Okay fellow Durango lovers... I just got home from a 2000 mile road trip and this vibration makes me want to pull my hair out! (Good thing I don't have any!) Some of you may remember my other thread...

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...eshooting.html

I have decided to create a new thread because after driving such a long distance I have a much better understanding of the vibration and I feel I can describe it much better and hopefully find some sort of resolution to this issue.

Let me start by recanting on an earlier statement. The vibration is present at ALL speeds. It's barely notable at lower speeds but it's there, always and forever, driving me nuts. The vibration seems to resonate, or is most audible inside the cab of the truck, between 55-65MPH.

The vibration makes the whole truck shake. I can see the hood shaking, items in the back are rattling around, and it's just the biggest annoyance I've ever had to endure.

at 75MPH the vibration no longer resonates inside the cab, so that's pretty much the speed I chose to drive every day on the highway.

During my lengthy road trip, I even did approximately 300 miles @ 95MPH. And I have something interesting to say. The vibration changes in severity and I'm not sure why. At the exact same speed, on a completely straight road, for hours and hours... Same road surface, etc. Sometimes the vibration is so bad that my teeth rattle and I feel like I'm going to get motion sickness... And sometimes it's just a faint vibration. It changed severity many times during the 2000 miles.

I just want it to stop. My local shop doesn't know what to do... And I'm really hoping to avoid dropping it off at the stealership for god knows how long.


Any further suggestions?

 

Probably not the problem, but I remember in my moms 2003 Infiniti QX4, when she replaced her exhaust, it wasn't mounted properly and caused vibrations in the steering wheel, but that was only at idle and not at road-going speeds. It did cause the rearview mirror to vibrate constantly too, so you might wanna check your exhaust to see if its not causing the problem?

 

Can you tell if it is coming from the front or the rear?

 

When I first noticed this problem a couple months ago... With the sound resonating inside the cab of the truck, the first thing I thought was exhaust. But I've taken the whole exhaust apart and put it back together, it's not the exhaust, for sure... The vibration is way too severe to be an exhaust problem.

If I had to guess, my gut tells me the vibration is stemming from the rear of the vehicle, but I'm no expert. Like I said, the whole truck vibrates, the entire cab shakes. The seats, anything in the cargo area, the steering wheel, the mirrors... The whole truck is vibrating.

I even tried changing tires. It makes no difference.

 

you put new tires on it i take it? that was going to be my suggestion check the balance of the tires.

check the driveshaft, it should have a weight on it to balance it, that could be missing.

 

www.gsp9700.com
You need a shop with a "Road Force" type wheel balancer.

 

It good be the drive shaft. I was in the auto tech class in high school here and a guy twisted his driveshaft so it created a vibration, not as bad as yours. It was only twisted like
an 1/8inch. He twisted it in 4lo pulling out a ford lol. Have a shop check it out.

 

Yeah. There is no weight on the rear driveshaft. There is a weight on the front driveshaft. Should there 100% be a weight on the rear driveshaft? Or is there a chance the driveshaft didn't need balancing... I guess I'll have to take it in SOMEWHERE to get looked at.

BAH HUMBUG!

 

Most vibration problems, but not all, are caused by tire and wheel problems. Until you have the tires/wheels checked with a road force balancer, I wouldn't waste time looking into less likely reasons. Even if you have been checked by a regular balancer, only a Hunter Road Force balancer can fully rule out the tire/wheel possibility.

 

There does not NEED to be a weight on the drive shaft, but usually you can see the spot weld and a spot where the weight used to be. To me it sounds like a classic U-Joint. Now it could be the rear or also the front Double Cardan Joint‎ or the center bearing in the double cardan joint.

But I do agree with mike ^ , I would at a least get the tires balanced.