[Groundhawg]

1987 Dodge Ram 4x4, 318/727/208, 44/9.25"
Alright when I slow down, say 10mph, my front end vibrates pretty bad. It does it with or without the brakes on. The fenders and dash rattle. I've greased all u-joints and steering. New rotors and pads. Checked all ball joints(new on one side), bearings(new), tie rod ends(new)
Would worn out gear oil do this?
Thanks in advance

 

[i1lusion]

motor mounts possibly

 

[K.C.]

Worn out oil, wouldn't cause the problem, unless the worn out oil caused something machanical to wear out.Does it make a difference if you slip the trans into neutral when the vibration is happening? Does the vibration change if you increase tire pressure to the max or switch wheels front to back ( maybe a tire) ? Does the steering wheel vibrate up and down?? or turn ( shimmy ) back and forth? I'm assuming that it happens in 2WD. Are you sure the problem is coming from the front? If the vibration goes away or really decreases when you slip the trans into neutral, then you could take the rear driveshaft out.... take it for a spin in 4WD and see if it makes a difference. If it does, it could be the slip joint, universal, or flange.... although these types of problems usually show up at a higher speed. I'm assuming that when you had the wheels off to replace the pads, you removed any crud built up inside the rims. Try and give some more description of the problem . Does it only happen as you slow down etc. etc.

 

[Dodge 85 RC]

are your tires balanced?

 

[Groundhawg]

Only when I slow to about 5-10mph.
I recently took one tire off the front pass. side and switched it to the rear because it had weights on the rim and they were hitting the caliper. Yes I cleaned rim and brakes good. I'll try the neutral thing and get back on here. I've got a "brute force" u-joint in the front. It's supposed to be greased for lifetime. Could it be that.

 

[Evildriver-3]

Sounds like a problem with balancing but 5 mph and a vicious vib like you are explaining sounds like it should be able to be seen, have someone stand outside and watch you slow down tell them to watch the front end and tires when you are slowing in between a determined point, your shocks would have to be bad also for this to happen

 

[Groundhawg]

Brand spankin' new shocks too. Skyjacker Hydro7000's front and rear. Checked and it still does it in neutral. I think the problem may lay in the tire balancing somewhere. I think I might take it somewhere to have em' checked.

 

[Groundhawg]

Got my tires balanced today and it still vibrates. It does it in rhythym with the wheels.

 

[GroundHawger]

maybe your front driveshaft is out of balance. ive had that problem before on an 85r/c. After i got it rebalanced, there was no vibration. Take your front shaft out and see if that helps.

 

[Dodge 85 RC]

I was just going to say that. Or they could be out of phase. Eventhough if that was the case it would probably be a greater range of vibs, but anyways, just try rotaing your drive shafts 180 degrees. If they are out of phase, that will do it.

 

[78machowgn4me]

i had the same problem and it was fixed after i got the driveshafts balanced. also take a look at the wheels themselves, if you do any hard wheelin, maybe one of them has gotten bent, or even worse your front axle.

 

[phoenix827]

Also check the inside of your wheels. If you got a clump of mud in there, that will throw off the balance big time.