Since ~3,000 miles on my truck I have had a subtle (but clear) vibration on my 2013 1500 CC hemi 4x4. The vibration is not in the steering wheel and is not based specifically on speed.

I have had my tires balanced and rotated each time i get an oil change and now that I'm at 16,000 miles the "5 star" dealer (http://www.chapmandodge.com/) is telling me it's out of warranty and they don't notice anything on their test drives. Everyone including my wife who drives with me notices it so it's definitely there.

I don't believe this is a tire/wheel issue since it's not consistent and rotating them hasn't adjusted "where" the vibration comes from.

I have also confirmed that it doesn't matter if i turn on/off tow mode, downshift manually to 4th/5th gear. It's consistent. Mostly apparent at highway speeds because of prolonged straight driving, but it's there at city speeds too.

So, how do I solve this?

Note: I don't think it's related but I thought I would share that there is a "aluminum/metallic" sound that comes when under light throttle. This has been present since the vibration occurred at 3k miles. Can't tell where it's coming from.

 

Have you test driven vehicle with the technician or service manager to duplicate the vibration? Another alternative is to seek a 2nd opinion from another dealer.

 

Funny thing, about seven years ago a good friend of mine had a brand new Daytona, no more then 5k miles and literally the same issues as you described, with metal vibration audible. After going through the entire vehicles and assessing multiple suspension, steering components, it ended up being a faulty motor mount.

 

Because they now have all your money....you are therefore an idiot.

Shameful the way SOME dealers can treat "former" customers.

Ironically....they don't make much on the actual sale of a new vehicle......they make it on the customer service end.

Keep 'em happy and they'll come back.


Problem with the "second opinion" idea is that your complaint has now been documented in the computer system. Try to find another dealer that will go against that grain.

Keep after them....move your complaint up the management chain.

 

How is it out of warranty? These trucks have 100,000 mile powertrain warranties. I am having the exact same issue with my 2012 Ram Longhorn with 26,000 miles on it. Mine has been back twice for this. They have road force balanced the tires twice, and changed the motor & transmission mounts. It is going back in next week for this same issue. I took a video with my phone of my passenger seat vibrating and showed it to them. So they know it is there. I still think it is a driveline issue, but the dealer seems like they want to stay away from that. I will keep taking it back until they figure something out.

 

I would look into having the drive shaft balanced.

 

Not sure if the 2013s were affected by the faulty torque converters as some of the older trucks were but I had a drone noise and some even vibrated. I had my torque converter replaced and the noise is gone.

 

Was the vibration there all along. If not take a real careful look at the tires. Mine started scalloping almost as soon as I got the truck. Got rid of the Wranglers and got the Michelin LTX M/SII and the vibration went away and never came back.

 

Thanks all. I'm going to bring the truck in to a different dealership for my next oil change and see what they do. I have a hard time believing its tires or rims because the vibration doesn't change after a rotation (you would think the vibration/shake would at least change a bit). Also because it is not a constant issue. The severity ranges wildly depending on factors I can't understand from an end user perspective. For example, sometimes at 70mph it feels almost smooth and then other times I can watch my center console shake left and right. This can be on the same drive to or from work at the same throttle and gear. Something must be out of balance and occasionally gets exacervated .

Would a driveshaft be constant? Or engine mounts? Or perhaps some suspension component?

 

They need to take all 4 wheels/tires from a new truck and drive it. Those Wranglers.....if I had a nickel.