Harmonic hum and buzz feel from steering and seat

[DPKetchum]

Rep after Rep has been called about this vibration. LOTS of trucks have IT. Good luck and keep US posted but I'm not overly optimistic they will fix IT. (IT being drone/vibration at 2100/2300 rpm. )

 

[MSilva]

Noise,Hum etc.

I am a new member and Proud owner of a new 2500 4x4 White

Crew Cab Long bed. My 03 has this same noise also between

60-80 or higher. Its a humming noise with a very mild vibration

I can feel the vibration through the 4x4 shifter knob. The dealer,

Landmark Dodge in Atlanta said it needs a new front drive shaft.

They have one on order for me. Some posts say the noise occurs in park with the motor revved past 2000. I will try this. I do not want the dealer doing trial and error fixes on my new truck. The dealer also stated that a new front shaft fixed another customers noise problem. Anyway This Truck sure is 100 times better than my old 93 6. 5 TBD Chevy with 135000 miles. I am crazy about this truck. It rides much better than my brother in Laws F250 Crew Power Stroke 4x4. Oh I also want to add that

I drove an 03 4x4 short bed and no hum noise. I wander if this

problem is mostly with long bed trucks?

 

[DPKetchum]

They replaced the front shaft in mine for same reason. Now if it was a severe vibration it would help/repair etc. But a front shaft wont fix NOISE. It had no affect on mine. The noise is a drone!Vibration and noise is HARMONICS and its at peak rpm areas. Worse with 4. 10 gears because thats the 60 to 70 /2000/2300 mph/rpm range. Try in out of gear sitting still and bring it up slowly. Comes in like a switch turned on same as driving. Post what you FEEL. Their groping for straws and doing a placebo. Same as replacing the one in mine.

 

[Rolars]

Good ol' Vibration

Well everyone, I feel let down. I picked up my truck today and they told me that DC was aware of the problem, and that a fix would come in about 2-3 months!!

I was sure hoping my situation would turn out different. It didn't. My wife wants to sell the truck, she is starting to think it is a piece...

To my surprise though, it did drive a lot better today, than at any time before. I guess the two bad injectors were there from day one.

The vibration is from the hydroboost power steering hose that is vibrating too much. A new hose is in the works (the 2-3 months). This apparently only happens on the HO Cummins engines. I personally think the hydroboost pump is being overworked by the higher horsepower engine and it is spinning too fast (undersized for the duty) and is vibrating violently. This vibration is transmitting through the power steering hoses into the cab. Even with the new heavier hose (to dampen the vibration) I bet the hydroboost pump will be failing before 50,000 miles. It shouldn't be vibrating that bad to begin with. I work around rotating equipment every day. The cause here appears to be going overlooked. The 'band aid' hose will just mask the problem (a Dodge part not a Cummins part).

 

[Steve M]

That's interesting because my '98 5spd/4. 10 was the noisiest vibratingest truck I've ever owned. I focused on those hydroboost brake booster hoses quite a bit. I ty-rapped them together, ty-rapped them apart, ty-rapped them to the fender, and tried a bunch of other stuff including a flex pipe section in the exhaust, (helped alot), re-aligning the cab pads, isolating the air cleaner box from the fender, dynomat on the cab walls, rags stuffed in the fenders, and after 89k miles, traded it for an '01. 5 auto/3. 55 quad cab. Ah what a relief! Cruise at 70 was a quiet 1850rpm. However, if I had to lock out O/D for towing the 5th wheel in the hills, it was every bit as noisy as the '98 at 2100rpm. My '95 auto/3. 54 was also quiet but had the 2100rpm drone while accelerating.

The new ones are so quiet that the drone seems way out of place. Best fix would be a 3. 41 ratio rear end. The Cummins vibrates at 2100rpm. Doesn't bother my wife. She says she can't hear it and it feels good in the seat at 65. It bugs me but I've leared to ignore it and it seems like it's become less as the miles add up just like the previous three.

I don't think the engineers will come up with a fix other than timing or some other counterbalancer act internally in the engine. The damper on the driveshaft yoke came out in '95. It's nothing new for the automatics.

Dodge makes it, Cummins shakes it, and we spend way too much time worrying about it. Me included.

