05 Vibration from rear

[Wdoucet]

Hello fellow TDR members, I've been following this site for the past few years and finally traded in the old Ford for a new 05 3500 srw auto 3. 73 CTD quad cad.



It now has a total of 1138 km (683 miles) and at 120-130km/h (72-78 mph) I get this vibration and "drone" noise from the back. I tried an other new truck at the dealer and it did the same thing.



Is it only the resonance from the engine/exhaust system, tire/driveline vibration, or am I being too picky on the noise?



It's surprisingly smooth from 0-110 km/h.



Yes, it is, and probably will remain bone stock, the only thing I pull is a 7000lb 5th wheel (I can't even feel it back there).





Thanks for all the info in the past years and this bit of help



Wayne

 

[msperos]

There has been talk that it is the back of the bed setting up a resonance from vibration. A spray in bed liner is said to help. I had my truck Line-x'd before I took delivery so I have not experienced that drone. I do get a clutch pedal vibration and drone at 2100-2400rpm. DC is supposed to know about this and is working on it.

 

[Wdoucet]

I forgot, it also had the Line-X put in a few days after my purchase but it didn't make any difference. At 120km/h I'm turning 2000rpm.



Air over/in the bed would be causing the noise/vibration?

 

[JasonCzerak]

There has been talk that it is the back of the bed setting up a resonance from vibration. A spray in bed liner is said to help. I had my truck Line-x'd before I took delivery so I have not experienced that drone. I do get a clutch pedal vibration and drone at 2100-2400rpm. DC is supposed to know about this and is working on it.

The clutch peddle thing. I was told it's my throwout barring? And my vibration started shortly have a heavy night of racing too. hmmm

 

[DDougherty]

It sounds like you have the dreaded 70MPH vibration.

It is common on SOME 03, 04 and now 05 Dodge Ram CTD only.

Some have it and some do not.

I have a 2004. 5 HO and I was back at the dealer with 300 miles on the truck.

I now have 25M on it and no fix.

Ihere is a lot of conversation about this at dieseltruckresource.com



I had heard that the problem had been solved with the new 05 using an alumnium drive shaft and counter balance.



Around town it is not bad but try driving 5000 miles all interstate and you vibrate along with it.

I am about to start lemon law action!

 

[Wdoucet]

Mine was manufactured in May 05, it's not that old. I tried an other one with the same setup at the dealer and it did the exact same thing. I guess I'll start hasseling the dealer (I haven't filled out my survey YET).

 

[DPKetchum]

Looked under MANY 05s. Yet to see a alumnium shaft on any of them. The Cummins powered Dodge trucks have always had some wrap up noise at certain RPMS. I don't mean a VIBRATION but drones etc.

 

[MaryZ]

Hello fellow TDR members, I've been following this site for the past few years and finally traded in the old Ford for a new 05 3500 srw auto 3. 73 CTD quad cad.



It now has a total of 1138 km (683 miles) and at 120-130km/h (72-78 mph) I get this vibration and "drone" noise from the back. I tried an other new truck at the dealer and it did the same thing.



Is it only the resonance from the engine/exhaust system, tire/driveline vibration, or am I being too picky on the noise?



It's surprisingly smooth from 0-110 km/h.



Yes, it is, and probably will remain bone stock, the only thing I pull is a 7000lb 5th wheel (I can't even feel it back there).





Thanks for all the info in the past years and this bit of help



Wayne

In my 03, it was found to be the rear yoke flange that was warped 100,000ths out of flat and the shaft was banana out 40,000ths. Had it fixed at the local drive shaft company. What a relief. Now, I can hear the front on and it is comming out to hit the shop.

 

[Wdoucet]

Getting the drive shaft done tomorrow, I believe it's a start to a long and cruel battle.

 

[DRenchjr]

It sounds like you have the dreaded 70MPH vibration.

It is common on SOME 03, 04 and now 05 Dodge Ram CTD only.

Some have it and some do not.

I have a 2004. 5 HO and I was back at the dealer with 300 miles on the truck.

I now have 25M on it and no fix.

Ihere is a lot of conversation about this at dieseltruckresource.com



I had heard that the problem had been solved with the new 05 using an alumnium drive shaft and counter balance.



