Pardon the slightly (I use the truck to carry my car) off topic post.
I have a 92 Dodge W250 Extended Cab, long bed, 4WD automatic (yech), Diesel
truck. Lately it has begun to shake at around 45-50 mph. After that it
smoothes out again but there is a definite shudder (not a shimmy, it's the
whole truck not just the front end) at speeds over 50. The shake can be
very violent and fairly predictable, it happens on acceleration and
deceleration about 90% of the time.
I am fairly certain that it is not an alignment problem. I had the truck
aligned about 6 months ago, it was doing it then but not as badly, and the
alignment didn't fix it (In fact the alignment didn't change except for toe
due to tie rod changes). I had a suggestion that it was a caster problem
and have tried 1deg, 1.5 deg, and 2 deg shims with no improvement.
The front bearings are in excellent shape, one of the spindles appeared heat
checked but it was like that before I replaced the bearings (which looked
like they had been in the truck for the entire 130K miles). I pressed in
new spring bushings about 1.5 years ago. There is 0 play in the steering
knuckle. The 4WD disengages very well.
So I think I have eliminated the front end as the problem. That leaves me
with something out of balance elsewhere. I am thinking maybe a torque
converter problem or possibly a drive shaft problem. Would either of these
cause this kind of behavior. The shake seems to be predominately up and
down but sometimes it has a side to side feel to it. It does it whether I
am going straight or turning, sometimes it goes away if I press the brake
but that could just be because it is slowed down enough to be below the
threshold.
Any suggestions. I've thought about jacking up the rear and running it up
to speed, but all sorts of bad scenarios run through my head when I do that
:-)
Thanks,
Ron (Always happy with a softer PAX) Madurski
FM 124
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