Bucking Ram

[RGH43]

2003 3500 6spd pulling a 34+2 Snowbird. Truck only has 14K miles When I take off and I give it the throttle many times the truck bucks so bad you think the transmission or engine is going to fall out. I have to push the clutch in quickly and restart all over using method #2 or ride the clutch until it gets going. This can be dangerous if crossing a road, pulling out you need to make sure you have a lot of room. Now here’s the kicker, if I let the truck control the throttle on take off and then after rolling I apply the throttle it doesn’t do it, it only happens when I control the throttle. The clutch did smoked very badly and stinks when I first got the trailer and backed it up several times to get it into the location to park it. Since then the clutch will smell if backed several times. Took the Service manager for a ride and it did it and he said the hitch is moving up and down to much. Doesn’t want to take it the transmission apart I guess. If the hitch is to loose (BS) then why doesn’t it do it when the engine controls the throttle feed? He gave me some BS answer to that one to. The hitch was installed at a reputable place does a lot of hitches and did a very nice job to modify the under bed mount for this frame, no holes drilled, hitch is a Hi Jacker 21k and is an under bed mount, took it back and they said it has so little movement that shouldn’t make a difference.



Any suggestions?

 

[TKingsbury]

My truck is no '03, but it does this too. Always use 1st gear with a load and don't throttle it until you're rolling. Too bad your truck isn't 4wd, I'd suggest backing in low range to save the clutch.

Travis. .

 

[JayWm]

It sounds like to me that you have smoked the clutch and hot spotted it. Your description sounds like it's slipping badly when you apply throttle. When you do it slowly I'd guess that the clutch has a chance to engage and clamp better and thus won't slip as easily.



Just my thoughts based on your comments.

 

[DaveK98]

Never had a problem like this with the setup in my sig... .



I tend to back up a lot to get in my tight parking spot... I'm still learning. When I back up I don't really have to use any gas at all it is just clutch. I also always use 1st when loaded.

 

[Jetson]

After you got the clutch hot the first time it created spots on the flywheel that tend to grab. The only way to fix it is a new clutch with a resurfaced flywheel. I have a South Bend OFE clutch which was fine towing and backing until I got it hot pulling a guy out of a ditch. I was on gravel so I slipped the clutch to keep from spinning the tires, now my clutch chatters some.



You might try revving the engine a little higher than normal when you let out the clutch. That can keep the clutch from getting grabby, but it will overheat the clutch faster if you do it when you are backing the trailer.

 

[JRMora]

2003 3500 6spd pulling a 34+2 Snowbird. Truck only has 14K miles When I take off and I give it the throttle many times the truck bucks so bad you think the transmission or engine is going to fall out. I have to push the clutch in quickly and restart all over using method #2 or ride the clutch until it gets going. This can be dangerous if crossing a road, pulling out you need to make sure you have a lot of room. Now here’s the kicker, if I let the truck control the throttle on take off and then after rolling I apply the throttle it doesn’t do it, it only happens when I control the throttle. The clutch did smoked very badly and stinks when I first got the trailer and backed it up several times to get it into the location to park it. Since then the clutch will smell if backed several times. Took the Service manager for a ride and it did it and he said the hitch is moving up and down to much. Doesn’t want to take it the transmission apart I guess. If the hitch is to loose (BS) then why doesn’t it do it when the engine controls the throttle feed? He gave me some BS answer to that one to. The hitch was installed at a reputable place does a lot of hitches and did a very nice job to modify the under bed mount for this frame, no holes drilled, hitch is a Hi Jacker 21k and is an under bed mount, took it back and they said it has so little movement that shouldn’t make a difference.



Any suggestions?

I always start (loaded or unloaded) with a zero throttle launch - let the clutch out until the truck starts rolling then a nice even application of the accelerator.



I have a trailer of close to the same weight, it can be a pain when backing up (I'm also learning how to spot this trailer into tight spots). I know I've heated up the clutch, but so far, so good. I'm looking for some power adders, but I'll probably upgrade the clutch along the way.



Always use 1st when launching a heavy load. If you have to slip the clutch a lot, you'll be heading for a new clutch.



Your hitch is fine.



Juan

 

[Prairie Dog]

It's going to buck and complain anytime you use power to slip the clutch (unless things have been heavily modified). As said before, let it out and then hit the gas. I know the latest medium duty trucks buck the same way.

Take your time , your on vacation!

 

[terrywerm]

Like the others have said, let the clutch out, then apply throttle. It goes completely against what we all learned about driving gassers with manual transmissions, but gassers don't have the torque at idle that these diesels do.



Additionally, diesels have a governed idle speed. If the revs drop, the injector pump automatically adds fuel to keep the revs at idle speed. With a gasser there is no governor, so you need to add fuel manually with the throttle pedal just to keep the engine from stalling.



From time to time you will see a "greenhorn" in a semi starting out from a light, and he picks up the revs before letting out the clutch. You'll see all kinds of bucking then! If you watch most of those drivers, you'll notice that they get her rolling, then apply the throttle. The correct technique makes all the difference in the world!

