Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'00 Dodge Ram, Front Suspension Shake
Q:
I have
a 2000 Dodge Ram 4WD V10. The problem is the front end shakes violently
sometimes when hitting a bump at freeway speeds. I have been told that
it's the front end alignment, however no one seems to be able to align
it so it does not do this. I have replaced the shocks and steering stabilizer
with tough country HD stuff. The truck only has 39k on it. What can I
do to fix this once and for all short of selling it ?
A:
I would
suggest a close inspection of the suspension. If the front end starts
shaking after hitting a bump more often than not there is a loose component.
We've been seeing a lot of ball joint problems occurring in our area.
The hard part with picking-up on the problem is the size of the vehicle.
The tires, rims and front hub assembly are so heavy that you really have
to throw some weight into to it when checking for looseness. I'm no skinny
mini and at times I've had to really grunt into it to find the looseness
in the front-end of truck the size of yours. If your front-end goes into
random fits of shaking, more often than not there's something loose. Sometimes
you need a back end as big or bigger than mine and a good size pyre bar
to get to the bottom of a front end problem.
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