My 1997 dodge ram 1500, 5.9 gas makes a strange vibration when cruising at 41 to 49 mph. When I go faster than that it goes away. I've checked the brakes, and my pads are fine, but the rotors need to be turned. Could it be a bad shock or the tires unbalanced? I've also heard that it could be a bad u-joint, as the truck does make a clonking sound when changing from drive to reverse. But the vibration is horrible and sometimes shakes the dash, but doesn't feel like it's in the steering. Also I have polyurethane bushings in the front end, but it was doing the shaking before i installed them. When I step on the brakes, the truck will sometimes do the vibration worse and then slowly fade out as I go below 41 mph. I've driven it with the overdrive off just to see if it was in the motor, but it made no difference in the pulse of the vibration. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Go have the tire balance checked first. It's the cheapest thing to start on.

I had the same shaking thing in mine, only at speeds around 65-85. All four tires were off.

That clunk into reverse is just a Dodge transmission thing. Normal according to a lot of trans techs.

 

i recently bought a new set of tires for the daughter's 4runner and got a bad balance on all 4. tried rotating fronts to backs but no help. i think their machine was out of whack. it vibrated at about 65-75 and then smoothed out some. i took them to walmart for a $20 rebalance and it fixed it. they can also check for out of round or other goofy tire problems.

also check your u-joints in front axle and rear drive shaft. should be no play.

warped rotors can pulse and vibrate under braking, but generally don't cause vibration when non-braking.

 

Id check tire balance like already mentioned. Also check to see if there maybe a broken belt on one of the tires. Also may be a bent rim, causing the balance to be off.

 

if its not the tires or the u joints then you might have an out of balance drive shaft. get under there and see if it has a weight welded to it. mine has a 1/2" x about 4" long weight on the side toward the front end.

 

When I put the new muffler on it, I remember seeing the weight and I checked the driveshaft as well. There isn't any play in the u-joints either.
I'm gonna get the tires rotated and balanced at a shop down the road.

 

97r/tram, I have the exact same thing going on with mine. I suspect its the tires (they are old and probably have separated).

Please keep us posted

 

my 01 ram 1500 was bouncing after putting new tires on it. I had balanced the tires three times and changed all four shocks, tie rods, and passenger side front axle joint. Then I changed a slightly bent rim and changed the tires again. Still bouncing at around 45 mph.

 

Update: Recently, I bought brand new tires for my truck 285/75/16's Enduro mud terrains, and brand new gabriel shocks. Still, the vibration is still present in the truck. What is my next step in trying to stop it?

 

It could be the launch angle in the driveshaft, or a number of driveshaft related problems. The longer trucks with a 2 piece DS are more prone to this condition.