 

[Rman]

This sure sounds like axle wrap to me. What happens is your torqueing the axle around and the springs are flexing, those springs bounce back causing the tremendous bucking. This best option is to apply slow constant throttle, with the truck already rolling as everyone has described.



I haul loads of gravel that severely exceed the truck rating. I'm only going a couple miles with it, and don't top 40 mph. I'd say somewhere in the nature of 15-20 ton of gravel, plus 12k of trailer. There is no idling off a stop with that load, I let the clutch out until it grabs then apply light throttle until it gets going a little. Most of the time I have to clutch a couple times to let the springs settle down.



There's a good thread on this somewhere in the towing section that describes axle wrap better. I have airbags which I don't think help my situation much. They allow the axle to wrap more so than overload springs. The best thing is to practice finding that right acceleration speed.

 

[obert]

I hate to reiterate, but if your diesel is electronicly controlled (and it is) you do not apply throttle untill after your foot is off the clutch pedal. If you need to get your foot into the mix yer in the wrong gear. Some times that rule can apply to mechanical engines (12 valve).



A rule of thumb with any engine, any fuel, that follows what terrywerm said "clutch engagement rpm should never exceed set idle rpm. "



Unless your doin a burnout :-laf then I guess you just throw all that out the window! Oo.

 

[kcarroll1]

Bucking Ram:

The shudder or vibrations while accelerating from a stop comes from the two pc driveshaft. Take a look at this web site- http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2004/03-003-04.htm

from Geno Garage.



Ram Kevin

 

[blacksheep4x4]

I always start (loaded or unloaded) with a zero throttle launch - let the clutch out until the truck starts rolling then a nice even application of the accelerator.



I have a trailer of close to the same weight, it can be a pain when backing up (I'm also learning how to spot this trailer into tight spots). I know I've heated up the clutch, but so far, so good. I'm looking for some power adders, but I'll probably upgrade the clutch along the way.



Always use 1st when launching a heavy load. If you have to slip the clutch a lot, you'll be heading for a new clutch.



Your hitch is fine.



Juan

In my 03 I found you can do this when shifting through all gears. The truck now hass 153,000 miles on it and clutch still looks fairly new.

 

[Rman]

I hate to reiterate, but if your diesel is electronicly controlled (and it is) you do not apply throttle untill after your foot is off the clutch pedal. If you need to get your foot into the mix yer in the wrong gear. Some times that rule can apply to mechanical engines (12 valve).



A rule of thumb with any engine, any fuel, that follows what terrywerm said "clutch engagement rpm should never exceed set idle rpm. "



Unless your doin a burnout :-laf then I guess you just throw all that out the window! Oo.

Explain to me how to get a 30k load going on soft gravel without stepping on the throttle? I've got a HRVP44 and Mach 2 injectors and guess what, I can still stall the motor. Wrong gear? 4WD low in first gear is about as low as I can go without a torque multiplier.

 

[TKingsbury]

Explain to me how to get a 30k load going on soft gravel without stepping on the throttle? I've got a HRVP44 and Mach 2 injectors and guess what, I can still stall the motor. Wrong gear? 4WD low in first gear is about as low as I can go without a torque multiplier.

I'll explain it for ya, get a truck that is designed to haul that which you are hauling.

Travis. .

 

[obert]

Yeah... . wasnt gettin the torch out there. And I can relate to that situation. Is that 30k gross or net. Im not normaly over 26 or 27k gross and have little trouble rolling off with no throttle. At least not from foot-- just what the ecm puts in.



The only time my truck bucked real hard- was around the 24k mark- I found out a few miles later there was a hole in #6 piston. oops!

 

[LEPage]

Been down this road before. I solved my bucking on my '97 by putting a heavy spring on the throttle. After a long time of trying to solve this, another TDR member told me to try this, and it worked. Turns out the problem was my foot & the throttle pedal not working well together. Every time the truck would buck, it would make my foot hit the throttle a little harder than the time before, & each time it would buck would be worse than the time before. Put the heavy spring on & the problem went away. I too thought the truck had a problem & this guy was crazy, but it solved my problem. Hasen't been much of an issue on my '03, but if it was, I would try this first. I've got a bigger problem with this Luk Ceramataullic clutch engaging. I will not have another one of them.

 

[RGH43]

As usual you get a lot of great help from the members, thanks for all the advice. I did start allowing the truck to control take off in 1st and I apply the throttle only after I have started rolling. A hard concept to get used too since I learned to drive an old Ford Flathead with a 4 speed and have owned many 4spds since. kcarroll1 thanks for the web site, I will take that bulletin to the dealer. I'm sure I do have hot spots in the clutch cause it was smoking badly and now after I back up several times you can smell it. Any ideas why this truck is so Hi-Geared in reverse. Who wants to do 10mph while pushing a 37ft 5th wheel. If you apply the brake does the electronic control try to give it more gas in reverse, seems like it oes?

 

[terrywerm]

Yes, it will start to deliver more fuel when idling if you attempt to slow it down with the brake. Idle speed is controlled by a governor in the ECM. If it senses that the idle speed is below spec, it applies more fuel.