Poll: Does your '03 Cummins have the "vibration"

[RankRam]

Steve M thats was a great post... ... . Oo.

 

[pstillo]

Steve M,

This is only my 2nd cummins. I don't think what most people are complaining about a drone(unvarying tone). My friends truck has a vibration. It sounds like a bee buzzing around your ear it goes from low sound to high sound. You can feel the vibration the same way. Its hard to explain ,you have to ride in the truck.

 

[adsharpe]

I get a little vibration at 108 but I think that's just cause it quits there. "Saltillo"

 

[nwjetboat]

Every demo I drove (3) had the same buzz in the go pedal. It was noticeable because I was trading in a GMC gasser.

To me it was something I could (can) live with.

I guess you have to add up the pluses and minuses of each of the automakers offerings and decide what you can tolerate and what you can not.

At least I knew the buzz was there before I made my decision.

BTW, mine was made in Mexico.

 

[ab7fh]

Great Steve, but as I have probably said ten times now in the original thread and maybe in this one too the 2001 Dodge Ram Cummins I traded in did NOT have ANY problem close to this. Nada, None.



I spent $10k more on this truck than I did on my '01 and I sure don't expect it to have a problem that my old truck never exhibited.



I'll never forget the day my passenger asked: "What you have a bad tire on this thing already"... So I hinted around I said what are you feeling. He said: "somekind of tingly vibration... " He felt the problem without his hands on the wheel or his foot on the pedal. It's annoying as hell.

 

[Steve M]

Did you have a 3. 54 ratio in your '01? Mine did and the 2100rpm drone was way less noticable. That and it was way up around 75mph so I seldom heard or felt it anyhow. My '98 had a 4. 10 ratio and the 2100rpm drone was horrible. I hated it for 89k miles before I traded for the '01. If I locked out O/D on the '01, it had the drone at 2100 but it was so insignificant compared to the roaring howl at 2500rpm and that beloved growl around town that I didn't think much of it. Almost all of my driving was done in O/D towing or empty so I all but forgot about the noise and vibration with the '01.

The best cure for the '03 would probably be to put a 3. 41 ring and pinion set in the AAM axles. Then it would be very quiet and smooth up to about 75mph. Towing could then be done with O/D locked out. The only drawback would be sluggish launches and a little more transmission heat. For the vast majority of us that wouldn't be a problem either with a 40 lb bag of dog food being the most the truck would ever haul.

 

[ddutil]

Did not notice vibe on my 2500 4x2.



Could it be tire related (balancing)? I know mine lost their weights pretty fast and I felt it in the steering but it was a quite different feeling than my previous trucks (1996 2500 2x4 CTD, 1988 F150 ricer and 1976 ChevyVan 35 ricer) or cars.



It might have to do with rims too. Just my 0. 02 CDN, eh! Dan

 

[robertyoke]

I never felt this vibe in the pedals or the seat but I noticed the cars in the rear view mirror were blurry and if I speed up or slow down they are clear.

 

[Steve M]

That's the vibe. Horrible ain't it!

 

[RMcCulloch]

No mechanical vibrations - Hecho en Saltillo, Mexico.

 

[MMeier]

Made south of the border, this vibration issue IS NOT BECAUSE IT IS A CUMMINS... (ATTN: STEVE M. ) MY'93,'94,&'97 all did not have any vibration and /or drone issues, and trust me none of them were ever babied by any stretch of the imagination!!! Resolved my drone with a different exhaust system, now trying ti think up something for the vibration , THEY ARE 2 TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS TO BE DEALT WITH!!!

 

[Steve M]

Yes sir. Whatever you say sir.

 

[Hudsonhawk]

No problems here. Just the wonderful sound of all that power purring along.

 

[Ladders]

No on the 4x2 made in Mex-hic-o.



SOTSU!!

\\BF//



Hey, Shooter, found us a "custom" exhaust maker rite here in a-b-q

 

[dmurdock]

This is my 3rd 3500 4x4. I am quite familiar with the 2100rpm "drone". What I have isn't that (i have the drone also), this is definately a vibration. It almost feels like at any moment one of the driveshafts are going to fly through the floorboard.



PS, a quick test is to be in/out of overdrive (changing rpm but not speed), if nothing changes, you have what we're all *****in' about.



I'll drop it off at the dealer when I get a chance.

 

[Steve M]

This is when a forum for the 4. 7,HEMI, and V10 gas burners would be handy. My co-worker's 2500 HEMI quad cab long bed is smooth as silk at any speed with regards to engine and driveline. The forum could be down under general diesel so as not to crowd us oil burners. Then we could compare more variables. Just a thought. I know it's a diesel website but Judge Moore has nothing to do with diesels either.

 

[pstillo]

We should poll the trucks "without" the vibration to see what they are IE: Motor(SO or HO), trans (6spd, 47re, 48re), gear (373, 410), 2500,3500(srw, drw), Maybe just a reply of the build date.

 

[Steve M]

One more thought... When I bought mine and strongly suspected my driveshaft was out of balance due to a pulsating vibration starting around 45mph and getting worse as speed increased to the point that I couldn't tell what was behind me in the rearview mirror at 65mph when the driveshaft vibration was coupled with the 2100rpm drone, I ran my truck up to 75mph, put the transmission in neutral and shut the motor off. The vibration was there down to about 45mph were it became so slight it was hard to detect. Now that that's corrected I only have the 2100rpm engine vibration "buzz" in the steering wheel and loud peddle and a lower frequency vibration at 2600rpm. I can live with that. The 2100rpm buzz is getting less as the miles add up.

Just thought I'd toss in what I did to rule out engine vibration as the cause of my driveshaft vibration.

 

[ab7fh]

Interesting stuff. Nearly 50% of the trucks here have the problem. I'm going to print this thread when I go to DC to have the problem checked again.

 

[lmills]

I have an 03 dually quad cab with 4. 10 anit spin rear. NO vibration here, yet.



oh yeah, Hecho in Mexico also!