Hi. I'm a first time Dodge owner and I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with a few issues.
I've got an '01 ext cab 1500. I bought it used about a month ago and I'm trying to get it ready for camping season this fall. I had a bad shimmy in the front and found a really bad tie rod end. Fixed that, had it aligned and had the wheels balanced. The other shake/shimmy I have feels more like driveline/driveshaft. I saw no obvious looseness in the u-joints but I did notice that the center support bearing will move around. When I say move around I mean the rubber will move around if you push and pull on it. Is that normal for these or is that a bad part that needs to be replaced?

One other thing, i hear what sounds like a grinding type noise from the back but it is 1.)only on sharp turns 2.)only after the truck has been driven for a little while.

I'd appreciate any insight or help.

TJ

 

Welcome to the forum!

Is it the Off Road edition? If so, it came with a factory LSD that tends to die easily. That grinding noise could be a dead LSD.

Pardon me if I'm being dense here, but "center support bearing"? Are you referring to the trac bar?

 

Yeah, if the track bar is bad, replace it with this:
http://thurenfabrication.com/stocktb.html

 

No it is not the off road edition. I think it is just a regular 2WD. I'm not certain but I don't think it has the LSD diff. I had planned on trying to figure that out tomorrow. I know the shape of the "chunk" is like the 9.25 axles.

 

What I'm calling the "center support bearing" is the bearing assembly in the middle of the drive shafts. Two bolts holding it to the frame, drive shaft goes through it.

 

Carrier bearing

 

welcome to the forum !

 

Not to nit pick, Jason, but non Off-Roads could get the factory LSD too.

 

True, but if he had the Off Road edition, its guaranteed he has a LSD.

Easiest way to tell is jack up the back end and spin the wheels. If they turn the same direction, you have a LSD. If you turn one and the other tire spins the opposite direction, you have a non-LSD open differential.

 

Pulled the truck into my shop this morning and raised the rear wheels. They spin opposite directions so I assume that means no LSD, and from what I've heard that may be a good thing.

My rumble is most noticeable between 60 and 70 mph. Sometimes around 30-40 you can feel it.
I looked at all of the u-joints today. The truck has 155K miles and the u-joints are original but didn't find any play. The only looseness I see is the rubber area around the carrier bearing and that's what I can't seem to find an answer online to is if the rubber around the carrier bearing holder/support is supposed to be able to be moved up/down or side to side because mine does.

One other thing about the noise from the rear-end when turning. It only makes the noise if turning and applying pedal. If you coast through a sharp turn the griding/rubbing noise does not appear.
Any ideas?

Thanks for all the help. This forum is awesome.