My oil pressure was always steady at 40-ish no matter what until recently when the needle started trembling. Guys here helped me narrow it down to possible a bad sending unit. I haven't had the time to replace it since.

Today, on my way to work, it shot up to almost 100 for a good 15 miles then finally settled back at 40. Scared the crap out of me. I don't know if this is related to the original suspected sending unit problem.

Also, my front end has started to shake as I drive. It still seems to shake as I coast which led me to think maybe my tires had lost balance but then on Saturday morning I was driving at about 40mph when it felt like someone had kicked me in the rear end of the truck twice and there were 2 loud corresponding bangs/clanks from under the truck. It hasn't done it since.

Any ideas as to what these issues might be and if they are related to one simple solution? I'm getting frustrated with these recent problems.

 

Oil pressure is probably still the sending unit. They do some odd stuff when they go bad.

As for the 'kick in the rear'... Did you maybe run over something? If not.....I would take the cover off the rear diff, and see what things looked like in there..... jack up the truck, and check the rear bearings as well.

And just for giggles, make sure your spare tire is still hanging around under there....

 

edit- i type too slow.

i don't think the oil pressure and the front end banging and shaking are related.

i've never seen an oil pressure gauge tremble, and i can't imaging any way the oil presssure could actually tremble, so i'll call that one a bad sending unit. just replace it. a new on is sort of expensive. if money is a problem you could probably get one from a junk yard off any dodge in 2nd gen year range.

loud bangs are bad. you need to keep an eye on this. put it up on jacks and check all elements of the drive train. make sure something's not about to fall out.

shaking - are you sure its the front? tire balance problems generally smooth out at either a faster or slower speed. is that happening? try rotating front tires to rear and see if it helps any. could be tie rods, ball joints, axle joints, bearings... check all that. it could also be a knot on the tire or a broken belt in the tire.

 

LOL! The spare is there. I was close to home when it happened and checked out the truck as soon as I pulled into the driveway.

There is a little fluid leaking from somewhere around the inspection plate. I wiped it off before I went in for the day and checked it that afternoon before I left for work. It was still dry. I checked again once I got to work and the fluid was back. It's not much, but it's more than used to be there before my problems started. BTW, the problems started not too long after I had my transmission serviced a few weeks back.

The noise came from under the middle of the truck so that's why I thought it was a tranny noise. Plus I've been trying to track down a rattle since that last tranny service. The mechanic swears he can't hear it. It rattles from somewhere near the inspection plate once the engine warms up. It doesn't do it constantly, but it does it often.

I finally get 2 days off this week and will probably change the sending unit & see if that fixes my oil pressure problems. I'd like to put in a mechanical gauge but I think that is probably way over my head.

I've either been under the hood myself or had this thing in the shop every day off work for the last 4 weeks. I'm about at the end of my rope & wallet.

 

I'm not 100% sure it's tires but they are new. I probably only have 2k miles on them. I just also had the pitman & idler arms replaced a while back. I never thought about a bad belt but that would be my luck. Another $150, please. Thanks.

I was thinking it might be my torque converter but the shaking would stop when I let off the accelerator, wouldn't it? Could the TC also explain the loud bang and rattling noises?

The guys at my shop are good guys and mean well but it seems like every time I take it in, the problem they fix either wasn't the real problem or they mess something else up. I haven't documented all of that here... I live in a tiny rural town so my options are limited. I might just take it to the tranny shop and let him rule out the tranny issues & go from there rather than let my mechanic shop guess and replace until they get it right.

Sorry for the frustrated rant but I'd like to be able to leave my house on a day off from work other than to drop off & pick up my truck from a shop. I don't always have a crappy attitude, just today.

 

Learn to work on it yourself. It is FAR cheaper, can be fun, (depending on your definition of fun.....) and it is also rewarding. You get the sense of accomplishment that YOU fixed it. There are TONS of resources out there on the net, this site being one of the very best for your truck. Lots of knowledgeable people, all willing to help.

I started working on cars when I was a teen. I couldn't afford to pay someone else to fix it...... and my car needed fixing way more than I thought it should. (I swear sometimes it just wanted attention...... grabbed my smokes out of the car one day, closed the door, walked two steps, and WUMP!. Drivers window blew out. No clue why.)

Now, I am older...... and I find myself again in the position of not being able to afford to pay someone else to fix my truck. (or my car, my house, my appliances...... I get to work on all sorts of cool stuff.....) Of course, I also have the (dis)advantage of not having to go to work every day......

Quite frankly, I would much RATHER go to work every day........ but, I would still do my own work on my cars, for just the reasons you list.

 

I am learning to work on it myself but time, tools, & a place to work on it are problems.

I've done quite a bit lately and ALL of the knowledge was thanks to the good folks at this forum and my Haynes manual.

I appreciate all the info y'all have given me!