Ram 2500 rough ride question

[BeerBrewer]

I own a 2018 RAM 2500 CTD and I have a question about the rough ride. I've had quite a few 1/2 ton trucks but this is my first 2500. When I first purchased the truck I noticed a shimmy when driving on the highway (I wasn't towing at the time) so I took the truck back the dealer to have the tires re-balanced. That seemed to help some, but the truck still seems like something is off. If I'm on a smooth black top road, it rides fine until I hit a bump. Then it feels like the truck feels like the bed of truck skips or bounces more than it should. This happens when the bed empty or with few hundred lbs of **** in it. Almost like the tires are momentarily out of balance. I don't know if its because the tires are still slightly out of balance or if this is just normal for a 2500. I read about Centramatic Wheel Balancers and I was wondering if they might help. Tire Balancers, Tire Balancing, Wheel Balancer and Wheel Balancing from Centramatic

A couple weeks ago I loaded up the truck with tools (table saw, chop/miter saw, compressor, nail guns, wood, etc.) and headed up to my sons place (1 hour away) to do some repairs. When I got there my Rolair compressor, one of my nail guns and my Dewalt miter saw didn't work properly or at all. Luckily I was able to get everything working again by just taking them apart and readjusting everything. The vibrations caused the tools tools to go out of wack. That never happened with my other trucks and I've taken them as far as northern Maine (8-9 hrs drive) so I suspect that I have some sort of a vibration issue and I'm not sure why. The truck has Firestone Transforce AT tires on it that are inflated to 65 lbs in the front and 80 lbs in the rear. I guess they could be the issue, I just don't know.

Does anyone have any experience with Centramatic Balancers or know if the skipping I'm feeling is normal?

[FishOnOne]

Grit dog wrote:
mt, are the airbags outboard of the coils?
Or inside the coils?
There's the factory location where the OE coils OR airbags go (same location) and aftermarket bags can be mounted outboard of the coils.

I've honestly never seen one with both and don't believe it exists from the factory. But icbw.

Moose said you can go to dodges website and go to the build and price section. LOL Maybe the minivan has both coils and bags.

I tried the bail the guy out but he just dug himself into a deeper hole.

[Grit_dog]

mt, are the airbags outboard of the coils?
Or inside the coils?
There's the factory location where the OE coils OR airbags go (same location) and aftermarket bags can be mounted outboard of the coils.

I've honestly never seen one with both and don't believe it exists from the factory. But icbw.

[larry_barnhart]

I rode in a brand new Ramm 5500 flat bed today. Very quiet and smooth running engine and of course very stiff as it needs to be for his tractor and trailer work. chevman

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:

mt1729 wrote:

mt1729 wrote:

ib516 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
^ I'm familiar with the trucks and could be wrong, but let's see a pic of your OE Ram 2500 with factory bags AND coils. Perty sure they don't appear in the same pic chief.

He's 100% wrong. It's coils OR bags, not both. The 3500 has leaf springs and bags because the leaf springs locate the axle. The 2500 has a link set up, so it uses only one or the other.

I guess you can believe it or not. I won't post pictures cause I can't. If you really want to have the truth proven to you, you have two choices. Go to dodge's price and build website and look at the options or call a dealer. Someone already posted a link of a dodge website that shows a picture of the frame with both rear coils & bags. Of course dodge could be wrong about what they build, right? I know what's under my pickup. Rear coils and airbags both. Is it really that hard to admit that you were wrong and spoke up without knowing what you were talking about? I guess I should just give up. Facts are very easy to find if you take the time to look. I love my 2019 dodge with "coils & bags". Sure rides nice.

I'll tell you what, My wife said she can email pictures from her Iphone. If someone maybe a moderator will send me their email address to mt1729@hotmail.com and are willing to post some pictures, I Will take more pictures then you'd ever want to see. I'll back my pickup onto my ramps and start snapping pictures of the underside as well as the outer side. I may not get to it until sunday but I'm willing if someone else is willing. Moderator?

Just use https://postimages.org/. It is free.

1. Sign up
2. Upload your photo
3. Copy direct link to photo
4. Select the "image" icon when making a post
5. Paste link of photo in the pop up menu and adjust size( I recommend 550H by 550W if it is square)

Moose,
Make it happen.... Looking forward to those pics.

Here's a preview from Ram's website.

[ShinerBock]

mt1729 wrote:

mt1729 wrote:

ib516 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
^ I'm familiar with the trucks and could be wrong, but let's see a pic of your OE Ram 2500 with factory bags AND coils. Perty sure they don't appear in the same pic chief.

He's 100% wrong. It's coils OR bags, not both. The 3500 has leaf springs and bags because the leaf springs locate the axle. The 2500 has a link set up, so it uses only one or the other.

I guess you can believe it or not. I won't post pictures cause I can't. If you really want to have the truth proven to you, you have two choices. Go to dodge's price and build website and look at the options or call a dealer. Someone already posted a link of a dodge website that shows a picture of the frame with both rear coils & bags. Of course dodge could be wrong about what they build, right? I know what's under my pickup. Rear coils and airbags both. Is it really that hard to admit that you were wrong and spoke up without knowing what you were talking about? I guess I should just give up. Facts are very easy to find if you take the time to look. I love my 2019 dodge with "coils & bags". Sure rides nice.

