I just returned from vacation and noticed my 2001 Ram felt like it was hitting holes in the road when there was no hole to be found. I replaced one wheel after the local tire shop told me it was bent. This just emphasized the problem must be in the axle or suspension after the balance a tire rotation solved little if nothing. I have never done anymore than change the brake pads on the front end. I need help, is it the hubs, u-joints? How can I tell?

[IMG]local://upfiles/11278/475F9BA8E5B34A3FAAE99C76EE94EEA4.jpg[/IMG]

 

Could be control arm bushings, or ball joints. U-joints will cause a steady vibration that will get worse with speed, and you don't have hubs. Best thing to do is have someone turn the wheels back and forth all the way while you lay under the truck and look for what's moving in a way that it shouldn't be moving. To check ball joints, jack the front end up off the ground and try to rock the wheels top to bottom.

Also, I see that you have aluminum wheels on that truck. Just for your knowledge, aluminum wheels don't bend. They crack. So the chances that one is/was bent is slim to none.

 

Sonuds like there are a couple of issues there... but the 1st ones to tackle would be the crappy tracbar that is under there. It is most likely loose and needs to be replaced. I'm in the same boat and have a thread

http://www.pavementsucks.com/forums/...hp?topic=60234

asking about the best tracbar to put on it to replace the stock one. there are three ways to go, 1 being a stock dodge bar, 2nd being a 2003 bar with a solid steel industries bracket and the 3rd being the DT tracbar. I'm leaning towards the DT bar because it is rebuildable.

Another issue you might have is not enough caster in your alignment. I have mine maxed out to help prevent the death wobble which the dodges have a problem with. Max caster + tight tracbar & steering + urethane control arm bushings will fix it. My truck is lifted about 2.5" in the front and since putting on the CA bushings and adding max caster I have not had the DW since.

There are lots of threads over on PS that have to do with front end... check them out.

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This shouldn't be happening with only 35,000 miles should it. I have had some rough trips but they were few and far between. I will check the trac bar and jack it up and check the tire movement for possible ball joint problem. Is this problem the same as the dakota's have been recalled for?

 

Yah, it is, but DCX refuses to admit there's a problem with the fullsize trucks. The bigger tires and offset wheels will wear the crappy stock joints out much faster also. And the fact that they are sealed (not greaseable) doesn't help either. I'd also double check all the bolts in your lift kit and make sure nothing has come loose. I've seen that happen a few times.

 

lol, welcome to your dodge... tracbars have been known to be going out as early as 30K miles... lifted trucks are even worse.

 

Took my truck to the dealer yesterday to have the problem assesed and after six hours with the vehicle they found "no problems",
all they could come up with is maybe you need an alignment, even though the front end doe not pull to either side? It feels like it is easier to steer to the right than the left I've noticed. I guess I might try a local mechanic to look it over.

 

The bigger the tire the worse it will drive.......if the frontend is not upgraded to hndle it.

 

Take it to the alignment shop and tell them to put in as much caster as possible. that should help some

 

"Took my truck to the dealer yesterday to have the problem assesed and after six hours with the vehicle they found "no problems",

isnt that the way it goes?i cant tell you how many times ive taken mine to the shop and left it all day just to hear them say...we couldnt duplicate the problem.
ive learned to take a mechanic along for a ride and physically point out the noise.then theres no excuses.