Hey everyone, i have a Dodge Ram 1500 2WD Model 1998 with the 318 Engine 5.2 Liters 5 speeds manual transmision. My problem is this, i bought my truck a yer ago, and since then when i start driving it shakes, i mean in first gear and in reverse when i'm starting moving, shakes like if the motor haven't enought streng to pull the trcuk's weight. but at soon as drive the first couple of meter it works fine. i guess is a problem with the transmision. but can you tellme some ideas. also i was thinking that maybe the timing chain has a bad ajudsment. what do you think.

Thanks for your time.

also sorry for my orthografy, im from mexico, so this is my second languaje, dont be so hard with me.

 

How many miles? Had a friends toyota that did the same thing before his clutch went bad a few months later. Try not sitting on the clutch as long, may have some wear.

 

hey, i have an automatic 97 dodge ram 1500 sport 4wd... I bought my truck like 8 months ago, and the transmission just went. I was having a few other problems (such as it not shifting, and eventually not even going into gear, just revving up) as well. Also, my truck would shake when i was in reverse, almost wanting to stall, until i stopped and put it into neutral or drive(sort of like what you said). What happened was the tranny cooler got plugged up, causing the transmission to keep heating up until it eventually just welded itself together inside. I don't know if this is your problem, just a heads up to anyone else with tranny problems. Its not cheap to have a new tranny put in!

 

If you have a manual transmission, the problem you describe is either a bad clutch, or the free-play adjustment is off. there should be about an inch of really easy clutch travel before you feel some resistance. If you have resistance at the very top, you need to get the free play adjusted before it burns the clutch up. I would say its probably already burnt up however.