Bad Vibes at Freeway Speeds
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Joined: Feb 2017
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Still unresolved, but the vibration has noticeably increased in the last ~1000 miles since my first post. However, just for "fun" I engaged 4WD while it was vibrating and it made an immediate improvement - which tells me that the cause is definitely in the front end - most likely in one of the rotating components (wheel hub, CV axle, etc.) I'm expecting to tackle repairs starting this coming week.
Regarding the "death wobble" - One thing I saw somewhere was that it only applied to "heavy duty" trucks - which would rule out the 1500...
Regarding the "death wobble" - One thing I saw somewhere was that it only applied to "heavy duty" trucks - which would rule out the 1500...
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Clayton MI
Still unresolved, but the vibration has noticeably increased in the last ~1000 miles since my first post. However, just for "fun" I engaged 4WD while it was vibrating and it made an immediate improvement - which tells me that the cause is definitely in the front end - most likely in one of the rotating components (wheel hub, CV axle, etc.) I'm expecting to tackle repairs starting this coming week.
Regarding the "death wobble" - One thing I saw somewhere was that it only applied to "heavy duty" trucks - which would rule out the 1500...
Regarding the "death wobble" - One thing I saw somewhere was that it only applied to "heavy duty" trucks - which would rule out the 1500...
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Joined: Mar 2013
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From: Sunny ****ing Nevada, Rockies to B.C.
I had two vibrations,on an '03 1500, front driveshaft worn out and separately had a CV joint/axle fail not long after replacement. Got a smoking deal on a US Gear rebuilt shaft like +-90USD through Amazon, even with shipping to B.C. still a smashing deal. Bought the only two they had, sent one home to Nevada. The driveshaft problem was accompanied by a small tinny light knocking sometimes.
Bought quality axles I thought from NAPA. They replaced under warranty, but I would never ask them again. The cause is as much due to hard use and the front end lift I put into the torsion keys. However, it took 40k miles with lift on top of 230k original miles to kill the originals.
Bought quality axles I thought from NAPA. They replaced under warranty, but I would never ask them again. The cause is as much due to hard use and the front end lift I put into the torsion keys. However, it took 40k miles with lift on top of 230k original miles to kill the originals.
Last edited by 69_XS29L; Mar 10, 2021 at 04:03 PM.
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Bad Vibes - resolved
Some auto shops just can't be trusted - I found the trouble: It was the right (passenger) CV axle. The (inner) sleeve that slips over the differential's right axle shaft was EXTREMELY loose! So loose that I'm surprised that it didn't fly apart! the shaft had worn down to ~ 1/8" smaller than the sleeve!
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Clayton MI
Some auto shops just can't be trusted - I found the trouble: It was the right (passenger) CV axle. The (inner) sleeve that slips over the differential's right axle shaft was EXTREMELY loose! So loose that I'm surprised that it didn't fly apart! the shaft had worn down to ~ 1/8" smaller than the sleeve!
Holy smoke.
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Amateur
Joined: Feb 2017
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Lotsa noise - Lotsa vibes, but the shop said they couldn't see any trouble! Instead, they re-balanced tires a few times - each time the balance was off. Then they said it was probably a bad tire - out-of-round or something, so they replaced all 4 tires at no additional cost - no difference. Then they said it was a warped wheel, so they replaced all 4 with new. No difference. Since I took all their recommendations and nothing was resolved, the owner ate the cost. When I finally to it upon myself to investigate and found and fixed the cause, I informed the owner of the shop of my findings and he just replied with a "hmph".. I took that to means that he was totally embarrassed that he missed something as obvious as that - which he should be!
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 87,453
Likes: 4,218
From: Clayton MI
Lotsa noise - Lotsa vibes, but the shop said they couldn't see any trouble! Instead, they re-balanced tires a few times - each time the balance was off. Then they said it was probably a bad tire - out-of-round or something, so they replaced all 4 tires at no additional cost - no difference. Then they said it was a warped wheel, so they replaced all 4 with new. No difference. Since I took all their recommendations and nothing was resolved, the owner ate the cost. When I finally to it upon myself to investigate and found and fixed the cause, I informed the owner of the shop of my findings and he just replied with a "hmph".. I took that to means that he was totally embarrassed that he missed something as obvious as that - which he should be!
