04 ram 2500 4x4 5.9 L gas hemi 140k miles western 8 footer 1 year old

a few weeks ago i noticed a slight sqeeking noise while driving slowly...i figured it was a u joint - went under the truck, gave it a shake down, didnt find anything

drove it the last few days and i notice a vibration , which seems to be getting more noticable, only occurs under acceleration, and only in 2wd. does not change while turing. braking, coasting, 2 or 4wd doesnt occur...only while acceleating and in 2 wd. at first i thought maybe the tires need balancing, but since it doesnt do it while coasting (it also seems to be a "faster vibration" than the tire spin..dont think that is it. i never had a u joint cause a vibration on me...only a clunck or a sqeecking noise....and like i said i didnt see anything wrong with the u joints (not that i pulled it down and apart thou)

i heard the rear ends were bad on these trucks? any help or advice? how about balancing the drive shaft? again another path i have never been down. just stange that it stops in 4 wd

as best i can tell its coming from the rear of the truck, but the steering wheel does shake too

 

Any one have this before..

Also note. This is a ram 2500 quad cab, 6 foot bed, and the rear shaft is a standard single style with u joints on either end

 

Anyone had this or got any ideas? I pulled a trailer today and it seems to get worst towing up hill

 

I think you are on the right path for checking u joints and such. You know it happens in 2wd but balances out in 4wd. So when in 4wd you are adding something that counter balances the vibes caused in 2wd. I dont think that would be a tire balance issue. Talk to HammerZ71 and or Rubberfrog since they are 4wd guys and maybe they can help you out more.

 

i havnt had time to look into it, anyone have other ideas or thoughts

 

Weird... The exact same thing started happening on my 2004 2500 about 2 weeks ago and is getting worse. It goes into the shop on Friday, so I should be able to tell you what it is on Friday Night.

 

The rearend problems is with the 9.25 axle. My guess is you have a bad U joint. When they first start to squeal they are still tight. But when you reach the point of having a vibration they are getting loose. If you wait too long they can let go and do a lot of damage.

 

My thinking is that it's a bad u-joint as well, but I don't have the time to get under my truck and find out myself.

 

My vibration was coming from the rear u-joint on the rear drive shaft. I also had a ticking noise coming from the front end (started at the same time as the vibration) which was tracked down to the double cardan joint and all three u-joints on the front driveshaft. My truck sees some seriously bad roads for about 50% of the miles I put on it, so I'm used to having to replace parts. Once a year I seem to replace balljoints & tie-rods. I think this is the first time I've had u-joint issues though and I'm at 166,000km.