i’m new to dodge. i recently bought a 1 ton b350 ram van. does anyone here know anything about them?? i got a vibration at the passenger rear tire that comes on about 38mph. i put new tires on it but it still vibrates. it slacks off when i get over 40 mph. also got a little slack in steering. i hope i don’t have to take the steering column apart. would rather put a newer column in if that will help. i’m keeping this van forever. love it even if it’s a gas hog😂. thanks for any help you all can give me

 

What year is your van? Have you checked out the brakes on the rear??

 

Since the vibration is the same with 2 different sets of tires, the issue is likely a bad driveshaft U-joint or a bent rear axle. A bent axle is more likely to give you issues at all speeds, so I'd focus first on the U-joints.

 

Most of the time ujoints will squeal at lower speeds and the vibration is throughout and not limited to one side.

I'd also be checking the brake and parking brake in the rear, take tire off and full visual inspection. Start with that.

As for play in the steering that can be a lot of things. Alignment, ball joint, tie rod, drag link, something in the front end is far more likely than it being something related to taking the steering column apart.

 

not yet, i read it has two diff entries sets of brakes. 2 1/2 and 3 inch. was gonna put new ones on but didn’t know what to get til i take it apart. was rainy so waited til this week to check it out

 

thanks, it’s supposed to be nice this week so i’m gonna put it on jack stands n might just replace the both u joints. i want to rebuild the suspension front to back. i just have to do it little by little. started with tires. really love this old van

 

thanks, i’ll put it on jack stands n check it out. when we put it on a trailer to haul it home, i think the guy got a strap too close to emergency brake cable because it was hanging loose whe i got it home n off the trailer. i hooked it back up but left it loose until i could check it out later n adjust it right. thanks a million . i love this old van

 

Incorrect, first u-joints don't squeal they chirp, bearings squeal, second the vibration is due to the worn u-joint being off-center. At lower speeds the driveshaft isn't spinning fast enough to cause any noticeable vibration. It usually takes speeds over 35 MPH to notice.

 

Not incorrect.

The sound goes AWAY at higher speeds. I just did a ujoint repair which corrected this issue. I don't want to take us off of the OP topic but man I'm hoping this forum isn't like this.

 

From my experience, bad joints make a two-tone squeak at lower RPM (if they make any noise at all....), which doesn't go away, it just gets drowned out by all the other noises of moving your 3 ton brick thru the air. The VIBRATION still start at higher speeds, and may or may not go away as you go faster.