1996 Dogde Ram Shaking like a mother %&$@

ok
I have a 1996 Dodge ram 1500 4x4.
I start driving get to about 50mph or so the truck shifts and go to about 1500rpm then it starts shaking. Really bad!!!!!!
I have checked all the wheels the bearrings everything....
I put in a new tranny 14000 miles ago.
the shaking is so bad I think the truck is going to fall apart..
any ideas??
Could it be the tranny AGAIN!!!!!!!!

have you checked all of your engine mounts and transmission mounts? If not that make sure your driveshaft isn't causing problems. And possibly check your U-joints. I know you said you check wheel bearing and everything. Not sure what all everything is.

did you check the track bar?
have someone turn the steering wheel, wile you watch everything up front for play.
you said that you checked the wheel bearings, did you also check the ball joints?
and as mentioned above, check all the u-joints in the drive shafts (front and rear) and it might be a good idea to check the shafts as well to see if maybe they have lost a balancing weight, or are bent.

Crazy's right, and I wouldn't rule out the trans or torque converter either.

What kind of shaking? Does it just do it going into 4th, or at any other speeds?

Its happens when I'm going about 50 mph @ 1800rpm in 4th gear and some times 3rd. the shaking feel's like a Wheel is falling off. I can make it stop by giving it gas or letting off on the gas. Turning off the O/D turns it off too...(sometimes)


I have checked the engine mounts and transmission mounts they are fine.

And I'll take a look at the joints in the drive shafts (front and rear).

if i can't find it I will take it in the a shop Pay them $70.00 to tell me what the problem is.
I would rather spend the money. then mess around on it too long.

I have An idea that its the torque converter.

I will post more when I find out

I wouldn't rule out the torque converter just yet, but it would appear that your U-joints are bad, since it's speed related. Basically w/o getting into transmissions 101, you have 4 gears w/ seperate ratios: 1st gear-2.74:1, 2nd gear-1.57:1, 3rd gear-1:1, 4th gear-0.69:1. What happens is that at low speeds when the transmission is still shifting, you won't feel the vibration as much because in first and second gear, the speed of the output shaft is slower then the speed of the engine/input shaft. So if you at 1800 in 4th gear, your output shaft is turning at around 2500 RPM and at those speeds, it could cause a vibration, happened to me on my dad's 88 Jeep when his U-joints went bad, when I shifted from 4th to 5th, it would shake like a beast. The only way that I know of that a torque converter would cause that much of a rattle is if it's about to disengage from the hub, other than that the internal component of it, other than TCC shudder during lock-up, theoretically shouldn't give you the type of vibration that you are describing.

You might want to check the lower control arm.
I had a similar problem on my 67 Chevy Pickup, and one of the U-Bolts that holds the Lower ontrol Arm had broken.
The mechanic said God was watching over me, cause if that thing would have letloose it would have pitched the Front of the Truck and fliped it over!

Roger
Owner of a 1996 Dodge Indy Ram

__________________________________________________ ____

Its happens when I'm going about 50 mph @ 1800rpm in 4th gear and some times 3rd. the shaking feel's like a Wheel is falling off. I can make it stop by giving it gas or letting off on the gas. Turning off the O/D turns it off too...(sometimes)


I have checked the engine mounts and transmission mounts they are fine.

And I'll take a look at the joints in the drive shafts (front and rear).

if i can't find it I will take it in the a shop Pay them $70.00 to tell me what the problem is.
I would rather spend the money. then mess around on it too long.

I have An idea that its the torque converter.

I will post more when I find out

sounds like a torque converter.if your on the gas and shaking is gone their is more force applied to tc clutch.When you take it out of overdrive
the rpms are higher again supplying more force to tc clutch.

Well I took it down today to see what the hell was going on....

Turns out When the shaking happens my truck is missing on 5 of the 8 Cylinders
And he thinks its the injectors...and a tune up They tell me $1800.00 and they will have it running like a new truck.. YEAH RIGHT!
I'll just do the work myself and save $1000.00 ..
I checked the u joins and they are fine.
Thanks guys
I'll keep you posted

PS
I hate it when Someone asks a question and never writes back with the fix.

That is good that you have figured it out. I would not have thought about the injectors causing a misfire. Hope you get it running like new again soon. Good luck. Oh and I am wodnering the PS comment you wrote about people not replying.....Did you put that because we replied this time or am I just confused? I get annoyed also when Iw ant something fixed I like people to help me. I am gonna try to do as much as I can and have numerous forums I subscribe to that will help me answer questions for ya and I will cross reference when I find fixes.

5/8 would make it pretty rough! Let's hope simple tune up does the trick.

It is better when people come back with their solutions; too many take the advice and you never hear from them again.

