Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
The continuing saga of the most tire-eatin' truck on the road.
But now, I think I'm closing in on the problem!
Then again, I have thought that same thing with every one of the several thousands of dollars this crappy-beyond-belief dodge frontend has sucked down and wasted...
Suffice it to say that if there is an upgraded and expensive steering or front suspension part out there, it's on my truck. And with the exception of the unitized hubs -- which continue to exhibit absolutely zero slop or play or roughness in the bearings -- EVERYTHING is new. The hubs have even been modified with grease zerks as I slowly continue to gather the thousands of additional dollars in parts to bring this pseudo-dana 60 into the realm of something more like a real dana 60.
Through all of this, and through several sets of tires and wheels and alignments and balancing, the frontend continues to shake anywhere from mildly to like a dog poopin' a razor blade. No more death wobble at least, but a constant infuriating shake ranging from extremely mild to not-quite wild.
After 2 left front tire blowouts in one year from the tires being literally shaken to death from within (I'm convinced of this), I finally laid my hands on a set of Rickson 19. 5 wheels and H-rated, $450 apiece Michelin tires. It just doesn't get any more top-of-the-line and heavy duty than that. They were precision balanced and mounted up today at a reputable tire dealer that specializes in medium and heavy duty truck tires.
And it STILL shakes! #@$%!
There is NOTHING loose or sloppy or cracked or bent or out of adjustment whatsoever. It has been repeatedly checked by me, two frame & axle shops, the best auto repair shop around, and now the commercial truck tire center.
I was furious after the drive home today from the tire shop. Ready to yank the cummins and put it in a real truck and use the stinkin' dodge for target practice!
Then, I reached down to wipe something off the Rickson up front... and jerked my hand back in pain!!
The wheel and nuts were HOT after less than 15 miles of easy driving and almost no braking.
I am well aware of the inherent problem in dodge front brake hoses and have always checked my brake pads and rotors for any signs of dragging, warping, or overheating. I replaced the still-good and evenly wearing brake pads when i rebuilt the front end with all-moog t-style steering components. I had the rotors checked for straightness and carefully turned. They were in fine shape Two weeks ago, I had the front wheels off and did my usual every few months cleanup and lube of the caliper slide surfaces and bolts. I always check for smooth and easy front wheel spin and bearing slop when I jack the front end up, which is all too frequently. Like I said, I expect & watch for sticking front caliper problems and deteriorating unitized hubs. I don't trust that wimpy junk at all.
Yet here I was, barely able to touch the front lugnuts after such a short & easy drive. The ONLY thing that could transfer that much heat on a very cool day under such light driving conditions is dragging calipers. But why had I never found that to be the case before even when i specifically checked for it?
possible reasons:
the Ricksons and Michelins are extremely HEAVY!! It will obviously require much more effort by the brakes to stop them. But I live on a rural blacktop and used my 5-speed manual transmission to do almost all of my slowing down from the unhurried highway cruise home to turn into my long driveway. The brakes had no demands at all placed on them.
The rear brake drums, wheels, and lug nuts were MUCH cooler. The front lugs were so hot you would have to juggle the nuts from hand to hand if someone tossed one to you. Of course, the stock dodge rear brakes on these trucks are also infamous for never doing their share anyway. They suck, too.
Though I have tried 5 duifferent sets of tires and wheels, this is the first time in my ownership of the truck (since 1999) that it has had steel wheels of any sort on it. And aluminum dissipates heat much faster. Which means the heat never had a chance to be retained in the lugnuts and wheel before.
So I jacked the frontend up, and the wheels spun smoothly and easily. But the calipers had obviously just been dragging to create that much heat for no reason. What's going on here?
My rotors still look smooth and true and the pads are like new with equal and even wear. But when I drive the truck and the calipers apparently start dragging for (whatever reason?). What in the world is causing this?? The only answer I can think of is that the front hoses are indeed collapsing or clogging internally and maintaining too much residual pressure, but only while the truck is moving. The pressure then quickly bleeds off after the truck is parked, creating a phantom problem that cannot be found when the truck is parked. The calipers are definitely not stuck and function fine when the truck is parked.
But the constant heating of the rotors and pads while driving could very well cause shake and shimmy. They do not drag hard enough to ever smell hot, though. But I wonder how they would check out on a lathe with a dial indicator now?
When I finally install the Ford knuckles, hubs, rotors, and dual-piston calipers, along with the 35-spline inner & outer axle shafts I am still needing, the problem will still likely be there since the dodge hoses would nornmally be retained in this upgrade.
I just spoke with EBC brakes last week to get pricing on all-new stainless steel hardlines and flex hoses to replace the also-crappy and rusting out Dodge lines, which were slated to be part of that final frontend upgrade to lockouts and real dana 60-sized axle shafts.
I obviously need to move them up on the priority list. Way up. But could the distribution or proportioning valve or whatever dodge uses be sticking on it's own and casing the problem instead of collapsing brake hoses?
I'm a pessimist now with this shaky dodge, and chances are this crappy design frontend will still find a way and reason to shake even after I install new lines & hoses and rotors and pads and hubs and bearings etc etc etc. But there's nothing else left.
Has anyone else chased a phantom shake like this before and found the calipers were dragging ONLY when the truck was going down the road? It would be somewhat encouraging to know if I have likely found the real culprit after all this time and money.
It's amazing how long the steel wheels will hold the heat in the lugnuts and wheel centers while the aluminum wheels dissapate it so very quickly as to not even be found or noticed. That ability to store and build so much heat actually helped me find this problem immediately after mounting the steel Ricksons.
