Chasing a problem

[Pwdrwgn]

I've been chasing the cause of a front end vibration for some time now. The problem is felt more on warmer days. I can feel play in the front end through the steering wheel and pedals. The truck has 125,000 miles on it and the following items have been replaced/upgraded in an attempt to fix the problem:

Carli steering stabilizer
Synergy track bar and upgraded bushing
Ball joints
Borgeson steering shaft
Upgrade steering linkage and tie rods
New shocks
Recent alignment

The problem is not a death wobble, but a small amount of play in something. I plan on keeping this truck since I'm the original owner with the lifetime power train warranty, but this problem is driving me crazy. Any ideas on what I'm missing? Thanks in advance for any advice...

[coder]

Here are some items that could cause the shaking front axle u-joints, steering gear box, bent wheel(s), worn hubs, can you describe when the shaking happens is it all the time?

[Pwdrwgn]

It's less of a shake and more of a feeling that something is loose somewhere in the suspension. I can feel it when turning sharply or when driving over bumps etc in the road. I've put a wrench on everything I could think of on the front end and everything seems to be tight. Thanks for the help!

[Will]

Control arm bushings

[whitey]

Best way I know is to get under the truck and look for unwanted movement in all bushings front and rear. then have someone turn steering wheel in small back and forth movements and look for give / somewhere movement doesn't translate down from steering wheel all the way down to the tires. Jack up front axle a few inches then take a 6 foot prybar to pry up on each of front tires while someone looks for unwanted movement in the unit bearings and ball joints. Appearantly some of our trucks have soft bushings in a ujoint just inside the cab too. I would check tires too. Pressure too low - tires will be squishy and slow to respond in turns. Pressure too high - I feel like tires have a tendency to track depending on brand and type of tire. I personally haven't seen a single part that has held up related to steering once you get outside the firewall. Hopefully I mentioned something that'll help. good luck

[SilverWagon05]

Control arm bushings

X2

[TwinStick]

All good advice on here. Add unit bearings/wheel bearings to the list as well. Depending on what ball joints were used, it could be them again. The place i use (when i can't do it myself) says: plow trucks: every year. Reg trucks: every 2 years for ball joints....even when they use MOOG HD lifetime balljoints. Labor is NOT included. Carli or DynaTrac are the top 2 pics for balljoints.

Lots of good info on this site: http://www.quad4x4.com/dodgeAAM925frontAxle.html

[Pwdrwgn]

Thanks everyone. I'll get back at it starting with the control arms. I've had the truck at two different shops trying to track down the problem without success. The ball joints and bearings were all checked. I was told they were in proper working order. I can't help but believe it's a bushing related problem based on the relationship to ambient temperature. The warmer the temperature the worse the problem is. In freezing temps, the truck feels brand new. I'll keep you posted on my results!

[whitey]

One last thing is I don't crank on nuts and bolts to check them. They get properly torqued then they all get marked regularly so that nuts or bolts backing out can be seen quickly. My bushings do much better when I follow BDS lift torque specs and keep them there.

[flattire]

What is best way to mark nuts/bolts?

[bstefanic]

Paint pen

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[whitey]

Paint pen

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exactly

[Pwdrwgn]

The saga continues. Problem still exists despite replacing the steering box, control arms (Dodge Off Road), sway bar end links (DT Pro Fab) and new tires (305/70R17 Toyo ATII).

[nts007]

Have you checked the Cardon joint on the front drive shaft? I chased a weird vibration and a clunk a few times. Once it was the Cardon joint. Similar feel to what your describing

[Will]

I see you've checked things to make sure they are tight, however, especially the track bar needs to be TIGHT, I'm not sure on a Synergy but a Thuren track bar calls for 210ftlbs of torque. Mine was wandering and acting funny and finally narrowed it down to the frame side of the track bar was loose enough to allow movement. It had backed off to around 140lbs and that was enough for it to move. Might want to get under there and get serious with a pull bar and crank down on the track bar and control arm bolts.

[Pwdrwgn]

I've checked the torq on the track bar multiple times. I even went so far as to upgrade the frame bushing to a Dual Durometer Bushing (DDB) Track Bar Retrofit Kit. As part of the retrofit, I even welded the step down bushing to the frame mount to eliminate any chance of movement. http://www.synergymfg.com/images/D/8529-D7-600.jpg

I haven't looked at the front driveshaft yet. I'll look into that this weekend. Once again thanks for the advice!

[Will]

10-4, sounds like the track bar is locked down. did you check the axle u joints? You say you can feel it turning sharp, turn the wheel all the way with the tire off of the ground and roll it by hand and see if it binds on either side.

[Redman1973]

Pwdrwgn... Maybe the feeling is coming from the extra weight of that STERLING grill you got there.

Have you tried adjusting the air pressure in your tires? I could feel a noticeable deference with my mud grapplers?

Good luck in finding your issue.

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[Retired BLM Rig]

My first thought when I read your original post was the steering column shaft, but I see that you already replaced it with a Borgeson steering shaft.
It might be worth the time to closely double check everything in that area. On my truck, if I lubricate the slip joint in the O.E. shaft (cut the clamp and move the rubber boot to lube), the noise goes away.
Since the steering box is mounted to the frame and the column is mounted to the cab, any movement in the body mounts when you hit a bump could make a noise, if the slip joint is dry and not slipping easily. And since the pedals and column share the same mounting structure, it makes sense that you would feel it in your hands and feet.
You might want to also look around for anything that might be hitting against the firewall or master cylinder and telegraphing into the steering column/pedals.
The change with temperature, that you mention, has me a little baffled though. Keep us posted. Good luck!

[Pwdrwgn]

Found it!

I went back to the steering shaft again and took everything apart. The ends of the set screws on both ends of the steering shaft were shiny indicating they were rubbing at their contact points (even though they were as tight as I could get them). I drilled and tapped both ends of the shaft so the set screw threaded into the contact points. Problem solved!


Thank you to everyone on the board for your suggestions!