I have repaired this type of problem often you must make sure your basic cap-rotor-wires-plugs are good as i'm sure you know then retrieve a fuel sample from fuel line at fuel rail. Jump fuel pump relay and direct fuel from disconected line at rail to a clean clear jar or container and check to make sure fuel is clean and if injectors are at fault you have to remove complete fuel rail and clean rail and blow out as good as possible then remove seals on injectors and soak injectors in some carbon cleaning solvent i normally use mopar combustion cleaner p/n 4318001 or combustion chamber conditioner p/n vu000788 they are both the same and only availlable from dealer and after soaking for approx 20 minutes blow out injectors and pay particular attention to inlets & outlets. Make sure your "o" rings are in good shape and lube "o" rings with white lithium grease when reasembling. Just another tip if you have a little rust or corrosion on fuel rail injector cavity where inlet injector "o" ring seals just use a small plumbers round tip steel brush
you can buy at hardware store in plumbers department you can get different sizes 1/2 3/4 and so on. Sounds like a big job but it isn't too bad at all. It's too bad you arent local i have all solvents and ''o" rings by the hundreds like i said i have done this often GOOD LUCK !!

Well I took it down today to see what the hell was going on....

Turns out When the shaking happens my truck is missing on 5 of the 8 Cylinders
And he thinks its the injectors...and a tune up They tell me $1800.00 and they will have it running like a new truck.. YEAH RIGHT!
I'll just do the work myself and save $1000.00 ..
I checked the u joins and they are fine.
Thanks guys
I'll keep you posted

PS
I hate it when Someone asks a question and never writes back with the fix.

No I was just saying other people that ask for help. then never write back to say if that helped.

guess what you drive a dodge thats why it shake dip shit. IF YOU CAN'T DODGE IT!
TOW IT!

:banhim:



Oh, someone already did. :biggrin:

Well boys its fixed....
I changed out the plugs, wires, cap and roter.
Its running great.. Easy fix huh? Yeah after $600.00 of new stuff I added.
Thank you for all the help. I'll be passing that help on. To other people that I may help...
Thanks again
-Brian

Glad to hear it; plugs cap & rotor every 30k makes a huge difference....

Well boys its fixed....
I changed out the plugs, wires, cap and roter.
Its running great.. Easy fix huh? Yeah after $600.00 of new stuff I added.
Thank you for all the help. I'll be passing that help on. To other people that I may help...
Thanks again
-Brian

I Had your same problem happen to me when I had a 1994 ram 1500. It cost me a bit more to fix the problem because of trial and error. I fixed the problem first by changing the fuel injectors and the fuel filter that was located inside my gas tank. After about 1 month the shaking started happening again so I again changed the injectors. Another month went by and the shaking started again. This time I changed the injectors and the fuel lines. After removing the fuel lines I saw that they were terribly clogged, I assume from the bad fuel filter that I had previously changed.

So, my suggestion is to watch for the problem to happen again do what I did or go ahead and change the fuel lines and fuel filter first(if you haven't already done so). On my truck the service manual said to change the fuel filter at 100,000 miles but it went bad at 90,000.

Let us know how this all works out.

Thanks for the reply, but I sold the Ram 2 months ago.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +

I Had your same problem happen to me when I had a 1994 ram 1500. It cost me a bit more to fix the problem because of trial and error. I fixed the problem first by changing the fuel injectors and the fuel filter that was located inside my gas tank. After about 1 month the shaking started happening again so I again changed the injectors. Another month went by and the shaking started again. This time I changed the injectors and the fuel lines. After removing the fuel lines I saw that they were terribly clogged, I assume from the bad fuel filter that I had previously changed.

So, my suggestion is to watch for the problem to happen again do what I did or go ahead and change the fuel lines and fuel filter first(if you haven't already done so). On my truck the service manual said to change the fuel filter at 100,000 miles but it went bad at 90,000.

Let us know how this all works out.

Well I took it down today to see what the hell was going on....

Turns out When the shaking happens my truck is missing on 5 of the 8 Cylinders
And he thinks its the injectors...and a tune up They tell me $1800.00 and they will have it running like a new truck.. YEAH RIGHT!
I'll just do the work myself and save $1000.00 ..
I checked the u joins and they are fine.
Thanks guys
I'll keep you posted

PS
I hate it when Someone asks a question and never writes back with the fix.


I have had the same problem with my 1999 Ram 1500 with 318. Does your Check engine light come on intermittently? How about long starts? Mine was diagnosed with a multiple miss fire on the #8 cylinder. I have been chasing this problem for months now and $2000.00 later, it is still not fixed. Mine also around 45 to 50 mphs starts to shake badly. Giving it gas or kicking off the OD seems to help. What I have done to date:

OEM cap. rotor, wires, plugs, cam shaft sensor, crankshaft sensor, coil, Dealer R&R'd the intake manifold gasket and thermestat, R&R'd #4 and #8 fuel injectors, dealer cleaned injector system. Fuel pressures were checked at shop and were good running also held when shut off. I hope they find your problem soon as mine. I feel your pain. I will continue to post future maintenance as a have it done for your info.

My 1999 ram 1500 is doing the same exact thing. only problem is i have no money to fix. ( poor college student). What do you think is the best way to fix?