the LIE . So I’d take Ainu trip notice the vibes have the tires re balanced when I’d get home an think all was good. Next trip 6 months to a year later an the vibe was there again. I should also say the Ny’s roads are very far from smooth. Now I’m in southern Jersey am the parkway is nice an smooth and speed limit is 65 we drive close to 75-80. So I feel the vibe every day. Not sure my plan. Just dumped 500 into a new Nox sensor. What a nightmare to replace. But it’s done. Really thinkin of taking the grand the driveshaft will cost an use it for a down payment on a F150 diesel. Have to see what my trade is worth.

comrade - would you think trying a salvage yard driveshaft for much less than 1000 would be worth a shot? just a random thought. or drive the truck in 4 by 4 w/o rear shaft to confirm its the rear driveline making the vibration? cheers -