2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission hopping front end after new tires

[Hootguy]

well... after more experimenting i'm still chasing the stupid vibrations at around 60MPH and up... i'm told by a few who tried out my truck that they think it's in the rear,,,today i borowed a friends wheels and tires that are know to be good,,,and tried using only 1 wheel per side,,,still no change,,tried my own wheels 1 per side,,same thing,,still vibrating,,,must have been vibrating pretty hard since it managed brake the right side rear top shock mount,,,had to reweld it,,and the left rear is leaking,,,all are Rancho 9000's,,just to recap,,,this all started when i got new Michelin LTX's on my truck,,,the idiot tire monkey decided to turn my drums since he was putting new shoes and the drums where originals and never turned,,BUT he turned them OVAL,,,and the brakes shuddered like crazy... so i needed new drums which fixed the brakes BUT stillhad the vibrations,,,,rotated the wheels and tires every which way possible,,,and NO change... i dont really know what to check anymore ,,,,and i'm running out of hair to rip out. . i may have to consider a new truck,,,and put this one out to pasture or for parts,,,anyone know where to find a nice rust free southern truck????,,i might consider a 2003-2006 too,,,they cant be any worse than these old girls,,,after 500,000 km,,might be she's just all worn out,,,too bad too,,my 93 went 1,000,000. miles without a hitch,,,but the ride is too harsh to get one of those again,,,Hopefully somebody can give me some more ideas,,,i really like this truck. .

 

[mfurrh55]

Also check the valve stems, They put car stems in mine, I took it back and got the owner in there to rebalance and change the valve stems out to the brass ones,Monte

 

[HBarlow]

Can you put the truck up on a lift and run it in gear to spin the wheels up to the speed where your vibration occurs? If you can, observe what the wheels/tires are doing at the speed where the vibration occurs.

Did you ever have a drivline shop balance the driveshaft(s)?

 

[Missouri Mule]

Hootguy if you feel the fibration on your seat of pants it is a rear vibration. In that case you mite need to repalce universal joints (sometimes you need to take them of to see if they are dry, I replaced all four on my Mule but they still had grease in them).

 

[JR]

May be a long shot, and Im sure you already know this, but if you have a 2 piece driveshaft they have to be installed the same way they were balanced. If the rear is installed 180 out from the front, it will throw everything out of whack. Just a thought, sometimes its the simple stuff.

 

[Hootguy]

took the driveshaft out,,sent it to the driveline shop,,all joints are good,,and was balanced perfectly. . did the truck up on jackstands too,,nothing out of the ordinary,,,i'm thinking now the new drums may not be perfectly balanced. . dont know what to do anymore,,,rented a nice 2012 Ram 1500 last week when i got the headgasket and injectors changed last week,,,and they sure are nice,,might give up the diesel thing soon if i cant resolve this vibration problem which seems to affect a whole lot of people,,,plus gas is cheaper and the new trucks get twice the mileage,,so it's hard not to think about it...

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Hootguy:



If your vibration is a shaking/bouncing kind of sensation it's tire/wheel based

If your vibration is similar to a hum/drone kind of sound/feeling then it's likely driveline based



Did you jack up your truck and make sure your tires weren't out of round or have flat spots like Missouri Mule suggested? I have vibration problems with my current Goodyear tires and all 4 of them have low spots and noticeably out of round, pretty much no amount of balancing will fix that.

 

[Hootguy]

I have had the truck on stands and watched the wheels spining but all seemed ok,,these are new MICHELINS,,,they're not known for having badly out of round tires,,,but i will try it again,,,at this point it sure seems like the new brake drums might be no good...

 

[HBarlow]

Rear brake drums could definitely be out of round. I would be quite upset if a tire monkey had made my drums oblong. I don't allow mechanics to talk me into turning discs or drums. IMO all that does is make the disc or drum thinner and more likely to warp. If a disc is scored or warped I'll replace it with a new one.

However, an out of round drum would definitely cause wobble and vibration during braking but if the wheels are spinning free with minimal run out when off the ground drums aren't causing your problem.

 

[Hootguy]

no problems with braking,,,but some on here still say they have had bad drums new from the box,,,so i may try and find a set of used drums to test with...

 

[RustyJC]

Have you had the tires balanced using a road force balancer? See HERE. A road force balancer is an invaluable tool in diagnosing and correcting non-balance-related vibration problems.



Rusty

 

[HBarlow]

took the driveshaft out,,sent it to the driveline shop,,all joints are good,,and was balanced perfectly. . did the truck up on jackstands too,,nothing out of the ordinary,,,i'm thinking now the new drums may not be perfectly balanced. . dont know what to do anymore,,,rented a nice 2012 Ram 1500 last week when i got the headgasket and injectors changed last week,,,and they sure are nice,,might give up the diesel thing soon if i cant resolve this vibration problem which seems to affect a whole lot of people,,,plus gas is cheaper and the new trucks get twice the mileage,,so it's hard not to think about it...

A gasoline V8 in a half ton Ram will never be an adequate replacement for any Cummin-powered Ram regardless of how old, how beat up, or how many miles it has. If you talk yourself into that mistake you'll have five or six years of payments to regret the decision.

 

[cerberusiam]

so i may try and find a set of used drums to test with...

Don't forget the front rotors as a source of vibrations. If they have any miles on them or are cheapies they may be the source of the problem.

 

[Hootguy]

LOL... i know the new trucks aren't as reliable as our old 12 valves,,but now with the price of gas being much cheaper than diesel and the new dodge 1500's doing 35 mpg highway... . it's hard to justify keeping on throwing money at the old girl,,,even though i would really love to figure out the vibration problems,,,as my homemade biodiesel costs me about $10. 00 to fill up from an empty tank,,:LOL... i have thought about the front rotors too,,the rotors were good North american made ones,,but are about 6 years old and have had about 4 sets of pads on them,,but everyone who's tried the truck says it's from the rear... payments on a new truck isn't all that high these days so thats not too bad and they sure do ride nice compared to my old 3500,,,

 

[cerberusiam]

but are about 6 years old and have had about 4 sets of pads on them,,but everyone who's tried the truck says it's from the rear...

Then they are a prime candidate for vibrations. Granted, you don't have composite rotors but that won't stop is. They will throw a vibration in the frame that mimics driveline problems and makes everyone swear it is the rear. The steering is isolated enough you will never feel it in the steering wheel.

 

[HBarlow]

LOL... i know the new trucks aren't as reliable as our old 12 valves,,but now with the price of gas being much cheaper than diesel and the new dodge 1500's doing 35 mpg highway... . it's hard to justify keeping on throwing money at the old girl,,,even though i would really love to figure out the vibration problems,,,as my homemade biodiesel costs me about $10. 00 to fill up from an empty tank,,:LOL... i have thought about the front rotors too,,the rotors were good North american made ones,,but are about 6 years old and have had about 4 sets of pads on them,,but everyone who's tried the truck says it's from the rear... payments on a new truck isn't all that high these days so thats not too bad and they sure do ride nice compared to my old 3500,,,

The only way a new hemi half ton will deliver 35 mpg is if you drive it off a tall building. Average mpg of all miles driven with a hemi V8 will be much less than your old 12 valve and less than my 10k lb. 3500 cab and chassis. Sorry, I'm not buying any high mileage claims for a gasoline V8.