Around town it is not bad but try driving 5000 miles all interstate and you vibrate along with it.

I am about to start lemon law action!

I've got an 05 that was manufactured in 7/05. I haven't taken a magnet to it, but the driveshaft doesn't look aluminum. BUT there is something that looks an awful lot like a harmonic dampener at the front of it. No vibe problem..... yet. .

 

[Wdoucet]

Could you take a picture of it, I'd like to see what it looks like. The drive-shaft re-balancing had absolutly no effect on the DRONE vibration.



Dealer called Dodge and said "Thats the way they are". Even he didn't believe the answer. Service Tech. went for a drive with my truck and couldn<t believe the noise it was making.



You would know if you had the vibe, mine is really pronounced ay 119-120 kmh (71-72 mph)

 

[Mike B.]

My 05 2500 Laramie swb w/ auto had a mild case of the 70 mph vibe. Dodge finally agreed to buy it back. They also bought back at full price my gauges, step bars, floor mats and fender liners. I had to pay the difference between MSRP of the 05 and the 06 less the cost of the gauges ect. By the time the 06 replacement truck I orders was delivered I had put 21k miles on my 05. I hate to say it but I'm glad the 05 had the vibe. In the end I upgraded to an 06 inferno red truck that now includes a Sat. radio and a power sliding rear window. Total cost to me other than time, $550. So far with only 1200 miles on it the 06 is as smooth as a babies butt.





Don't let them tell it's NORMAL for your 40k truck to have this problem.

Be nice but firm, Don't yell at them or you'll get nowhere.



BTW: the 06 has a steel driveshaft.



good luck.



Mike

 

[WOT]

Shortly after I purchased mine I notice a drone/vib thing at approx 64-68 mph. I have the G56, so that's probably close to the same RPM range you are getting yours in. I had the driveline angle checked and that was fine. Surprisingly, once I hadmy spray in bedline done the drone became much less. There's a thread around here somewhere about the front of the bed causing a bunch of vibs. Also, I have the tubular steps that mount via the duct taped holes on the bottom of the body. Once I got those on things got a little better. I'm thinking the long and short of it is there is a bad tendancy for the bodyparts to vibrate/drone on these things. It's much better now, so maybe I will have to put a louder muffler on



WOT

 

[Wdoucet]

Mike B.



I have the X-liner, the step bars hooked into the taped hole, a fifth wheel in the back (in or out) and it hasn't changed a thing. How did you manage to get the dealer to buy it back with all the goodies.



The help of a freindly lawer helped????

 

[Mike B.]

No lawyers were needed, no use of the lemmon laws ect. .

I'm not really sure how I did it. Once the Dodge rep met me at the dealer and test drove the truck it was almost a done deal. They tried one more thing that didn't work. After that I got the call from the DC rep saying he was starting the buy back paper work. I had the option to have them remove all of the extra stuff and install it on the new truck. If the dealer hadn't raped me on the OEM step bars for $450 plus $180 for labor I may have done it.



One thing I did do was never accept the standard "it's a diesel that's how they are" BS answers. You can't BS a BSer. :-laf I will tell you that it takes a long time for the paper work to run it's course though DC. In my case my buy back was approved near the end of April. If I wanted another 05 I could've had the truck last month. Because I ordered an 06 it did take a little bit longer. I was told that DC puts buy back orders ahead of standard order but who knows.



I you want DC to buy back your truck you will have to play ball with them. you will have to go though the chain of command at the dealership first before you get to see the DC rep. I wouldn't call DC directly (I never had to) until your dealer ship gives up. Even them I've heard it's best to go to another dealer. The only way IMO to make this work is to have a dealership to make the calls for you. It's no skin of there noses if the truck is bought back. If they help you then they get to be the heros by making you, the guy to laid out a ton of dough,happy.



Mike

 

[DMcAnulty]

05 Vibration

I bought a 2005 Ram 3500 SRW, 4 X 4, LWB, 48re in late July 2005. After I got over 500 miles on it, I noticed a drone/vibration from the rear of the truck as soon as it hits 70 mph. It gets worse at 75 and then disappears at 80 mph. I researched this on the net and found it is a common complaint. I took it to a dealer nearby who said they know about the problem and DC has no fix for it. Further refused to look at it and told me that since "you have less than 3,000 miles on the truck" I had to take it back to the dealer I purchased it from.



