Front end shake after hitting highway bump

From : dino

Q: been searching google for hours and found similar problems but nothing conclusive on a fix. dodge ram 4x4 1500 short bed 2001 48k miles. truck was fine until about 3k miles ago. would be driving on interstate at 60-65 would hit a bump and front end would start shaking violently. shaking would continue until truck was almost stopped. problem would only happen infrequently but got progessively worse more frequent. rotated tires front to back to eliminate balance problem. didnt fix problem. replaced shocks with edelbrocks. didnt fix problem. replaced steering damper. seemed to fix problem for a around 500 miles or so but now its back. ball joints have been checked and are apparently ok. only other thing ive noticed is that front right tire is wearing more on the outside than the left despite having had an alignment done a couple of thousand miles ago. currently have goodyear conquest tires stock size that are close to needing to be replaced. want to replace with some better aftermarket tires such as michelin ltx but want to get this resolved before i invest $700 - $800 on new rubber. right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. any ideas from anyone that had this problem and actually found the problem and got it fixed right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. tks howard .

Replies:

From : david

you have not yet eliminated a balance problem. are you 100% sure the rear tires were/are in perfect balance are you 100% sure the tires are properly balanced what about the lateral runout on the tires if you have an odd wear problem it is probably out of alignment. even though it had been checked. when was the last time the shop had the alignment rack calibrated sounds like it is time to get the truck into a good suspension shop and pay them to go completely through all the possibilities. david been searching google for hours and found similar problems but nothing conclusive on a fix. dodge ram 4x4 1500 short bed 2001 48k miles. truck was fine until about 3k miles ago. would be driving on interstate at 60-65 would hit a bump and front end would start shaking violently. shaking would continue until truck was almost stopped. problem would only happen infrequently but got progessively worse more frequent. rotated tires front to back to eliminate balance problem. didnt fix problem. replaced shocks with edelbrocks. didnt fix problem. replaced steering damper. seemed to fix problem for a around 500 miles or so but now its back. ball joints have been checked and are apparently ok. only other thing ive noticed is that front right tire is wearing more on the outside than the left despite having had an alignment done a couple of thousand miles ago. currently have goodyear conquest tires stock size that are close to needing to be replaced. want to replace with some better aftermarket tires such as michelin ltx but want to get this resolved before i invest $700 - $800 on new rubber. right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. any ideas from anyone that had this problem and actually found the problem and got it fixed right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. tks howard .

From : rm

i had this same problem on my lifted 4x4 and only way i stopped the violent shaking was to go to a narrow tire. i replaced every thing from the pitman arm down including going to 1 ton axles from a 1/2 ton. the shake was there thru 3 sets of different tires after every part replaced including the track bar. several 4x4 shops and many friends have still been unable to solve. only thing left could be defective steering box. any ideas from anyone that had this problem and actually found the problem and got it fixed right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. track bar is worn out. this is the bar that runs from the drivers side frame rail to the passenger-side of the front axle. its got a ball joint on the frame end and this joint wears out. to verify have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth enging running while you observe the bar. youll see the joint moving side to side as the steering is cycled. there should be no movement in this joint - any movement indicates a worn joint. there are several fixes. you can get a replacement track bar from the dealer. you can purchase an aftermarket replacement track bar i believe moog makes one. there are products to re-build your existing track bar http//www.blackhills.com/lindstad/ http//www.lukeslink.com/trackbar.html or you could go with an adjustable aftermarket track bar that uses a rebuildable heim joint instead of a ball joint http//www.dtprofab.com/dodge.htm .

From : toxictavrn

any ideas from anyone that had this problem and actually found the problem and got it fixed right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. track bar is worn out. this is the bar that runs from the drivers side frame rail to the passenger-side of the front axle. its got a ball joint on the frame end and this joint wears out. to verify have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth enging running while you observe the bar. youll see the joint moving side to side as the steering is cycled. there should be no movement in this joint - any movement indicates a worn joint. there are several fixes. you can get a replacement track bar from the dealer. you can purchase an aftermarket replacement track bar i believe moog makes one. there are products to re-build your existing track bar http//www.blackhills.com/lindstad/ http//www.lukeslink.com/trackbar.html or you could go with an adjustable aftermarket track bar that uses a rebuildable heim joint instead of a ball joint http//www.dtprofab.com/dodge.htm i do so love the front ends of a dodge ahyup a yugo has a tougher front end than my ram it wont stay in alignment ball joints and track bar keep wearing out a set of tires last me 10k if i am lucky next step is all aftermarket stuff so yes check that track bar my stock track bar lasted maybe 15k miles 79 t/a ws6 455 hurst 4 spd blk w/ t-tops heavily fortified 4mpg 00 ram 2500hd qc v-10 4x4blk5 spd410 lsd 10mpg 98 intruder 1400 blk 5 spd 25mpg .

From : jamie frieryfmb

no i disconnected the distributor wire just in case it turned over and fired up while i had the pan off and turned the ignition on just to see if when the shifter on the dash was moved i could see the linkage inside the tranny was moving..........but now it wont move into any gears out of park......ie........neutral drive 1st 2nd etc........... .

From : fmb

we had the same problems with our ford superduties at work. the first time it happened i thought the whole front end was going to shake apart. took the shop a few trys to find a broken bracket on a long thing-ga-ma-jig that went from one side to the other in the front end stabilizer bar. not sure of the other technical term for the item. fmb any ideas from anyone that had this problem and actually found the problem and got it fixed right now were afraid to take this truck on the highway when this shaking happens its a scary situation. track bar is worn out. this is the bar that runs from the drivers side frame rail to the passenger-side of the front axle. its got a ball joint on the frame end and this joint wears out. to verify have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth enging running while you observe the bar. youll see the joint moving side to side as the steering is cycled. there should be no movement in this joint - any movement indicates a worn joint. there are several fixes. you can get a replacement track bar from the dealer. you can purchase an aftermarket replacement track bar i believe moog makes one. there are products to re-build your existing track bar http//www.blackhills.com/lindstad/ http//www.lukeslink.com/trackbar.html or you could go with an adjustable aftermarket track bar that uses a rebuildable heim joint instead of a ball joint http//www.dtprofab.com/dodge.htm i do so love the front ends of a dodge ahyup a yugo has a tougher front end than my ram it wont stay in alignment ball joints and track bar keep wearing out a set of tires last me 10k if i am lucky next step is all aftermarket stuff so yes check that track bar my stock track bar lasted maybe 15k miles 79 t/a ws6 455 hurst 4 spd blk w/ t-tops heavily fortified 4mpg 00 ram 2500hd qc v-10 4x4blk5 spd410 lsd 10mpg 98 intruder 1400 blk 5 spd 25mpg .