Help with 1997 3500 problems

[WDPhillips]

After 5 years and 77,000 miles of almost no problems with my 97 3500 I have three and need some help trying to understand how to resolve them.



1. My truck does not maintain idle speed, especially with the air/defrost on and in hot weather. This comes into play when I come to a stop. I am starting to drive with two feet, one on the accelerator and one on the brake. This is not safe! If I put the transmission in park, the idle picks up.

2. I am feeling a small vibration in the front end when I apply the brakes. I am assuming this may be my rotors have wore unevenly?

3. I am feeling looseness in the front end of the truck. It seems to have a horizontal vibration. This seems to be getting worse. I have never replaced the shocks, but I did have a ball joint replaced about a year ago.



I can do some things myself, but I would not turn the rotors. Can I feel good about taking a 3500 into a place like Just Brakes or Midas for this type of work? Or should I go right to the dealer? I have the same question for shocks?



Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.



Regards, wd

 

[moparguy]

I would raise the idle to 750rpm with the AC on, and truck in drive (make sure someone is inside with there foot on the brake ). This may/should help with the stalling issue. If not, it won't cost anything to try. If you don't have a helper, just set it on 900 RPM and see how that works.



I agree on the brake pulsing, likely need to turn the rotors. Best is to find a shop that can turn them on the truck. You may have to make several phone calls to find a shop that can handle this task. Then install a set of quality pads. Don't forget to clean and lube the caliper slides.



I changed my stock shocks out at about 60K. Went to Rancho 9000's, they really improved ride and handling. I suspect you may have a bad shock. Check the front shocks and see if one is oily on the bottom half, oil is bad. However, I believe the stockers are gas charged so you may not see any oily residue, even if everything is dry, I'd still suspect shocks.



If your truck is a 4X4, watch the track bar while someone cranks the steering wheel back and forth, any verticle movement at the attachment point on the left hand side is bad and needs to be dealt with. A search will yeild a lot of reading.



Good luck, Ronnie

 

[WDPhillips]

Ronnie:



Thanks for the tips. I will have the rotors turned and put on some new shocks.



With the idle, I had adjusted it up once before. I do recall taking the truck in to Dodge and it came out with the idle back down. I am adjusting it per your recommendations today.



Is there any fuel injection or computer control that may also be the culprit here? I find it strange that the idle would just start decreasing, unless of course the idle arm screws are just loosening.



I did notice that my serpentine belt was a bit loose and cracked. Would that contribute to idle problems? I will change this also.



Thanks again.



wd

 

[shendren]

i have new rancho 9000's and i have a horizontal vibration at 60mph.