Calgary Jeep Association
4x4 Related Groups => Tech Talk => Topic started by: JackstandJohnny on May 30, 2009, 12:11:55 PM
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so i picked up an 02 Dodge the other day and on the highway i noticed that i get a good case of the shakes over 100 km/h. i can feel it in the floorboards and the seat of my pants but not so much in the steering wheel i don't think at least. now i know my YJ shakes at all sorts of speeds due to tires, is this the same thing? i'm guessing the tires aren't balanced very well, or at all. just thought i would ask if anyone else has an idea asides from teh balancing before i goto crappy tires, unless someone on the board wants to do it for me! i pay in beer :D
thanks guys!
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usually balancing will feedback to the wheel as well. but sometimes not. Maybe a separating or bruised tire? I can balance them for you as well. PM me
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Yeah, balancing or alignment. I know my shakes went away after an alignment. And really? You bought another vehicle? I'll swing by today sometime.
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ya come on over fras
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Likely a bad tire , Possibly internal tire issue. See if the rims are straight.
Wayyyy back , when I was a bit of a bozo , I was doing donuts and hit a curb , bending a perfectly good rim. This was more than twenty years before that truck was built .
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I have heard that Dodges are bad for track bars.
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1500 or 2500/3500? 2nd gen or 3rd gen?
The suspension is of the same design as your ZJ. Check the trac bar. The 2nd gens had crappy trac bars, there is a kit out there though to let you upgrade it to a 3rd gen trac bar.
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imp retty certain the 2001 was the last year of the front solid axle on the 1500's. and if johnny has a 2002 1500 then he has the ifs with torsion bars... boo. as for the shakes, id start with balancing the wheels. check to be sure the rims are indeed straight and are full of air.
so johnny, do you have pics of this truck for us? what are the details???
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ahh Eric you are so right you know your stuff. its an 02 Dodge Ram 1500, its the first year new body style. came with the 3.7/4.7 or 5.9 engines. the 2500/3500s in 02 i believe remained the same body style and solid axle. i gots the 5.9L and thus far like it. as far as undercarriage, it is no longer a front axle; is IFS with rack and pinion steering, and hence, no track bars, that would have been the first place i look! (i did, thats why i know its not there!)
anyways, jacked up the front end today, did the shake test (grab wheel at 3 - 9 and 6 - 12 check for movement) and everything seems tight. now, tires i'm sure is the issue. back tires are different than the fronts but similar. i'm gonna get em balanced soon (this week) i didn't want to get new skins till winter time though, however when i do i'd probalby get rims/tirs cause i there is always the possibility the rim/rims are bent or something
anyways, PICS! this will tenatively be the new tow rig when/if i get a trailer for those longer wheelin trips!
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s37/johnnyzj/DSC00210.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s37/johnnyzj/DSC00209.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s37/johnnyzj/DSC00212.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s37/johnnyzj/DSC00211.jpg)
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I just drove by now and it looks good. Now you have no space around your house ;D
I was gonna stop in but it looked like no one was home
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I just drove by now and it looks good. Now you have no space around your house ;D
I was gonna stop in but it looked like no one was home
two jeeps and a dodge and u though no one was home :o lol
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looks good man! nice to see a t/case shifter on the floor. mega bonus. be sure that the tire size is the same front to rear obviously. but im sure its a tire issue more so then a rim issue, but ya never know.
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ya. i tried to stay away from anything with push button. NOT a fan. tires are the same size, only difference (and if u look close you'll see) is the fronts are 'tracker 2s' and the rears just 'trackers' or the other way around. i will put new tires on a little closer to the winter but for now, it'd be nice just to get it to not shimmy!
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so i have gotten the tires balanced and unfortunately the shimmy is still there. its a little less now but still everpresent........ so are my tires pooched?
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could be drive shaft is out of balance, check and see if the factory weights are still on it
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slim what would i be looking for? where would i take the DS to get it balanced? fawk my life this thing is pissing me off
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the weights are welded on the shaft usally at one end , I think standen spring balances shafts, Pats drive line does it aswell . There may be more in the yellow pages . are all your U-joints in good shape?
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u joints are good. there is no movement whatsoever in the driveshaft. i'll look for the weights tomorrow and see if they are still on the shaft
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DSI balances shafts as well. Did you check your front wheel bearing units. Sometimes they don't have very much play, but if they're getting dry and real easy to spin they will give off a vibration that you can feel. For the DS weights look for missing paint or rust where a weight would have been tacked on.
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Simple first check is to drive behind it and watch the rear tires. Try that and see if anything pops out you.
