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Help with front driveshaft vibration

11254 Views 16 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  timb320, 
cummins-355
Hi Guys,

I added a rough country 5 inch lift on my 2011 ram 2500 and all summer with 35 inch tire I had no problems but I installed my winter tire that are stock size and I found a driveshaft problems... When the truck is on AWD and He is in accceleration all is perfect but as soon as he run free without power the vibration start and if I open the throttle everything stop... We swapped the driveshaft for a news and nothing change , i added a spacer to shim this one and it's changed nothing .. I adjusted the angle with my adjustable arms to have same angle as stock and the problems is still present.. The only thing it stopped the vibration is when we drove the truck without front driveshaft so my problems sound really from this one .. If you have a solution I'm open to all .. I need to fix this problems ASAP ... Thanks in advance ...

It's really like metal on metal vibration ....
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hyphen79
A few things:

Have you talked with rough country about your issue, or the shop that sold it to you?
Does that kit come with a drive shaft spacer?
When you added a different drive shaft, was it the same length as the one you took off? You were not specific on this.

I had the exact same problem with my 6" BDS long arm kit. I resolved the issue by removing the drive shaft adapter that came with the kit, adding the transfer case indexing ring, and getting a longer drive shaft made. I worked very closely with BDS to resolve my problem. No issues at all now.
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cummins-355
hyphen79 said:
A few things:

Have you talked with rough country about your issue, or the shop that sold it to you?
Does that kit come with a drive shaft spacer?
When you added a different drive shaft, was it the same length as the one you took off? You were not specific on this.

I had the exact same problem with my 6" BDS long arm kit. I resolved the issue by removing the drive shaft adapter that came with the kit, adding the transfer case indexing ring, and getting a longer drive shaft made. I worked very closely with BDS to resolve my problem. No issues at all now.
Click to expand...
No not now and the kit didn't have the spacer but I added one a machine shop built me..we tested with the same driveshaft he had on another ram 2500 2011 ...

So with an indexing ring you think I can fix all problems ? And where you took your longer drive shaft ?
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hyphen79
Indexing your transfer case is a good idea, and will potentially prevent you from having to do repairs later on. There is debate on this topic, but I figured the $350 it cost me for the parts and labor was worth it versus paying hundreds if not thousands later.

For my issue the spacer was the problem. It made the angle at the t-case about 1/2 a degree beyond the tolerance allowed, and at speeds it would cause it to vibrate. The indexing ring helped. The vibration wasn't as bad, but it was still there. This is why I say to get a longer drive shaft and index your transfer case. These two mods helped out my problem. Good luck and let me know how things turn out for you.

I actually caught the noise with my gopro camera tucked up underneath my truck. Click the link to listen.


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cummins-355
hyphen79 said:
Indexing your transfer case is a good idea, and will potentially prevent you from having to do repairs later on. There is debate on this topic, but I figured the $350 it cost me for the parts and labor was worth it versus paying hundreds if not thousands later.

For my issue the spacer was the problem. It made the angle at the t-case about 1/2 a degree beyond the tolerance allowed, and at speeds it would cause it to vibrate. The indexing ring helped. The vibration wasn't as bad, but it was still there. This is why I say to get a longer drive shaft and index your transfer case. These two mods helped out my problem. Good luck and let me know how things turn out for you.

I actually caught the noise with my gopro camera tucked up underneath my truck. Click the link to listen.


2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Front Drive Line Noise - YouTube
Click to expand...
Sound good thanks for all :)

Where I can buy a indexing rings kit and how hard is to install ?
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hyphen79
After thinking about this for a bit. Does your kit provide you with a transfer case drop kit? This was one thing I forgot to mention earlier. On top of everything I did my BDS kit came with a t-case drop kit.

This might fix your problem without having to index your t-case.

Here is the instructions from BDS on the t-case drop kit.
http://bds-suspension.com/instructions/122605-6.pdf

Something to think about. :D
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timb320
I too have installed the RC 5' inch drop bracket lift and noticed a slight vibration/metal noise around 40 to 55 MPH, and as you have proven - suspected that if I were to go from 285x70x17s tires to 35s it wold likely disappear.

So I decided to chat with my local diesel shop and they indicated 90% of vibrations were caused by tires from tier experience. So today I went to the tire place and had my tires re-balanced and rotated, sure enough they said they were out of balance. Now the Noise is nearly gone. But I yet to get above 50 MPH, can still hear a stight vib.

So I did some measurements of my drive line angles, a good explanation of this I found is here: Tom Wood's Custom Drive Shafts - Driveline 101

NOTE: THis is a rought measurement as I did not remove the drive shaft when I used a protractor from Home Depot.

But I have 14 degree slope on my front driveline with roughly 1 degree difference at the u-Joints (14 deg at the t-case joint and 15 at the drive shaft).

Rear shaft has a 10 degree slope with 4/5 degrees difference (Rear u-joint = 11/12 degrees / front u-joint = 7 degrees).

So I think I'm at the upper limit of slope for my front per the url (15 degrees) or twice as much as what the factory recommends which is 7 degrees (Read the explanation at the above URL).

- I read else ware that some difference (2 to 4 degrees) is good to cancel each other out..
- t-case drop probably a bad idea = possibly more issues.
- Index Ring =??? still not sure this will fix it/what this does i.e. re-index the shaft clockwise to ensure its properly balanced???
- If its from the rear shaft then shims are the ticket..

