how many vibrations?

[Kurt Henzler]

how many of you guys have a drive line vibration problem? i am getting ready to order in may and this kinda scrares me. my truck is smooth at any speed, just wanna get an 03, i think. are the trucks that have this problem built around the same time, and how long ago?



thanks for any input, i will get one anyways , just do not want to worry about a problem that can not be fixed.

 

[Steve M]

I posted a poll about a month ago on driveline vibration. About 25% have the vibration. Mine is simple. I have a driveshaft that's out of round, has an (F) marked on it and an (OK) marked on it, and has several weights on both ends. A couple of weights are 180* of each other at the rear of the shaft. (I've been crawling around under it this morning instead of out enjoying it). It's obvious to me I have a defective drive shaft and the manufacturer Failed it and then after adding several more weights decided it was "good enough" and marked OK on it. I told the service writer at the dealership I had a driveshaft vibration the first time I took it in. He said it's the tires and it's a common problem with the new trucks. It didn't feel like tires to me but I thought he probably knows what he's talking about as he sees several trucks a day for various reasons. So they've rebalanced my tires twice, damaged and replaced one rim, scared up the others with removing and adding weights, put a rubber valve stem in the new rim to match the other three steel valve stems, and have totally overlooked the obvious. So on the third trip in, another mechanic drove my truck and said the vibration is normal, drove us back to the dealership, came to a stop and shut the motor off without 3 seconds to cool the turbo. Then the service writer rode with me and agrees the vibration isn't normal. Now Monday someone else will ride in it and give his opinion. I traded a perfectly good 2001. 5 for this truck. If I could undo it, I would in a heartbeat.

 

[David Muench]

Are you planning to order a 140" wheelbase truck or a 160" wheelbase truck? I think the vibrations are much more common in the 160" since it uses a 2 piece shaft. I've had no problems, but I have a 1 piece shaft.

 

[91W350]

This is my first new vehicle since 1990 and that one was a VW Golf for my wife, this is my first new vehicle. My truck has a very noticeable vibration that starts at about 72 and gets worse with speed. It feels like a bad U-joint on my old Chevrolet did. My first thought was an out of balance front drive-shaft. I'll be trying the dealer solution this week.

 

[Kurt Henzler]

ggsoldan- is this also a long bed? are there any short beds out there that have this problem?

 

[Kurt Henzler]

ggsoldan- is this also a long bed? are there any short beds out there that have this problem?

 

[timjones]

David, the 140" wheel base also has a two part drive shaft.

 

[mr plow]

it's driving me crazy...

my truck has had a launch shudder since i got it, but i attributed it to the new lsd. now that i finally have the plow off, i realize that ihave anice vibe going on at around 70 mph +-. Lucky for me, dealer agrees with me, and is having local rep involved as it could potentially involve expensive parts replacement. i've already had driveshaft balanced(it was out), and centre hanger replaced. there was someone here who posted the solution to the problem. my guess is that alot of the early trucks had a bad batch of driveshafts. i hope they fix it soon, it's driving me crazy.



waiting in toronto



i am yours faithfully...





plow.

 

[Briman]

My service adviser at a large dealership called the Star line and they told him that there are at least 10,000 trucks involved in this vibration issue. They can be long or short, gas or diesel, 4 x 4 or 4 x 2, and 17" or 20 " rims. Chrysler has a drive line engineer working on it full time. I suspect that there are more than one issue a play here. I followed PCline's advise from another thread (since my truck is the same as his - Length and 4 x 4) and did the same mods that he did. I have not run it up to 70 MPH yet because I did not have grade 8 bolts for the center bearing. I have noticed the launch shudder is diminished but not gone. While I was working on it I found that the center bearing can be moved back an forth about 5/8" because of slop in the mounting holes. I had to push the bearing all the way to the edge of the holes toward the passenger side to get the shaft in a straight line, front to rear. When I took it off it was closer to the drivers side of the truck. If the drive shaft has a left to right kink in the center it would be out of phase, right? It is a sad day when the end user has to do all the research and find out all they can about drive lines to fix their own problem. Just remember - "I AM MY OWN WARRANTY STATION".

 

[91W350]

Mine is a shortbed, I really like the truck otherwise.

 

[91W350]

I have also noticed that the transfer case lever moves around a lot when accelerating and decelerating, unknown if it has any bearing on the problem. I would think that the strongest frame in the industry with the big torque monster attached would also have very stout engine, transmission and transfer case mounts. Guess I should slide under and have a look.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Thats strange, my xfer case lever never moves. Almost feels like it wasnt attached to anything, I actually crawled under it when I first got to see if it was electronic.

 

[PCline]

Chrysler has a drive line engineer working on it full time.

