Vibration issues and possible cure

[Minnow101]

I had my tires road forced balanced on my '16 3500 around 4000 miles by an independent tire shop. They said the tires were really out of balance. That took care of the issue. Some have also had this done and it has not resolved the issue however. I guess I lucked out.

 

[JR]

FWIW, a co worker owns a 16 3500 DRW truck and had the vibration issue. After several trips to the dealer he finally dropped it off and told them to fix it or they could shove it up their @***. (Truck only has a few thousand miles on it).

After about 3 weeks they finally called and said it was done and for him to come get it. I only talked to him briefly today but he mentioned something about the driveshaft out of balance. I'll get more details tomorrow.

 

[Myram2016]

Yeah the truck came with Nixon tires they were forced balanced health a little bit took them off Saturday I put a brand-new set of Michelin top alarm on their it made it worse.


I have a case number on this issue found out today a customer and other customers have had the same issue they change the gearbox steer Gear box to a bigger Mopar unit and fix the problem .
waiting to hear from engineers at Mopar if this is what they're going to do on this truck they know they have an issue

 

[Myram2016]

I have attorneys involved and what's going on I don't want A lemon

 

[Minnow101]

New tires may need to be "broke in". Until the tread wears down a little bit, the handling will be a little squirrely.

 

[Powder Extreme]

I don't know if this issue will every be totally resolved. When I started this thread I was working on a '13 DRW, as I stated everything made it better, but nothing completely fixed it.

Now I have a '16 Megacab SRW. It vibrated when new, but no where near as bad as the '13 originally did. Since then I have added Centramatics wheel balancers which helped. Then in one shot I stretched the frame to make it a longbox and added a complete Kelderman air ride system. In doing so they completely replaced the driveshaft and added a new carrier, so that would replace driveshaft issues, the rear suspension was 100% replaced, not a single stock item remains as the new system is a 4 link setup riding strictly on airbags with new Bilstein shocks, the front end replaces the coils with air bags, but the rest of the suspension remained. As it stands the truck is better than when it was new, considerably better than my '13 was even after the upgrades, but still has a vibration.

I notice the vibration most when driving empty, pulling my 5th wheel I don't notice it much at all. Now before you think driveline angles are changed because of the load, remember I have full air ride which maintains the same ride height no matter how much weight I'm carrying. Maybe it's because the tires themselves are flexing more due to the load and that is absorbing some of the vibration? I just leave my rear tires at 75psi because I'm generally hitched up to something. I lowered them to 45 psi once for a long distance trip empty and did notice an improved ride, but I honestly can't tell you if the vibration was better or not.

I know I can get out of my 1/2 ton and into my 1 ton and drive the exact same stretch of highway back to back and the difference is tremendous. I think I've just become accustomed to the vibration in the one ton but it slaps me in the face when I compare it to my Corvette or 1/2 ton if I'm immediately changing seats.

 

[Myram2016]

The tires were balanced at .003, .0012, .002 etc.
i do understand break in, but ram has admitted that they know about the problem of vibration

 

[KPotter]

Same issue, had tires balanced at 6000 mi better for a short time. Put up with it , now have 26000 mi. and it is terrible, tried centrmatic balancers and slight improvement . going to try another road force balance job.Hard to believe with all the complaints Ram can"t find a cure.

 

[Myram2016]

I have a 16 DRW with level ride and the Aisin trans. @ 3500 miles I noticed it and contacted Mopar was given a case # now at 12800.
they are saying many customers are complaining about the same issue.

One customer a master mechanic and tech has changed out the gear box ( steering ) with another Mopar box which fixed the issue, I was told today. Bottom line it's under warranty if they can't fix it it's a lemon and they know it. I want to truck fixed replaced or for refund that's basically what the attorneys are saying as well .

ram Mopar Dodge Chrysler Jeep they've known about the issue for sometime

 

[Powder Extreme]

A steering box fixed your vibration?? I'm confused how a steering box could even cause vibration? I think we are trying to blame the tires WAY too much. I've owned numerous Duramax's both SRW and DRW and NEVER road force balanced the tires, let alone centramatics and they never vibrated anywhere near what my last two Ram's did.

