I had mine 'roadforce' balanced and that is how I determined that the rims weren't bent and the wheels were true. The roadforce puts a drum down on the tire.

The problem that has plauged my truck and I feel others should be away of is that if you have the 17" chrome rims they are actualy chrome plate pressed on to aluminum. So they do not balance well on machines using the cone in the centre. If you have vibration issues trust me, and have your wheels ballaced on a machine with the 'fingers' that go into the wheel lugs. Most shops have them and just need to be told to use them.

 

This is an article from a 4Runner site that I came accross while dealing with balancing problems once on another vehicle. An interesting read on balancing if you choose.

http://www.gadgetonline.com/Vibration.htm

 

I just joined this forum and thought I would share my experience. I had the same vibration issues as you are describing. I really thought mine was going to shake apart at about 65 to 70MPH especially if I had to use the brakes in a hurry at those speeds it was even worse. At first, the dealer scratched their heads because nobody had complained of this issue before to them. They tried balancing and even decided I had a bad tire. They actually switched wheels and tires with another Dakota they had. (I have the 17 inch chrome clad wheels). This did not solve the issue. They said the rotors looked fine and they turned them anyway to give that a try. One day I met another Dakota driver at the gas station and we were just comparing notes. He stated he had the shutter issue for which there was a TSB and it fixed the problem.

I took it back to the dealer and they looked it up and there it was. They even said they should have done that first thing but they had yet experienced the problem. Mind you this is when the truck was new so by now most dealers should know by now after five years of this generation. I believe the TSB number is 05-002-06. Basically they look if your axle has a certain stamp on it and if it does they change the axle. As part of the TSB they also replace the rear shoes with an updated number, turn the drums, and turn the rotors. This is covered under the warranty! Do not let them tell you otherwise. I am fortunate that I ran into someone that had the same issues as it completely eliminated the issue for me.

I am sure others have discussed this issue before. Please forgive me as I just joined today and have not searched through all the postings yet. I just thought this post was timely so thought I might try to help out. I was ready to trade in before this issue was fixed. I love my truck now.

 

Welcome Flying Dakota, thats a great description....Thanks for the info!

Mark

 

exactly the way i talk about my truck...plus i did name it Sarah when i bought it... shes picky but she likes the cool air right now lol.

 

No **** on the cooler air. Truck runs like it stole something.

 

Ill agree with that statement. It seems like when its around 40 degrees on a dry day .... my truck goes like a bat outta hell.

 

my trucks name is CHEYENNE (shy ann) and she loves the cold weather...so when i get home in little over a month and have the power wire, true dual and SC tuner omg shes gonna run like never before so stooked i can't wait!

 

My old truck was named Cheyanne .... it was an old Chevy work truck, but Cheyanne fit perfect since it was a higher package offered in the old Chevy trucks. Lol

Now my truck is named Roxanne. I had to keep the -anne thing going.

 

ok, we need a "what did you name your truck" thread....mines blue thunder...