Vibration that comes and goes

[Chunky White]

I believe it is most likely the driveshaft but I am wondering if anyone else has had the same issue. My car has a vibration that comes and goes. It happens after a hard acceleration or at interstate speeds but goes away within a mile or two most of the time but other times it continues for a while. I have had the tires balanced by one shop and checked at another. I have Nitto NT555r tires set at 30lbs in the rear and Pirelli a/s front set at 34lbs. The tires are what came on it and will be changed soon hopefully. I have read carrier bearing in the driveshaft could be an issue using a google search which lead me to another forum.

Thanks for any help. Working 6 days a week doesn't give me much time to get it checked out by the Dodge dealer or another shop

 

[Marine121]

Carrier bearing is what I would check first.

 

[Paladin06]

Following.

 

[Jimmy N.]

. I have had the tires balanced by one shop and checked at another.

Doesn't much matter how many shops have checked them. It takes a competent operator of a Hunter machine with road force that is properly calibrated to get them truly balanced. Which includes turning the Smart Weight setting off.

 

[Chunky White]

Doesn't much matter how many shops have checked them. It takes a competent operator of a Hunter machine with road force that is properly calibrated to get them truly balanced. Which includes turning the Smart Weight setting off.

I originally suspected out of balance tire or the cold weather and NT555RII tires. But I took a two hour trip where the vibration came and went and now I am not sure

Would out of balance tires vibrate randomly? I would think it would be a constant vibration at whatever speed and not hit or miss. I have had out of balanced tires before but it was constant at 60 plus or whatever speed. I have also had and multiple bad or broken driveshafts from off roading. Both were more obvious to diagnose. I can almost make the vibration happen by accelerating hard but its not every time. I am not even talking about WOT because I am avoiding WOT until I figure out the problem.

I will probably schedule an appointment and drop the car off somewhere to check the driveshaft. I checked it earlier while on jack stands and it seem to have more wobble than I would expect in the front but I am no expert and have dealt with more UV joints than CV.

 

[AeroF16]

Would out of balance tires vibrate randomly? I would think it would be a constant vibration at whatever speed and not hit or miss. I have had out of balanced tires before but it was constant at 60 plus or whatever speed. I have also had and multiple bad or broken driveshafts from off roading. Both were more obvious to diagnose. I can almost make the vibration happen by accelerating hard but its not every time. I am not even talking about WOT because I am avoiding WOT until I figure out the problem.

I will probably schedule an appointment and drop the car off somewhere to check the driveshaft. I checked it earlier while on jack stands and it seem to have more wobble than I would expect in the front but I am no expert and have dealt with more UV joints than CV.

Checking the tires is an easy kill but if it was the tires the vibration characteristics should be consistent.

How many miles on the car? I could see a carrier bearing getting out of sync and hitting a resonance frequency and taking a minute to calm down when it comes to vibrations but that’s just a guess.

Maybe I missed it, did the car drive fine for a while and then become problematic or has it been like this since you’ve had it?

 

[Chunky White]

Checking the tires is an easy kill but if it was the tires the vibration characteristics should be consistent.

How many miles on the car? I could see a carrier bearing getting out of sync and hitting a resonance frequency and taking a minute to calm down when it comes to vibrations but that’s just a guess.

Maybe I missed it, did the car drive fine for a while and then become problematic or has it been like this since you’ve had it?

43k miles and I bought the car a little over a month ago when we still had 30-40* mornings so I figured the vibration was cold weather and the tires. I drove around today and did not feel any vibrations but had one on my way home last night.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Regular U-joints and CVs are the same thing, really. Just look at a CV as a really short driveshaft.

Anyway, tire unbalance isn't necessarily constant as far as feeling it goes. It can depend on if two tires are "in sync", for example.

 

[Chunky White]

Well I am back to this thread after five months or so. I took a 250 mile trip yesterday and had the vibration over 75mph the whole way. No vibration or noise any other time. I am going to order a driveshaft soon and was wondering what was done to make room for 1 Piece driveshafts? I read somewhere you need another 3/4" clearance for one piece and was wondering if that achievable without getting a muffler shop to cut and weld the pipe? I would like to get the Redeye/Demon 2 piece but thats out of my budget at this time. I have been debating on rear cradle lockouts also so I might do the 1 piece and lockouts together soon.