So what exactly is this engineer spending all his time doing???? Someone please pass along a few points for this guy.



1) Make the driveshafts ROUND

2) BALANCE them properly

3) CHECK the angles

4) ADJUST them as necessary



Lastly, redesign that stupid transfer case extension housing. Get rid of the bushing and use a real BEARING, a close tolerance one.



Just my . 02



Oh yeah... hey Plow, I thought the launch shudder was the LSD until I adjusted the angles, now I only feel the LSD when turning and accelerating.

 

[CPritchett]

I have a 2003 long bed srw, 4x4 48re, and it is smooth up to 85, as fast as I have had it. I notice just a little vibration pedal down as it goes through 2nd into 3rd and then 4th, but I think that is normal. The 4 wheel drive lever never moves or vibrates either.

 

[CPritchett]

I have a 2003 long bed srw, 4x4 48re, and it is smooth up to 85, as fast as I have had it. I notice just a little vibration pedal down as it goes through 2nd into 3rd and then 4th, but I think that is normal. Driving it normally there is absolutely no vibration. The 4 wheel drive lever never moves or vibrates either.

 

[David Muench]

Originally posted by timjones

David, the 140" wheel base also has a two part drive shaft.

I spent most of the weekend under mine, and it has a 1 piece. Maybe the 2wd 140" has a 2 piece though, since there's no transfer case. But the 4x4 has a 1 piece.

 

[91W350]

I slid under mine today and it has the "F" that somebody else referred to as well on the front drive-shaft. I read someplace here that one of the guys thinks the manual lever is just another electric control. Mine is definitely manual, simple strong linkage just like the old days. I followed the linkage back to the transfer case. It is a straight-forward deal. I like it, built to take lots of use and abuse. I also have felt the gears meshing when I shift into four wheel drive, so I am confident the manual lever is in fact manual. One thing troubles me though, I can push up with physical strength and move the transfer case at the tail shaft. Also I found that my slip joint in the front drive shaft has a lot of play for a new truck. I would think it would be very tight and solid at 1500 miles. I sure would like to install a set of old-fashion lock-out hubs! That would be cool and an easy fix.

 

[91W350]

Took mine to the dealer yesterday. We spoke about the vibration :-{} and he said it would probably be tires. I told him I really suspected the front driveshaft as the slip joint was sloppy in my opinion. When I left he said he would rotate the tires, sure hope warped rotors are not in line now :-{} again. Anyway, they pulled the front drive line and walla, the vibration is gone. This does not eliminate the possiblility of a bent pinion or bad yoke either end of the shaft. I get it back for the weekend with no 4wd, the parts are supposed to be here Monday or Tuesday. I am happy to report that at least they listened and tried to make it right. for the dealer and for the registry and myself!

 

[91W350]

Took mine to the dealer yesterday. We spoke about the vibration :-{} and he said it would probably be tires. I told him I really suspected the front driveshaft as the slip joint was sloppy in my opinion. When I left he said he would rotate the tires, sure hope warped rotors are not in line now :-{} again. Anyway, they pulled the front drive line and walla, the vibration is gone. This does not eliminate the possiblility of a bent pinion or bad yoke either end of the shaft. I get it back for the weekend with no 4wd, the parts are supposed to be here Monday or Tuesday. I am happy to report that at least they listened and tried to make it right. for the dealer and for the registry and myself!

 

[Steve M]

My previous drive shaft had an F on it. It was visibly out of round. The driveshaft they put in after pulling teeth in the service drive wasn't out of the new Laramie that I drove. I looked under that truck and the drive shaft was new and had very little corrosion on it. The one I got has alot of thick red rust all over it and an F on it next to an OK. I'm not going to complain about it because it's balanced and the pulsating vibration is gone. It appears Dodge is getting their drive shafts from the lowest bidder. Mine appears to have come from Tampa Bay. But I'm happy with it. I'll brush it off and dab a little oil on the U-jount clips so it'll be easier to get them out when the time comes.

I'm glad you're dealer is willing to work with you. I'm starting to like my new truck again after driving it a couple of days with only the slight buzz from the motor in the steering wheel and no vibration in the mirror or floorboard. Where I notice the absence of vibration the most isn't at 67mph but at 45-60mph where it had a constant rumrumrum type vibration. A slight buzz in the steering wheel is normal. A pulsating or droning vibration is not. The service manager at Autoway Dodge apparently is unable to feel the difference. I can even "hear" the difference but I can hear 50hz plain as day while some people can't. Sometimes that's not to my benefit.

I get the proper valve stem installed tomorrow morning at Suncoast Chrysler Jeep. They had an '03 black dually in the service bay today. I think Casey might be down here checking out my new service hangout!