 

[DPKetchum]

As I said a placebo. They mentioned that to me while they had mine but insisted it was in the TURBO. In my other post I refer to the problem as IT and never got a straight answer to what IT is. Kinda like Raiders Of the Ark. THEY HAVE TOP people working on IT!:-{}

 

[Gene Heck]

Drone in cab

Well, what do you know about all this noise. I didn't know anything about it until I decided to test drive a new one last night. I decided that I would look at a 03 or 04 and maybe trade off my 2002. My wife never has been to keen on the noise thing. I keep telling her, what noise? My 02 sounds kind of sweet to me. I heard a 03 in town at a red light a few days ago and couldn't believe how quiet it was taking off. So, after much thought I called my friend at the dealer and he only had an auto in stock but I said for a test drive that would be okay. I just wanted to bring it home, both of us look it over, go for a little drive, you guys know the routine. I left my 02 there and started up the new 03 and was pleased with how quiet it idled in the parking lot. So driving through town it was okay except for the trans whine (I think). It sort of whined like straight cut planetary gears in the trans. No big deal, as I'm only interested in a 6 speed. Once I got out of town and up to speed, 50-60 mph, there was this awful drone in the cab. I couldn't believe it. My 02 is kind of loud but in a different way. The drone at this speed was repeatable and obnoxious. If I had to put up with this noise for very long I think I would lose the rest of my sanity. About 50 miles should do the trick. When I took the truck back, I told my friend the salesman about this noise and he said that the new trucks seemed to have this noise thing about them. He wasn't sure why they did it, (make the noise), but maybe the factory was cutting back on the insulation. I asked if maybe a leather interior or laramie package had enough insulation to stop this and he said he didn't know but when he got one in he would call me and I was welcome to try it out. So I started reading the 03 posts with more interest last night when I got home and I was really surprised to find this such a common problem on the new trucks. I told my wife that I really liked the 03's features but for what it would cost me to trade up from my 02 that it was just too much to get an even worse noise than I already have.



Gene



By the way I drove the new truck only 10 miles and I can still hear it!

 

[DPKetchum]

Depends on gearing were THE noise starts. Mine with 4. 10 is right at 60. basicly 2000 to 2300 rpm. Now my friends with 3. 73 and a auto trans really dosent notice it with his. His is poping around 70mph and up to get 2000 to 2300 rpm. Some folks say theres dont do it at all. Mine sure did. Its more livable now the exhaust change helped some.

 

[Briman]

Originally posted by DPKetchum

If you look at my earlier posts I was HOT over this drone/vibration deal. Mine still has it but it will take ALL of us to get through to D. C. that it's really unacceptable.

Does any one know how to get a class action lawsuit off the ground. I have been fighting to get rid of the vibration since February. When I take out the front drive shaft the vibration goes away. I don't like the harmonic drone... . but like the vibration even less.



I can't imagine how much time has been spent at dealerships across the country, trying to resolve this problem. My dealership has balanced the original front drive shaft (vibration worse, stripped out torx bolts on the front flange), replaced the front drive shaft (better than new, but not fixed, and installed adjustable ball joints (no difference). The dealership has balanced the tires twice and returned the truck to me with much lower tire pressures than I prefer, in an attempt to mask the vibration.



Early on, the service department was shimming and moving the rear drive line around as well. I took off the front drive shaft myself to demonstrate to them that the problem was in the front.



I think two things are wrong with the front shaft. The first is the way the front flange is designed. It has groves in the face that line up with the flange on the front differential and they are not conducive to providing a self centering (center/hub centric) connection. Second, that damn big double cardan joint at the rear of the shaft is suspect.



One of the things that bugs me is that every time the dealer worked on my truck, something was marked, scratched or broken by the service department. All the trial and error repairs has taken its toll on my truck.



I am currently in arbitration with Dodge. They have agreed to buy me out of my truck or replace it. They allowed me to order a brand new truck today. My concern is that the new truck will be no different and I will be forced to go with the buy out.



My second choice would have been a ford... . but of course the 6. 0 has its own set of issues. What's left? GM. F*&k.



I have a lot more to say about this but I'll stop here for now.



By the way, I can list more than ten other things that are currently defective on my truck. DC sure needs to get a grip on their quality control!

 

[dieselpilot1969]

I think I'd take em up on the buy back option, and then drive truck after truck till you find one that does'nt vibrate. Kinda makes me mad that they could not forsee these types of problems during the design phase!

 

[KBennett]

For what it's worth... .



I would have bought a Chevy but the prices are too high, styling is poor, and no ground clearance. IMHO Fords are overrated. I have heard a lot of stories of Powerstrokes blowing up but never have I heard of a Cummins missing a beat. The look on their faces as I pass him in my styling Dodge is worth every penny.



OK, back to the subject... .



I purchased a 2003 2500 SWB 4x4 standard output auto with 3. 73 gears in June '03. I did not notice a buzzing but more of a rumble around 70 and chalked it up to the mighty Cummins.



I traded it for a 2004 2500 SWB 4x4 high output 6-speed 3. 73's last week and it seems to make more of a buzzing sound at that speed. Is it more prominent in the manual trans or HO's? The sound doesn't bother me that much but I am worried about any damage that may be occurring.



The rest of the truck is A+ including the 300+ HP.



= my passengers





The only thing I would change is the dash vents. They remind me of my my Dad's '78 Ford wagon when I was a kid. The dash in the 2nd Gen was better.