So I still need to do more road testing to a) make sure I still have vib and its from the front. b) decide what I should do about it.

Anyway hope you find this as interesting as I.
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hyphen79
Tim, excellent little write up. We each have our own experience with this stuff. My was very very very frustrating. You mentioned that angles of your drive shafts. This is very important, and played a HUGE factor in my issue. I was out by about 1 degree on my drive shaft coming out of transfer case with the adapter that came with my BDS kit. With indexing the t-case and getting a longer drive shaft made resolved my problem by putting the angle back within spec. :D

Anyways, good write up.
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timb320
hyphen79 said:
Tim, excellent little write up. We each have our own experience with this stuff. My was very very very frustrating. You mentioned that angles of your drive shafts. This is very important, and played a HUGE factor in my issue. I was out by about 1 degree on my drive shaft coming out of transfer case with the adapter that came with my BDS kit. With indexing the t-case and getting a longer drive shaft made resolved my problem by putting the angle back within spec. :D

Anyways, good write up.
Click to expand...
Yeah I suspect the same may be in store for me if its severe enough. I might be able to get away with just re-indexing. Will see.

So $350 included the cost of the new lengthened drive shaft?
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hyphen79
$350 was the cost of reindexing (including parts and labor). I got lucky on the front drive shift. I tend to be a bit wordy, so to make a long story short I got lucky.

The go to drive line place here in Reno had a client who needed the exact shame drive shaft as my stocker (my truck only had 4,000 miles on it). So they made me a deal. Traded mine for a custom made one, and I had to buy the guys at the shop lunch (lunch only cost me $27). It was really a wash for them, but they have a customer for life. I send all my wheeling buddies to them, and I even stop in from time to time to say hi. :D
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luckily it wasnt a grand to fix
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timb320
Well folks, Called a local reputable drive line shop, he dam near fell out of his chair when I mentioned some folks are dialing the front shaft with index rings fyi.. He saihs that will at most give you an extra 1/2 inch.

For a 5 inch lift he estimates you need an extra 2 to 3 or 4 inches in the shaft of play in the event you end up a full drop at the front axle..

Needless to say have and apt with him in the AM to have my front drive shaft lengthened.

its looking like it should be around $435 total cost ($255 for lengthening + $90 per Hour x 2 [at most]). That includes them jacking it up and putting the front axle at full drop for measurements to determine required length extension.

He also said the longer the shaft the less angle generally speaking.

I trust this guy - He has really good reviews on yelp and is very knowledgeable / is a one man shop apparently.

In summary:
- index ring = NO GO!
- T-case drop = obviously a NO GO/not needed!
- Drive shaft lengthening = Is the right way to go by a reputable shop!
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DMan1198
I know some guys who upgraded their u-joints and shortened their rear driveshafts so they could use them as a front driveshaft. Also know someone who replaced the cv at the t-case with u-joint and just had that
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hyphen79
timb320 said:
Well folks, Called a local reputable drive line shop, he dam near fell out of his chair when I mentioned some folks are dialing the front shaft with index rings fyi.. He saihs that will at most give you an extra 1/2 inch.

For a 5 inch lift he estimates you need an extra 2 to 3 or 4 inches in the shaft of play in the event you end up a full drop at the front axle..

Needless to say have and apt with him in the AM to have my front drive shaft lengthened.

its looking like it should be around $435 total cost ($255 for lengthening + $90 per Hour x 2 [at most]). That includes them jacking it up and putting the front axle at full drop for measurements to determine required length extension.

He also said the longer the shaft the less angle generally speaking.

I trust this guy - He has really good reviews on yelp and is very knowledgeable / is a one man shop apparently.

In summary:
- index ring = NO GO!
- T-case drop = obviously a NO GO/not needed!
- Drive shaft lengthening = Is the right way to go by a reputable shop!
Click to expand...
Well, there you go! :)
I only mentioned the indexing ring, because it was apart of my trouble shooting process. It was also recommended from BDS that we index before trying the longer drive shaft.

FYI - Having a good driveline guy is never a bad thing. :D
Let us know how things turn out.
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timb320
I had my driveshaft (front) lengthened 1 1/4 or so inches yesterday, and front cardian U-joint lubed for $408. he said at most u should lube the cardian joint twice a year, not every 4k like the manual saihs. Now I have more play in the event I end up and full drop/no worries about the shaft coming apart and such. :)

I still have a metal sound but I winder if its my front break pads now. So need to drive it more and see. Anyway it was interesting to see him redo the saft from start to finish.
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hurleysurf2188
is it making a grinding sound or vibration? did you double check your TRE's and all front end components making sure nothing is loose?
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timb320
Its more like a grinding sound very faint. I check front end components often so I know TREs and such are OK.

When I jacked up the drivers side tire and spun it to test for u-joint binding (which where was none). I could hear the disk brake making a similar sound and notices it has slight pitting/scratching line dirt and small sand like particles got caught between the brake pad and the disk. Hence I I'm hoping that was it. Maintenance managers seemed to concur and said it would wear smooth over time once the particles are worn through (when I mentioned it).

SO will see. So far so good on the extended drive shaft otherwise.
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