What's new
By:
Ram Heavy Duty Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Bumpy Ride cruising at 20-30

koniczech

koniczech

New Member
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Points
1
Hey all,
I've been scouting out Ram trucks for a while now and am aiming to buy a 3/4 ton soon for a flatbed camper setup. A few months ago, I drove a 3500 dually for about a week for work and enjoyed the feel of the truck. Yesterday, I test drove a 2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman Crew Long Box SRW Gas with Off Road package that was certified pre-owned and noticed that the truck felt like it was going over a very mild washboard when rolling at 20-30mph on smooth roads in town. I was driving 2WD at the time, and have never experienced that overall vibration feeling before in a pickup at this speed... on smooth roads nonetheless.
When I took the truck back to the dealer, he told me that the truck's vibration is totally normal because of the coil springs (and the off road upgraded suspension should actually prevent some of that vibration,) but otherwise "all Ram pickups feel like that because of the springs and vibration of the engine"
For all of you on the forum... am I crazy to think that this truck shouldn't feel bumpy at this speed? Think of that feeling when you drive over thick road stripes; very minor but noticeable if you're feeling it consistently for a while.
Love the truck but can't get over the feeling that "all Ram pickups" will vibrate like that.
thx
 
koniczech said:
Hey all,
I've been scouting out Ram trucks for a while now and am aiming to buy a 3/4 ton soon for a flatbed camper setup. A few months ago, I drove a 3500 dually for about a week for work and enjoyed the feel of the truck. Yesterday, I test drove a 2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman Crew Long Box SRW Gas with Off Road package that was certified pre-owned and noticed that the truck felt like it was going over a very mild washboard when rolling at 20-30mph on smooth roads in town. I was driving 2WD at the time, and have never experienced that overall vibration feeling before in a pickup at this speed... on smooth roads nonetheless.
When I took the truck back to the dealer, he told me that the truck's vibration is totally normal because of the coil springs (and the off road upgraded suspension should actually prevent some of that vibration,) but otherwise "all Ram pickups feel like that because of the springs and vibration of the engine"
For all of you on the forum... am I crazy to think that this truck shouldn't feel bumpy at this speed? Think of that feeling when you drive over thick road stripes; very minor but noticeable if you're feeling it consistently for a while.
Love the truck but can't get over the feeling that "all Ram pickups" will vibrate like that.
thx
Click to expand...
Dealer is full of it, my 19 2500 with the offroad pkg does not do that…. Sounds like Garbage tires to me
 
koniczech said:
Hey all,
I've been scouting out Ram trucks for a while now and am aiming to buy a 3/4 ton soon for a flatbed camper setup. A few months ago, I drove a 3500 dually for about a week for work and enjoyed the feel of the truck. Yesterday, I test drove a 2020 Ram 2500 Tradesman Crew Long Box SRW Gas with Off Road package that was certified pre-owned and noticed that the truck felt like it was going over a very mild washboard when rolling at 20-30mph on smooth roads in town. I was driving 2WD at the time, and have never experienced that overall vibration feeling before in a pickup at this speed... on smooth roads nonetheless.
When I took the truck back to the dealer, he told me that the truck's vibration is totally normal because of the coil springs (and the off road upgraded suspension should actually prevent some of that vibration,) but otherwise "all Ram pickups feel like that because of the springs and vibration of the engine"
For all of you on the forum... am I crazy to think that this truck shouldn't feel bumpy at this speed? Think of that feeling when you drive over thick road stripes; very minor but noticeable if you're feeling it consistently for a while.
Love the truck but can't get over the feeling that "all Ram pickups" will vibrate like that.
thx
Click to expand...

Tires are no doubt aired up to 90+ psi, dealerships do that to mine every time they touch the truck..feels like it is on the steel skateboard wheels of old.
 
Poolmonkey said:
Tires are no doubt aired up to 90+ psi, dealerships do that to mine every time they touch the truck..feels like it is on the steel skateboard wheels of old.
Click to expand...
Is over-aired tires something that would cause this "ripple ride" feeling (as we've started calling it)? I'm surprised the off-road pkg didn't compensate for this feeling, but maybe it's like too quick of a vibration pattern?
 
koniczech said:
Is over-aired tires something that would cause this "ripple ride" feeling (as we've started calling it)? I'm surprised the off-road pkg didn't compensate for this feeling, but maybe it's like too quick of a vibration pattern?
Click to expand...

Not sure if that trucks issue is related of course, just that my truck’s ride is pretty awful when the tpms isn’t lit.
 
koniczech said:
Is over-aired tires something that would cause this "ripple ride" feeling (as we've started calling it)? I'm surprised the off-road pkg didn't compensate for this feeling, but maybe it's like too quick of a vibration pattern?
Click to expand...
Go for another test ride, but air the tires down to around 50 psi. Take a gauge with you. If the dealer won't let you , try another dealer.
 
Not right.
Tire pressure. Tire balance. Suspension modified.

My '21 Power wagon doesn't do it. Loaded or not.

And I'm not sure there is a difference in suspension between a stock 2500 and the off road package. Only on the Power Wagon.

OK, looked it up, it has the Bilstein shocks. Probably similar to the ones on the Power Wagon. Power Wagon does have different springs though than the stock 2500.
 
FYI @OLEJOE ... Not sure about all the other incidentals, but here is another CC LB with a bit of ride discomfort like you were dealing with. OP isn't an owner tho, just a test driver.
 
Not sure if this is what you experienced, but the tuning on the 8 speed can make it a bit bucky/lurchy at low speed when the trans isn't up to temp yet.
 
762fmj said:
Not sure if this is what you experienced, but the tuning on the 8 speed can make it a bit bucky/lurchy at low speed when the trans isn't up to temp yet.
Click to expand...
Hit the T/H button then and go for another test ride?
I may be wrong but I don't think the "washboard" type of vibrations have anything to do with tire pressure.

OP you could always try another truck (at another dealer) to compare, but if something feels wrong I'd just walk away.
 
My 18 Ram 2500 was a CPO truck also. The dealer had put new tires on it as part of the CPO process, even though the truck only had 14K on it. New tires (westlake E rated) were junk. Gone in 7K miles. So you might want to take a look at the tires. If they put some crap tires on it, you could be feeling a separated belt, etc. My 18 was a Cummins truck with the factory air suspension. Smoooooooth riding truck.
 
Thanks all for your feedback. I'm probably going to try another 2.5k at another dealer to make sure it was just that other truck. I don't have full faith in the dealer who told me that it is supposed to feel like those vibrations happen at low speeds.
 
Good idea not to trust the sales folks on that one. Could be the reason it was sold by it's previous owner.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top