But now, I think I'm closing in on the problem!
Then again, I have thought that same thing with every one of the several thousands of dollars this crappy-beyond-belief dodge frontend has sucked down and wasted...
Suffice it to say that if there is an upgraded and expensive steering or front suspension part out there, it's on my truck. And with the exception of the unitized hubs -- which continue to exhibit absolutely zero slop or play or roughness in the bearings -- EVERYTHING is new. The hubs have even been modified with grease zerks as I slowly continue to gather the thousands of additional dollars in parts to bring this pseudo-dana 60 into the realm of something more like a real dana 60.
Through all of this, and through several sets of tires and wheels and alignments and balancing, the frontend continues to shake anywhere from mildly to like a dog poopin' a razor blade. No more death wobble at least, but a constant infuriating shake ranging from extremely mild to not-quite wild.
After 2 left front tire blowouts in one year from the tires being literally shaken to death from within (I'm convinced of this), I finally laid my hands on a set of Rickson 19. 5 wheels and H-rated, $450 apiece Michelin tires. It just doesn't get any more top-of-the-line and heavy duty than that. They were precision balanced and mounted up today at a reputable tire dealer that specializes in medium and heavy duty truck tires.
And it STILL shakes! #@$%!
There is NOTHING loose or sloppy or cracked or bent or out of adjustment whatsoever. It has been repeatedly checked by me, two frame & axle shops, the best auto repair shop around, and now the commercial truck tire center.
I was furious after the drive home today from the tire shop. Ready to yank the cummins and put it in a real truck and use the stinkin' dodge for target practice!
Then, I reached down to wipe something off the Rickson up front... and jerked my hand back in pain!!
The wheel and nuts were HOT after less than 15 miles of easy driving and almost no braking. I am well aware of the inherent problem in dodge front brake hoses and have always checked my brake pads and rotors for any signs of dragging, warping, or overheating. I replaced the still-good and evenly wearing brake pads when i rebuilt the front end with all-moog t-style steering components. I had the rotors checked for straightness and carefully turned. They were in fine shape Two weeks ago, I had the front wheels off and did my usual every few months cleanup and lube of the caliper slide surfaces and bolts. I always check for smooth and easy front wheel spin and bearing slop when I jack the front end up, which is all too frequently. Like I said, I expect & watch for sticking front caliper problems and deteriorating unitized hubs. I don't trust that wimpy junk at all.
Yet here I was, barely able to touch the front lugnuts after such a short & easy drive. The ONLY thing that could transfer that much heat on a very cool day under such light driving conditions is dragging calipers. But why had I never found that to be the case before even when i specifically checked for it?
possible reasons:
the Ricksons and Michelins are extremely HEAVY!! It will obviously require much more effort by the brakes to stop them. But I live on a rural blacktop and used my 5-speed manual transmission to do almost all of my slowing down from the unhurried highway cruise home to turn into my long driveway. The brakes had no demands at all placed on them.
The rear brake drums, wheels, and lug nuts were MUCH cooler. The front lugs were so hot you would have to juggle the nuts from hand to hand if someone tossed one to you. Of course, the stock dodge rear brakes on these trucks are also infamous for never doing their share anyway. They suck, too.
Though I have tried 5 duifferent sets of tires and wheels, this is the first time in my ownership of the truck (since 1999) that it has had steel wheels of any sort on it. And aluminum dissipates heat much faster. Which means the heat never had a chance to be retained in the lugnuts and wheel before.
So I jacked the frontend up, and the wheels spun smoothly and easily. But the calipers had obviously just been dragging to create that much heat for no reason. What's going on here?
My rotors still look smooth and true and the pads are like new with equal and even wear. But when I drive the truck and the calipers apparently start dragging for (whatever reason?). What in the world is causing this?? The only answer I can think of is that the front hoses are indeed collapsing or clogging internally and maintaining too much residual pressure, but only while the truck is moving. The pressure then quickly bleeds off after the truck is parked, creating a phantom problem that cannot be found when the truck is parked. The calipers are definitely not stuck and function fine when the truck is parked.
But the constant heating of the rotors and pads while driving could very well cause shake and shimmy. They do not drag hard enough to ever smell hot, though. But I wonder how they would check out on a lathe with a dial indicator now?
When I finally install the Ford knuckles, hubs, rotors, and dual-piston calipers, along with the 35-spline inner & outer axle shafts I am still needing, the problem will still likely be there since the dodge hoses would nornmally be retained in this upgrade.
I just spoke with EBC brakes last week to get pricing on all-new stainless steel hardlines and flex hoses to replace the also-crappy and rusting out Dodge lines, which were slated to be part of that final frontend upgrade to lockouts and real dana 60-sized axle shafts.
I obviously need to move them up on the priority list. Way up. But could the distribution or proportioning valve or whatever dodge uses be sticking on it's own and casing the problem instead of collapsing brake hoses?
I'm a pessimist now with this shaky dodge, and chances are this crappy design frontend will still find a way and reason to shake even after I install new lines & hoses and rotors and pads and hubs and bearings etc etc etc. But there's nothing else left.
Has anyone else chased a phantom shake like this before and found the calipers were dragging ONLY when the truck was going down the road? It would be somewhat encouraging to know if I have likely found the real culprit after all this time and money.
It's amazing how long the steel wheels will hold the heat in the lugnuts and wheel centers while the aluminum wheels dissapate it so very quickly as to not even be found or noticed. That ability to store and build so much heat actually helped me find this problem immediately after mounting the steel Ricksons.
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