Frustrated New Owner.. Help!

[RVTRKN]

If Dodge replaced the tires, it was the Generals. I hated my Generals, and had to replace them on the road unfortunately, but managed to get Michelins that I wanted when I took delivery of the truck.

 

[Wingate]

Ive put a bunch of miles on the truck since.. its still SMOOTH! Im completely convinced the problem lies in the tires. Between the service bulletin issued to dealers about moving the trucks around on the lot to prevent flat-spotting and the fact that RAM has dumped General as the factory rubber on new trucks further tells me that there were problems. The new trucks on the lot now have the NEXEN tires on them!
I believe, as others have also stated, that no matter how much you rotate, balance, road-force balance a bad tire, if its bad its bad. There were no signs of a slipped belt of bulging in the tires, I believe they are just build at too low of a price point which caused General to loosen up the acceptable tolerances... What I call the WALMART mentality.
When the dealership initially decided to put six new tires on it, of course they have to order them thru their parts department, the order sat out there for days without being filled, when the parts guy checked on the order, RAM had cancelled it! Apparently RAM was already changed over from General to NEXEN. I also think if you buy tires for Sams, Walmart, Costco..etc. you are subject to get the same junk built on price point that the manufacturer had on it. thats just an opinion.... but they bulk purchase on price point and things bought from them tend to fail sooner than a similar items purchased from a more reputable business.
Im happy with the new tires, although time will tell how long they last. But the truck does not vibrate! I am a BFG guy myself and thats what will go on it when these get retired.
FWIW< I spoke with the service manager a couple weeks ago about some other issues im having, the subject of the tires came up, he did say they learned a lot with my truck and have had a couple of other trucks come in since then with the same issues and different tires have been the cure.
I think they pulled the carrier bearing down to see if it was failing or locking up, but it does not appear they replaced anything. The tailshaft has not been un bolted, so it wasnt re-clocked.

 

[Kry226]

Did they shim the carrier any? There's been other boys whose vibes weren't cured by new tires.

 

[Wingate]

Did they shim the carrier any? There's been other boys whose vibes weren't cured by new tires.

Dunno, I dont know what it looked like before. When I get a chance, I can get under it and take a pic and post.
I can definitely say that changing the pinion angle with a loaded gn trailer and a 5th wheel did nothing for the vibration.

 

[Got HO?]

I'll share my experience FWIW. Different truck, I know. My 2014 2500 felt like your local Home Depot paint shaker at 60-75mph. Came equipped with Firestone Transforce A/T's. Tried indexing and balancing them in my shop, but could see that they were out of round even after indexing them a couple of times. I wasn't about to waste my time running around in circles with my local dealer, so I ordered a set of Hankook Dynapro ATM's, which were great on my previous truck, an '03 2500. Mounted and balanced them and was surprised to still have vibration issues. Measured all 4 and found 2 had excessive run-out, so the tire store warranteed them for me, but the replacement tires were no better. Looking them over, I discovered that they were made in China, and not Korea as the previous Hankooks I had used. Not sure if there's a story there or not. Felling pretty discouraged by now, I was talking to one of the alignment techs at the tire store, and he suggested a different brand that he had good success with. So we sent the Hankooks back and tried a set of Nitto all terrains. The truck is now perfect, no trace of vibration all the way up to 85 mph. The Nitto's are a little noisier, but I'll live with that since they are so smooth. I'm a happy camper now.

 

[AlFischer]

When you go to the dealer get the service manager in the truck and TAKE HIM FOR A RIDE!!

 

[seafish]

When you go to the dealer get the service manager in the truck and TAKE HIM FOR A RIDE!!

But wait, that's the service manager's job...taking YOU for a ride...lol.

 

[AlFischer]

ROMAL!!! True.

 

[Wingate]

I feel as though I got lucky with the service department. They really went out of their way when working on my truck.