Dodge death wobble...2005 dodge 2500 driving at highway speeds, hit a bump in the road or a bridge and the front end shakes violently.
2005 Dodge RAM 2500 suspension complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 77 of 77, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Vehicle wobbles violently if you hit a bump in the road traveling at speeds between 40 to 75. It shakes to the point where I need to slow down sometimes to 15 MPH before it stops. Other drivers see this and they slow or pull off the road to give me room. I have taken the truck to the dealer and they find nothing wrong. I have changed all tires, rims, shocks and steering stabilizer and still the problem is there. The truck has 57k miles on it now and this problem started approx 2 years ago and I have been trying to fix it ever since. The dealer advises there is nothing wrong with the truck but I am certain that it is something mechanical. A google search revealed several others who have experienced this same problem. There was one blog that stated that the stock tracking arm is the culprit and must be replaced. It further advised not to replace it with another stock tracking arm as they continue to be lees than appropriate for this truck. My truck is back at the dealer at this time and this information was forwarded to the service advisor. I am hopeful that this replacement of what is being described as inadequate for its application will not be the burden of the vehicle owners. I am assuming that the replacement parts would be checked and their design standard be elevated to perform on their designed application. This violent shaking is without a doubt a safety issue not only to the operator and passengers but also to other motorist in close proximity. The last incident occurred on the date listed below which is the same day it was taken back to the dealer. This condition has been occurring continuously for the past 2 years. Some incidents not as severe as others but still a safety concern.
I was driving on an access road with my wife when a vehicle pulled out in front of me. I hit the brakes to avoid hitting the other vehicle. I maintained control of our vehicle and stayed in the same lane not hitting anything, but we heard a pop and the vehicle started shaking making it hard to control. I could not keep the steering wheel straight anymore. Then we smelled a burning odor and heard something scraping the ground. We pulled over and saw that the 4 wheel drive shaft was hanging down. We then talked with the service advisor and he informed us in his opinion that this was the result of an accident and we would have to file under our insurance. We looked at the damage and saw a small dent in the front differential casing, broken drive shaft, two suspension arms bent, and dent in oil pan from the axle being pushed back. We informed the service advisor that we did not hit any vehicle or any objects in the roadway. We are not going to make a false claim on our insurance for something that is a manufacturing defect with the truck. The service advisor believes that we hit something which made the small dent in the differential casing and this caused all the other damage described above. There is no way a small dent in the differential casing could cause all the damage that occurred. This dent could have occurred from a rock hitting it; it is a very small dent. If we would of hit something, there probably would have been damage to the front bumper and transmission as well which sits lower than the differential. Also, if we hit the differential, which is made from aluminum, there probably there would have been a substantial amount of damage to it. His theory does not make sense to us. We believe there could be a defect with the suspension bars on my vehicle. Also the drive shaft could have catapulted us causing a serious collision and injuries to us.
While rotating my tires at 30,000 miles, I discovered some top-to-bottom play on the right front wheel. Thinking this could be possible wheel bearing wear, I took it to the dealer who diagnosed that the right front upper ball joint needed to be replaced. Work to be performed under warranty.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle had 6,000 miles when the tires started showing signs of wear. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection of the tires. The dealer determined the cause of the tire wear was due to both front upper and lower ball joints being severely worn. The dealer replaced the ball joints and the vehicle operated normally.
Dt: consumer states that vehicle pulls from left to right. The caster is out of alignment. Technician at pacific service and development states that is probably due to human error, and he could fix it. Consumer stated that he had the problem since he bought the vehicle. Consumer thought it may be the tires. The technician stated that the sidewall was only two ply, and consumer felt they weren't strong enough for the front end.
I recently got my 2003 dodge ram p/u 2500 2wd inspected. I was told that my front end squeaks and this is due to no ball joint grease. This vehicle has 16000 miles on it. I was told that I had a warranty problem. I contacted the dealer and they set me up for an appointment yesterday. I stopped in and explained what I was told. The person that wrote up my work order advised me that chrysler frowns upon them stating this fact in the work order and instead, he wrote that the complaint was ball joint noise poss. Loose balljoint. During this stage, the service manager spoke up and told me that they had just put both upper and lower balljoints in a 2004 truck which is a year newer than mine. The dealer later contacted me and agreed with the original diagnosis by the inspection station, and indicated that both the upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced and this would be under warranty. He then explained that the parts are on a national back order. I was told to pick up my truck and they would call me when the parts came in. When I picked up the vehicle this morning 5/27, the service manager spoke to me regarding the national back order and stated, does that tell you that theres a problem with the particular part! My concern here is that I would not expect to even consider this part to wear out for 50k-80k miles under normal use. Given that these parts need replacement now, I should expect to replace these parts 10 times or more over the life of the vehicle since there aren't any grease fittings on them so that I could replenish the grease. Could you please advise me if this is something that you are aware of and dealing with? Thank you for your consideration
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