Hello I just bought this truck its a 02 ram 4door 4x4 . it has the 4.7 { i have read nightmares about it } it had 67k on it but 2k on a rebuilt engine i was told by the guy hes running syn oil and from what i read thats a must for that engine.

with that said i had the tires balanced 2 sets of rims have been tried but at 70 mph it shakes real bad , at 55mph its still there but drivable. one shop told me the CV axle was shot and that was doing it { but i do not hear any noise from it and the 4x4 works} anyone have any Ideas ?

 

what size of tires and rims are you running?

 

CV can do it for sure, but so can an out of balance tire (and if you aren't road force balancing them, then you are wasting your time and $ on a truck tire), so can ball joints, tie rod ends, drive shaft balance, hub, and probably a couple of other components I haven't mentioned.

Only true way to diagnose it is to throw it up in the air and look, kinda what the shop you took it to did. Is there a reason to disbelieve the shop you took it to?


As far as the engine goes, I'm not aware of any "horror stories" involving properly cared for and maintained 4.7s. I personally know guys with over 250k miles on them (one of whom who has NEVER used synthetic anything in it).
True, the engine doesn't like sludge and cannot rebound from an over-heat at all where some other engine designs would, but these are caused more by neglect. A properly maintained vehicle shouldn't develop engine sludge nor over-heat...

 

the shop i took it to told me the CV axle was shot also the inner shaft was shot . after talking to a few dealers and another shop that i do trust, they all said they never seen the inner shaft go bad and if it did it would make noise or leak. also if i put the truck in 4wheel drive you cant turn on the street so the front end is working. the guy I bought the truck from is paying for the repairs { very nice of him i think since many would tell someone { ITS USED ITS YOURS NOW} so i dont want the guy getting the shaft on the repairs.

its good to hear some positive things on the 4.7 with all i read i was worried i have almost 8k in this truck i dont need a lemon LOL i guess i will see what the shop iam talking it to on sat says . i know he is honest i have no safe way to lift it and spin the tires. the rims on it now are stock alum rims 15s i do have a set of after market 17s the guy gave me with the truck but like the stock ones better. I had steel rims on my 97 ram { i miss that truck} and that have a shake until i put the alum rims on it .

 

If it's got 15" rims (wheels) then there have been major modifications made to the front brakes (calipers) as it takes a 17" wheel to clear the stock calipers. So if this is the case, I'd be looking at the brakes as well for a source of issues..

If I was relying on a vehicle as a daily driver and couldn't afford for it to be a "lemon", I don't think I'd have looked at one with a re-built engine, but to each his own...

 

just walked out to check the stock rims are 17s the others are 20s as for the rebuilt engine the guy i got it from has a shop and rebuilt it there seemed to be honest i think it was done right , he told me the engine started to knock on the way to FL last year so they towed it home and put in 8 new pistons had the crank turned all new breaings ect the engine seems fine , only problem i have it the shaking{ i kinda figure being rebuilt with 2k miles on its better then the 67k orig } he said he also put in a new TQ converter when the engine was out .

 

I had a similar issue with very bad shaking every so often. I had to replace the cv axle. It didnt do it all the time though.

 

I had a similar problem once and it turned out being because the front tires were under inflated at one point which cause them to cup from driving like that. I rotated the tires and the problem was solved. Might want to check the tires and try rotating them to see if that solves the problem.

 

problem fixed it was the CV axle also replaced the inner shaft it was worn. now i can do 90mph and get a ticket lol