I'll tell you what, My wife said she can email pictures from her Iphone. If someone maybe a moderator will send me their email address to mt1729@hotmail.com and are willing to post some pictures, I Will take more pictures then you'd ever want to see. I'll back my pickup onto my ramps and start snapping pictures of the underside as well as the outer side. I may not get to it until sunday but I'm willing if someone else is willing. Moderator?

Just use https://postimages.org/. It is free.

1. Sign up
2. Upload your photo
3. Copy direct link to photo
4. Select the "image" icon when making a post
5. Paste link of photo in the pop up menu and adjust size( I recommend 550H by 550W if it is square)

[mt1729]

mt1729 wrote:

ib516 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
^ I'm familiar with the trucks and could be wrong, but let's see a pic of your OE Ram 2500 with factory bags AND coils. Perty sure they don't appear in the same pic chief.

He's 100% wrong. It's coils OR bags, not both. The 3500 has leaf springs and bags because the leaf springs locate the axle. The 2500 has a link set up, so it uses only one or the other.

I guess you can believe it or not. I won't post pictures cause I can't. If you really want to have the truth proven to you, you have two choices. Go to dodge's price and build website and look at the options or call a dealer. Someone already posted a link of a dodge website that shows a picture of the frame with both rear coils & bags. Of course dodge could be wrong about what they build, right? I know what's under my pickup. Rear coils and airbags both. Is it really that hard to admit that you were wrong and spoke up without knowing what you were talking about? I guess I should just give up. Facts are very easy to find if you take the time to look. I love my 2019 dodge with "coils & bags". Sure rides nice.

I'll tell you what, My wife said she can email pictures from her Iphone. If someone maybe a moderator will send me their email address to mt1729@hotmail.com and are willing to post some pictures, I Will take more pictures then you'd ever want to see. I'll back my pickup onto my ramps and start snapping pictures of the underside as well as the outer side. I may not get to it until sunday but I'm willing if someone else is willing. Moderator?

[mt1729]

ib516 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
^ I'm familiar with the trucks and could be wrong, but let's see a pic of your OE Ram 2500 with factory bags AND coils. Perty sure they don't appear in the same pic chief.

He's 100% wrong. It's coils OR bags, not both. The 3500 has leaf springs and bags because the leaf springs locate the axle. The 2500 has a link set up, so it uses only one or the other.

I guess you can believe it or not. I won't post pictures cause I can't. If you really want to have the truth proven to you, you have two choices. Go to dodge's price and build website and look at the options or call a dealer. Someone already posted a link of a dodge website that shows a picture of the frame with both rear coils & bags. Of course dodge could be wrong about what they build, right? I know what's under my pickup. Rear coils and airbags both. Is it really that hard to admit that you were wrong and spoke up without knowing what you were talking about? I guess I should just give up. Facts are very easy to find if you take the time to look. I love my 2019 dodge with "coils & bags". Sure rides nice.

[Grit_dog]

Or, maybe beerbrewer isn't glued to rvnet. Maybe on summer vacation or doing something more productive than the rest of us right now.
He's not the guy that doesn't post back up. He!!, I think he had about 500 posts just deciding on which truck to buy! Lol
Seems like a cool dude too!

[Cummins12V98]

Personally I am a fan of those that post what they just bought and then ask about issues instead of asking FIRST!

[Me_Again]

Don't you just love it when the OP never comes back? Two posts. The Original question and a second post saying that he was going to 65 in the rear, which is still to high to improve ride. Chris

[Grit_dog]

So did you lower your tire pressures Beerbrewer?

[rvshrinker]

There are two distinct possibilities. Do you have the vibration aka death wobble? It appears at highway speeds. That is a manufacturing defect in some of these vehicles, thankfully not mine. Read hundreds of posts at various RAM forums. People have found different solutions. Or do you have a rough ride of some kind? That might be reality vs expectations, something you can fix looking at PSI, tires, shocks, air, etc.

My 3500 is smooth as glass on a good surface but I feel every jostle on a bumpy road. It's what I expect with leaf springs and 4000 pound payload capacity. It's a super comfortable cruiser but I take it slow on dirt roads or pothole lane. Everything improves when under load.

[Grit_dog]

FishOnOne wrote:

I'm going to get him off the hook by saying he probably meant coils on the front and bags on the rear

Nice gesture! But his original post said a Ram 2500 with rear coils and air leveling system.
It’s all good.

[BenK]

Laws if physics...


Leaf springs don't move (bend) as much as coils through their spring/load curve. Varied spring rate is through a combo of leaf thickness/length/width/taper/numbers in the stack/etc

Straight torsion bars don't twist as much as coils through their spring/load curve. They can be tapered, bit that greatly increases their cost...and...at such a short length, a potential stress raiser(s) at the rolled transition (s)

Coils are just torsion bars wound into a coil and twist much more than straight torsion bars


Add in varied pitch on those coils and you have variable spring rates per distance compressed

Locomotives have suspenion coil springs abd an average locomotive engine weighs in aroind 500,000 lbs

Automotive coil springs can be designed to have very soft rates in the initial compression travel...to the have very high rates as the compression continues...but...coil spring can NOT locate the live axle like a leaf setup can...so hard links are the norm...and they can reduce the rude quality

IMHO...these are trucks...unless towing with a CUV or Car...still ride quality isn't on my have to have list and is towards the bottom of my nice to have list