 

[DPKetchum]

My issue really isn't with a vibration or maybe kinda>let me explain its really that drone. With the drone noise came a tingle feeling in the seat bottom,steering wheel,pedals etc. Rev mine in neutral and its still the same thing. At the exact rpm range its like a switch is turned on and there it is. Much less with the Banks exhaust but its still there. Wife says the louder exhaust kinda gets away from the drone. Can rev the engine,feel it,feel it peek and then start to subside. Its right dead on 60 peeks around 63/65 and starts falling off as you hit 70. At 70 plus its still there kinda but not as severe as the lower speed. Below 60 its fine,BUT its in neutral also! The first time I drove it more then 20 miles like we went 80 miles round trip on interstate by the time we got home its all I could feel and hear. I put in in 5Th gear on two lane and hit same rpm range and BY GAWED it would RUN you out of the truck. Could play with the throttle and it was as bad as a obnoxious kid standing next to you with a bugle!The sales manager told me the truck was special order for someone who at time of delivery back out. He's kinda a friend and did make me a greadt deal. $300 below invoice and all that good stuff. But now I kinda wonder about the othe person backing out at last minute etc. It had a couple hundred miles on it.

 

[Gene Heck]

DPKetchum



We're talking about the same drone. Our ears must be alike. The truck I drove had 4. 10s also. Like I said, I only drove it about 10 miles total and that wasn't steady driving. I only ran it a little past 60 for a short ways so I couldn't really say how high it lasted. Dang, I really like the new trucks but not that much. I guess I'll start looking into LSFarms and others anti-noise posts more closely. I can redo mine a lot cheaper than buy new.



Gene

 

[DPKetchum]

You need to call 18009921997 and tell D. C. of your experiance and your reason of not making a NEW truck purchase. It would or MIGHT help US. tell them what dealer and if you remember salesmans name if you don't have that vin number of said truck. Also tell them about this post/threads on TDR. I never got a REAL defination of problem (IT)from D. C. Only "That Top People were working on "IT"I even ran into a D. C. rep that I knew from when I worked in a D. C. dealer and he is in the field for the most part. I mentioned "it"to him and his reply was HUMM I never heard of THAT,HUMMMM. That was kinda scary!

 

[radar doctor]

Is there more of this stuff out there?/

Thanks fot the info. It will help me make a decision. .

 

[DPKetchum]

YES! There was even a poll about "IT"in a previous post. Banks is aware. the company/guy selling aeroturbine mufflers is aware and lots of owners are aware. Others have met with D. C. rep's about "it"and told ever thing from turbo/exhaust/front shafts(which the drone isn't)Hydro-boost pump etc. Oo. I will say over miles(6k on mine now)its nowhere near as obnoxious as it was the first time I did steady cruising above 60. The Banks exhaust seemed to help or mask is a better term "it"but "its"still there. The tingle feeling is less. That night I drove several hundred miles(truck had 1500 on it or so)and I dropped to 5th gear and played with drone and tingle/vibration it was really PRONOUNCED wife said WOW its almost unbearable and can feel it in my butt and feet. I already knew that but wanted/curious to find peak rpm of "it"Service adviser at the dealer I bought at said WOW and he was in parking lot out of gear. When he drove it he said DAMN its right at that 60 plus you drive on most two lane blacktop. I said no sxxx Sherlock. Techs said I don't feel nothing!They put a front shaft in mine(placebo)of course no change. A power-steering hose from STAR one day showed up at the dealer. Had my vin number on it with no name. Then a Rep called next day and said that was a mistake and don't install it. So we did'nt.

 

[Briman]

"IT" LIVES



Evan the guys at the Graybar branch in

Salt Lake City have heard aboout "it".

 

[Justin1889]

Does the A/C being on affect anyones vibration?? Mine is smooth as can be in every gear and every rpm until I turn on my A/C then I get some annoying humming/buzzing noise, but when I push the "snowflake" button it is smooth again. Is this the "vibration" everyone is talking about???

 

[DPKetchum]

NO thats not the drone(IT)were talking about.

 

[Rolars]

Originally posted by 2k1yzfr1

Does the A/C being on affect anyones vibration?? Mine is smooth as can be in every gear and every rpm until I turn on my A/C then I get some annoying humming/buzzing noise, but when I push the "snowflake" button it is smooth again. Is this the "vibration" everyone is talking about???

My does it.



By the way, talked with yet another dealer in the Texas panhandle... they told me they are replacing a fair amount of bad shocks with people complaining about a highway speed vibration... . they claimed it worked with every complaint so far..... hmmmm..... just one more ridiculous piece to the puzzle.





Ram 2500 CTD

Mexican Truck

built June 03, auto, 3. 73 ratio