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Transmission Recalibration Needed for Larger Tires

RAMNC76

RAMNC76

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Need some help guys!!

My truck is a 2019 2500 Night Edition. Had the black 20" wheels with 285/60/20 tires. Went to Nitto Ridge Grappler 35x12.5x20 on Hostile 20x10's and a 2" leveling kit. The problem I am having is that when I am just cruising, the rides is terrible! Let me explain. If I drive into town and I am cruising along, it's as if I am driving over rumble strips!! When I am accelerating, it is smooth. Same as this weekend. First trip pulling camper with new set up. No matter what the speed I was running, 50,60,70, truck was like it was vibrating. I f I have to accelerate and the truck downshifts or is in a good pull, it smooths out. Speedo reads maybe 1 mph off due to larger tires. So what is you guys take on my issue. I love the way my truck sits and looks now, but man the ride is making me want to return to stock. Does the trans need to be calibrated to match larger tires? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
 
First suggestion would be to reprogram the tire size. AlfaOBD, Tazer, ProCal, etc... are all options to do so.

Second would be to check your air pressure - if the tech's overinflated the new tires, they'll really hurt.

Beyond that - I assume you got an alignment after the leveling kit. Did you have them use the Thuren specs? If not, I'd suggest looking into that.
 
LateToTheParty said:
First suggestion would be to reprogram the tire size. AlfaOBD, Tazer, ProCal, etc... are all options to do so.

Second would be to check your air pressure - if the tech's overinflated the new tires, they'll really hurt.

Beyond that - I assume you got an alignment after the leveling kit. Did you have them use the Thuren specs? If not, I'd suggest looking into that.
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Thanks for the reply.

I am currently running 60-65psi in the tires. Truck only gets driven about once a week. An alignment was done after the swap. Not sure what specs were used. Out of the programmers that you mentioned, which is the most user friendly and easiest to use?
 
I'm a fan of AlfaOBD. I've been using it for the last 6 years across multiple vehicles and like all of the extra options that I can manipulate.

But I've not seen complaints about any of the options, so I think a lot of it comes down to anything else you may want to update.

I'm sure others running 35s will chime in, but 60 PSI seems high to me.
 
RAMNC76 said:
Thanks for the reply.

I am currently running 60-65psi in the tires. Truck only gets driven about once a week. An alignment was done after the swap. Not sure what specs were used. Out of the programmers that you mentioned, which is the most user friendly and easiest to use?
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Humm... driven once a week? I bet your tires are flat spotting. That gives ugly vibrations.

Try inflating to max tire pressure (80psi on those tires?), drive a few miles to get it back to roundness and see if it changes anything regarding vibration. If it does, then your tires are just flat spotting.
They will return to roundness if you increase pressure, or drive for a while (which builds up heat and therefore pressure).
 
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MikeXM said:
Humm... driven once a week? I bet your tires are flat spotting.

Try inflating to max tire pressure (80psi on those tires?) and see if it changes anything regarding vibration. If it does, then your tires are just flat spotting.
They will return to roundness if you increase pressure, or drive for a while (which builds up heat and therefore pressure).
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I thought the same think, BUT, took a trip this weekend pulling the camper. Pulled a total of around 300 miles. Was the same when we came home as when we left. Like I said, when I get on the throttle, it is smooth as butter. Just rough when cruising.
 
I thought all those programmers did was recalibrate the speedometer... it isn't going to change anything for the transmission...especially if your speedometer is only off by 1 mph.
 
Something definitely not right. You shouldn't need a trans flash after 35's. Did they remove the drive shaft by chance during the lift install and re-install it out of balance?
 
gimmie11s said:
Something definitely not right. You shouldn't need a trans flash after 35's. Did they remove the drive shaft by chance during the lift install and re-install it out of balance?
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Wasn't a full lift install. Just a leveling kit on the front.
 
gimmie11s said:
I get it, but it's worth asking them. Ive seen dumber moves.
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Oh, I have too. But it was a family member that did the install. And he's done a few. So pretty confident the install of the level kit was done correctly.
 
Ah ha... makes sense then. 10/4, check that one off the list lol
 
Did the tires shop remove the star washers when they installed your aftermarket wheels? I had that happen years ago and it caused a similar problem. Accelerating everything was fine - let off and coast it would vibrate. The lug nuts on the driver's rear wheel were loosening because the star washers were left on there.
 
Brewbud said:
Did the tires shop remove the star washers when they installed your aftermarket wheels? I had that happen years ago and it caused a similar problem. Accelerating everything was fine - let off and coast it would vibrate. The lug nuts on the driver's rear wheel were loosening because the star washers were left on there.
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Not sure. Something to check!! Thanks
 
I can second the hub centric rings suggestion , mine did the same thing before I added the rings after my fuel wheels install.
 
Check your torque procedure on your lug nuts. I have a similar setup and rides smooth as silk. Procedure I used is below which should work similar to hub centric rings.

1. Hand tightened all lugs
2. Use impact to all lugs in a star pattern, just want them tight but not torqued
3. Torque all lug nuts in a star pattern to 70 ft-lbs, all should rotate some, if they don't you went too hard on step 2.
4. Torque all lug nuts in a star pattern to 100 ft-lbs
5. Torque all lug nuts in a star pattern to 130 ft-lbs
 
Cpschevy said:
I can second the hub centric rings suggestion , mine did the same thing before I added the rings after my fuel wheels install.
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What did your ride feel like before the rings? When cruising, it's almost like I'm on a washboard road!
 
So pulled the right front off today. No ring. So I am assuming that the rest don’t have them either. Inside bore of that wheel is 125mm. I’m being told that that is a hubcentric wheel for my truck. Steering wheel doesn’t vibrate at all. Just feels like whole truck is a big black vibrator!!!
 
RAMNC76 said:
Steering wheel doesn’t vibrate at all. Just feels like whole truck is a big black vibrator!!!
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That usually means the source is the back wheels. Or the drive shaft (but you said they didn't touch it so it should be ruled out).

Could be a defective tire if they were correctly balanced. That happens too. If you swap fronts and backs you will know for sure (in the steering). You could try doing one side only first.
That gives you a 50/50 chance to find it on first try. At least, after one or both sides you will know which one is the culprit. And if it is related to the wheels or not.
 
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