I'm convinced it has something to do with the Aisin and how it is mounted causing a resonance to come back thru the frame. On a perfectly glass smooth stretch of new asphalt by truck won't vibrate at all, but then a bridge expansion joint will make it vibrate for several seconds which will fade away to smooth again. I'm thinking typical highways there is always some sort of bump or imperfection and it is constantly keeping that resonance going. My SRW with the 68rfe transmission doesn't vibrate, only my two Aisin trucks.

I can't believe that 3 years later and Ram hasn't figured it out. Maybe even 4 years, anybody have a '17 Aisin? Does it vibrate?

 

[JR]

The strange thing is another co worker also owns a 16 3500 DRW with an Aisin. Although different trims they are even the same color. One has been smooth as a whistle at highway speeds up to 90mph, the other had the vibration issue from day one.

Not that it will help but I'll get more specifics on the fix today.

 

[Myram2016]

I agree emphasis has been put on tires they have even changed my driveshaft this has been going on for 2 mos.

i did change out the tires and noticed the vibration more in the frontend. After I contacted Ram again they have now said another customer was having this same problem. They went on to tell me he was a master mechanic and tack. And that he cured his problem by changing out the gearbox steering box to a different mobile our unit.

Since I'm under warranty and this is a open case on a lemon law situation we now have internal engineers involved in my unit.
I am to drop off my unit next Wednesday to the garage and they are going to look about changing out this steering gear box to see again if it works for me as I did for this other customer. The customer said he use a bigger gear box by Mopar in replace of the one that was on the truck already

 

[Myram2016]

I'll keep this form up-to-date of what happens I agree I think it may stem from the Aisin trans.

 

[Busa Dave]

Was a member here back in 2004 -2006 when I had my last oil burner. Went to gas for a few trucks now the 16 beast is just perfect! Mine went to Florida and back last week (2 weeks old and 3900 miles) and even with the BDS 3in suspension, fox double steering stabilizer, wider 20in wheels and the 325x60-20 Toyo's it was smooth as glass all the way to 90 which is fast as I will ever drive this truck. Far and away the best riding and handling oil burner I have ever had.


With tires especially the larger ones always have them road force balanced. Have had just by breaking the tire down and moving it on the wheel go from 15oz down to 5. The most wt. my tires have now is 5 and that is only on 1 wheel. Have seen drivelines cause issues before--on one of my Fords a new driveshaft cured my vibration problem. Took 3 months but it finally went away.

 

[Myram2016]

Wow, I put a set of Michelin's on this past Saturday Drove out of discount tires. the road felt like butter smooth as can be, came back down that road and the vibration started on the front end only place that you can feel it is on that front

 

[LocoPilot750]

I've always wondered if it might be aerodynamic's at play at highway speeds, causing a "bed flutter". I've driven along side my truck with somebody else driving, and watched the tires & wheels at the speeds where it vibrated, but they seem to be true. The driver could still feel the out of balance sensation though. One thing I noticed was lowering one of the rear windows made it worse, but the interesting thing was, the wind buffeting seemed to match the frequency of the out of bounce feel I was getting. Maybe an air flow problem that just gets worse or aggrivated by dropping one or both rear windows. Might try laying a few sand bags in the bed over the axle to see if they absorb the vibration, or laying the bags on the floor pans in the back seat, In case the pans flutter or vibrate. (I traded the '14 without ever getting it figured out, got a '17 with rear air suspension, and it's smooth as glass)

 

[power5]

It seems a lot of us are still having vibration issues. Mine is considerably better after upgrading tires but they're still there. I'm currently on a 3000 mile trip half of which is empty. And I've seen everything from butter smooth roads to ridiculous potholes. When the road is rough I noticed the truck vibrates constantly. On the butter smooth roads there is no vibration whatsoever except on the rare imperfections which will cause a few isolations of vibration it usually ends soon and then vibration free.

This tells me that it can't be Drive Line or Tire related or the vibration would never stop. I'm quite certain it's being transmitted through the suspension and we feel more on these new frames being as stiff as they are.

I just ordered a set of rubber torsion shackles and will install them in the coming week. Then I will be off again on another 2500 mile trip although I will be loaded most of the time pulling my fifth wheel. I will also get a chance to drive on my usual interstate around home see if I still notice the vibration.

Will report back once I get them installed wish me luck!

Would buy a wooden boat, and did, oh, Happy Trails to y'all as well. 2018 Ram 3500 Limited.