I really need a different daily driver LOL

 

[2ndAmend]

Are the Nittos on the OEM wheels? I'm guessing you put them on wider aftermarket wheels so hopefully you still have a set of OEM wheels/tires you can swap back on for a test.

This is one a good reason to always have an extra set of wheels/tires!

 

[Chunky White]

Are the Nittos on the OEM wheels? I'm guessing you put them on wider aftermarket wheels so hopefully you still have a set of OEM wheels/tires you can swap back on for a test.

This is one a good reason to always have an extra set of wheels/tires!

I have a squared up set of Continental DWS-06 Plus tires now and the ride improved with those. I still have the two Nitto drag radials buyt they are not mounted at this time. If I keep the car I might buy some wheels to put them on or get an 18" drag/tire setup for the rear

 

[DavidKFla]

I have a squared up set of Continental DWS-06 Plus tires now and the ride improved with those. I still have the two Nitto drag radials buyt they are not mounted at this time. If I keep the car I might buy some wheels to put them on or get an 18" drag/tire setup for the rear

1 piece driveshaft, you need to install cradle lockouts. Under hard acceleration the cradle moves forward and can cause transmission damage and void your driveshaft warranty.

 

[2ndAmend]

I have a squared up set of Continental DWS-06 Plus tires now and the ride improved with those. I still have the two Nitto drag radials buyt they are not mounted at this time. If I keep the car I might buy some wheels to put them on or get an 18" drag/tire setup for the rear

I hoped that if you put a known set of good tires/wheels on, everything would be perfect. My FR 10.5" wheels with 305 summer tires were smooth as silk to 173 at land speed trials.

 

[Chunky White]

1 piece driveshaft, you need to install cradle lockouts. Under hard acceleration the cradle moves forward and can cause transmission damage and void your driveshaft warranty.

I read somewhere that you have to make clearance for the 1 piece driveshaft and was wondering about how others managed that without cutting and welding if possible. I plan to get cradle lockouts whether I get a 1 or 2 piece driveshaft. Hows your driveshaft working out?

 

[Chunky White]

I hoped that if you put a known set of good tires/wheels on, everything would be perfect. My FR 10.5" wheels with 305 summer tires were smooth as silk to 173 at land speed trials.

My vibration isn't in the tire. I believe its the driveshaft since I have no vibration other than when I am giving it throttle. More vibration at a constant speed than during acceleration.

 

[DavidKFla]

I read somewhere that you have to make clearance for the 1 piece driveshaft and was wondering about how others managed that without cutting and welding if possible. I plan to get cradle lockouts whether I get a 1 or 2 piece driveshaft. Hows your driveshaft working out?

My driveshaft went right in with plenty of clearance.
It only has 2 passes on it and haven't been back. Putting beadlocks and a larger tire under it for better traction. Then we'll see how it does.
BTW, I borrowed 1 tire because I had a bad one. Don't know if it was balanced correctly or not.

 

[2ndAmend]

My vibration isn't in the tire. I believe its the driveshaft since I have no vibration other than when I am giving it throttle. More vibration at a constant speed than during acceleration.

Any chance finding a OEM takeoff cheap to use for a test?

 

[Chunky White]

Any chance finding a OEM takeoff cheap to use for a test?

I have looked on ebay some to see whats available. The cost of a used one isn't but a couple of hundred less than what I can find new online and some mention needing rebuilt which could be done with the one I have as well I guess.

I will call the local dealers and see what the cost for a driveshaft is from them. I am afraid I would just destroy another Hellcat driveshaft and be needing another one soon though so I would like to upgrade

 

[2ndAmend]

If you are looking for OEM, check out all the discount MoparPartsDotComSites. I use these guys because they are 45min away:

https://www.mopar-discounts.com/

These internet discounters are real Mopar dealers running an internet store. Buy on-line and pick it up at the parts counter for like 30% less than if you bought at the dealer!

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

Where are you located? Any Hellcat owner worth his salt still has a stock driveshaft in his garage.