If you dont get it in the wheel, it should be in the back. Bad rim (which a static balance can overlook to an extent), bent axle shaft, bad wheel bearing, broken belt (balance guy should catch that).
Any ways, follow the wife for a quick jaunt down deefoot. Free, fast, and might tell you something.
Did either rear tire take a seemingly excessive amount of weight to balance? That would be a good clue.
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gonna jack up the rear end and do just that tomorrow bill. take a looksie. also, how do i tell if a bearing is out????
thanks again
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i checked out the driveshaft yesterday and i couldn't see anything that looked ike a weight or something came off, u joints are tight. next i'm going to put the rear on jackstands and put teh truck in gear, hopefully i can see something in the rear that looks bad, liek a bent rim or something
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really should take a close look at those tires. i had the same ones on my truck and after 60000km they all started to seperate, and shook nasty at highway speeds enough to sake stuff in my center console out onto the floor. changed the tires, went away right aways.
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really should take a close look at those tires. i had the same ones on my truck and after 60000km they all started to seperate, and shook nasty at highway speeds enough to sake stuff in my center console out onto the floor. changed the tires, went away right aways.
you ran the goodyear trackers? funny thing is its a mismatched set as it is, so replacing them was always on the to do list.
just also wondering if a wheel bearing could cause this in the front? would i be able to feel the shudder but not hear a squeel or grinding at all? (as is my experience with jeep hubs)
thanks!
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Can you find a set you know run smooth, and swap em over for a test drive? Its free and would eliminate one thing....Does it change in 4wd versus 2wd? Is it cooerlated to your wheel speed? RPMs?
Try and eliminate any possible variables you can.
Is the Dodge 8bolt wheel pattern? Ive got a set of tires you could try if so...
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its constant over 100km/h joey. no matter RPM, on the gas off the gas its consistant.its rotating force. 5 bolt pattern unfortunately otherwise i would take you up on your offer. tonight i'm going to swap the fronts to the rear and see if the vibe changes. if it does i'm hoping to rule out driveshaft issues. i just don't want to start swapping parts just yet.
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Another thing to try, remove front driveshaft and go for a ride, if I am correct, your front DS will turn due to front tires turning, even if your not in 4wd...
Then try removing rear DS and driving the truck in 4wd, this will eliminate both driveshafts from the equation,
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so i swapped the spare onto the front to test individual tires. drivers front came off, vibe went away. at least i got to 120 and it i couldn't feel it. so i think its the tires. either a bent rim or bad tire or something. donno will take it off and take a looksie. thas what i get for getting something done at canadian tire. should have had modern do them all when i was in there.
thanks y'all
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Alot of the time, when the cover on the balance goes down the the so called tech take a little brain snooze until the tire stops rotating and the screen tells them where to add weights
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glad you got it figured out ;)
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so i am reviving this cause the shake, she's not gone. i've put a new set of wheels/tires on it to rule out tires/wheels. its the same. not as bad, but it comes and goes bad. rear wheels look good. no play in them on the highway..... i now think problem is from passengers front.; that wheel looks wobbly. i'm going to look for play in teh balljoints/wheel bearings tonight. price on these objects does not make me happy so i wanna find exactely what it is, don't want to bereplacing parts left and right and NOT finding the problem.........
damn dodges/jeeps/4x4s............ debating selling the fleet and buying a damn Kia.......... or maybe a Yaris
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The only wheeled vehicle that won't infuriate you is a unicycle.
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How the f@#k are you gonna squeeze into a Yaris?
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lol i wont
think i have the problem solved..... put truck in 4wd and cruised to 120km/h.... felts SMOOTH.... think the front driveshaft is pooched.
Joey, u win lol i think u were right!
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i felt like reviving this thread to ask another question. i have removed the driveshaft. it is a ujoint at the axle end, and a funky CV at the tcase. it is a splined output that comes out of the tcase (just like a yoke) but its just splines, over which the driveshaft slips, and at the end is the actual CV. so i have been driving around with the shaft removed, no problems. also, shake is still there, but barely. driveshaft seems fine (DSI said so) so back to my diagnosis. i was playing with the halfshaft to feel for play, and felt quite a bit. so this is coming out tonight. for 120$ i'm cool with replacing it.....
dumb question, i cannot find much info it on the web. so question;
if any of you guys that have worked on Dodges (ERIC help haha) know any tips to pulling that halfshaft? or will it just slip out like a normal axleshaft (umm, like a jeep) lol
many thanks. i plan on doing this tonight, but i need to finish it in a night, cause the jeep don't have a starter in it, and bumpstarting it at work might be tough (gettin the ladies to push would be funny tho!)
cheers