I took it to where I bought it and they kept it for 6 days. They diagnosed it as a "driveline noise problem" and contacted their DC Regional Rep to see if there was a TSB for it. The Rep sent a one-line reply that said "normal characteristic sound for this truck". Dealer said there was nothing more they could do.



All this time, I have been emailing DC Customer Care and documenting the process of trying to get it fix. Customer Care only replied once and then shut down communication with me until I formally requested they either do something to stop the vibration or buy the truck back. I also requested they maintain all records of my communications over this issue and that I would be filing a Lemon Law Complaint in Texas. They sent back an email saying they had reviewed my requests and there is nothing more they can do.



I'm proceeding with the LL Filing. I will not accept DC's disregard for my complaint. I am highly offended that DC has treated me and apparently many others having to deal with this problem. I had a 2001 3500 I was so pleased with that I decided to buy the 2005 when the employee pricing came out. Unfortunately, I did not know about the 2003-2005 vibration issues.



I have not driven a 2006 yet. Does anyone know if it has the same issue?

 

[BNeathery]

Is this a 4wd issue or does it affect 2wd as well? I have yet to notice any thing yet but have less than 800 miles on my truck

 

[TPappas]

I too have a 40K $ vibrator. Mine vibrates enough that I can't see anything out of my rear view mirrors and it also puts my hands asleep if I drive for any distance. It also does it when I tow my trailer, which is a major annoyance on any trip we have taken with the family.



I took it in beginning of this week for first oil change and have them fix the vibration. When I dropped it off the service writer said he had not heard of these trucks doing this, then went on to say the older Durangos have the problem. I thought right then, "Here we go with the games. " Well, it's friday now (they have had it three days) and I have not heard a thing from them. Right now I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt on fixing it, but based upon the service writers actions/words to me I seriously doubt it will be fixed.



I am going to call them this afternoon to see whats up. I am eager to find out if they document the vibration or say it could not be duplicated. I will go from there depending on what they say.



This really sucks that we have to deal with this problem on such an expensive truck. I wish it could have been a different problem that is not so annoying because I absolutely love the truck and the way it pulls my trailer.



Oh ya, I too would like to know if any of the 2006's have any vibration.

 

[DPKetchum]

Some of it is not a game. Some vehicles have inherited rpm related drones and harmonics. Not vibrations per se but noises that occur at certain rpm/speed areas. ALL of the Dodge/Cummin powerd trucks since 1989 have has some noise/boom thing issue. I deldt with Caddy's and rear wheel drive brougham had a moan/boom at certain speeds. Not all but some. Caddy said same thing. 28 pages of TSB and nothing that fixed one car fixed another. They finally would say DO NO REPAIR. Eaither BUY BACK or live with. It was cheaper and easier on every one involved.

 

[DMcAnulty]

05 Vibration

TO: DP Ketchum,

I see you have a 2003 CTD; does it have this vibration? I realize no vehicle is perfect but paying $40K+ for any car/truck that has this annoyance is unreasonable. I can't believe that the design/manufacturing system that auto builders use could not prevent a drone/vibration of this sort. Just looking at the number of complaints people have about it shows it is a substantial issue.



When you go to look at new ones, the salesman certainly doesn't tell you about it. I drove a new 2005 at another dealership while mine was in the shop and it had the vibration, too. I asked the salesman what that noise was and he said it was probably "just some road noise". If it is a "normal characteristic for these trucks" as my Dodge Rep said, why doesn't Dodge give notice to buyers so one can decide whether it's is acceptable or not BEFORE they purchase it.



I do agree with you, however, Dodge should buy it back because I refuse to "live with it". What do I tell a potential buyer if I decide to sell it myself 3-5 years from now? This problem adversely affects me everytime I drive 70 mph and adversely affects the potential value and saleability of the truck later on. I wish everyone who owns one and has this issue refuses to let Dodge get away without addressing the problem.