At a loss after hard off road hit...

[Cornholio19]

Hey everyone,

I hate to even consider this, but I'm at a point of frustration with my 2023 Laramie (only 15k miles) that I'm considering getting rid of it after multiple dealers/shops have been unable to identify an issue after my truck took a hard hit off road. This is my last attempt to see if I can try to get this resolved before I cut ties with the truck.

A couple months ago I was off road near a highway, and had to back up most of the way to the highway out of a property to be able to exit. When I put my truck in drive to pull up to the edge of the highway, I only got couple feet before the front left side of my truck immediately dropped HARD close to two feet. Somehow there was a culvert just adjacent to where I had backed up, and I didn't see it when I turned the wheel and slowly pulled forward. The drop was hard enough that the cooler in the bed of my truck that probably weighed 100 lbs at the time flipped over 180 degrees and landed on its top.

Not surprisingly, before long the truck felt very uncomposed/unsettled on the road as if I had lost my alignment due to what I had put the truck through. The truck was indeed out of alignment and got corrected by a dealer. Somehow the alignment did not fix the issue. Prior to that hit off road, this truck drove beautifully. Very tight and composed on the road, the best riding truck I've ever had. Since the alignment did not fix my issue I have since taken it to two different dealers plus one independent shop and all of them have told me that they see no issues with my suspension and it seems to drive normally. I have also had the tires road force balanced three times thinking that something could have gotten thrown off there.

In a moment of frustration I also had the front shocks replaced just in case that would correct the issue (if the hit had blown one or both of them). That seemed to help, but the truck still rides very sloppy.

Does anyone by any miracle have anything else that I could consider after having shocks replaced, tires road force balanced, and suspension checked by multiple places? The truck is now starting to vibrate noticeably when I accelerate and I'm really considering just getting rid of it at this point but don't want to at all - only had it a year and loved it until recently. Any help/ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

edit - just to be more clear about what I'm experiencing in case it's helpful. The truck seems to rock back and forth more than it ever did before even over the tiniest imperfections in pavement, I can feel the tires through the steering wheel significantly more before, and it feels a bit out of control and unsettled over roads that aren't great, especially when turning. Almost like the two front wheels are clunky/knocking. I have SL rated all terrain tires that are not oversized

 

[Scram1500]

I think you have a bad tire or two, tread separation or broken belt. Try rotating the tires and see if there is a change in the ride characteristics. What where the results of the road force balancing? The vibration on acceleration makes me wonder if the rear drive shaft took a hit

 

[Morenar]

Bent Sway bar or end links?

 

[HSKR R/T]

Hey everyone,

I hate to even consider this, but I'm at a point of frustration with my 2023 Laramie (only 15k miles) that I'm considering getting rid of it after multiple dealers/shops have been unable to identify an issue after my truck took a hard hit off road. This is my last attempt to see if I can try to get this resolved before I cut ties with the truck.

A couple months ago I was off road near a highway, and had to back up most of the way to the highway out of a property to be able to exit. When I put my truck in drive to pull up to the edge of the highway, I only got couple feet before the front left side of my truck immediately dropped HARD close to two feet. Somehow there was a culvert just adjacent to where I had backed up, and I didn't see it when I turned the wheel and slowly pulled forward. The drop was hard enough that the cooler in the bed of my truck that probably weighed 100 lbs at the time flipped over 180 degrees and landed on its top.

Not surprisingly, before long the truck felt very uncomposed/unsettled on the road as if I had lost my alignment due to what I had put the truck through. The truck was indeed out of alignment and got corrected by a dealer. Somehow the alignment did not fix the issue. Prior to that hit off road, this truck drove beautifully. Very tight and composed on the rode, the best riding truck I've ever had. Since the alignment did not fix my issue I have since taken it to two different dealers plus one independent shop and all of them have told me that they see no issues with my suspension and it seems to drive normally. I have also had the tires road force balanced three times thinking that something could have gotten thrown off there.

In a moment of frustration I also had the front shocks replaced just in case that would correct the issue (if the hit had blown one or both of them). That seemed to help, but the truck still rides very sloppy.

Does anyone by any miracle have anything else that I could consider after having shocks replaced, tires road force balanced, and suspension checked by multiple places? The truck is now starting to vibrate noticeably when I accelerate and I'm really considering just getting rid of it at this point but don't want to at all - only had it a year and loved it until recently. Any help/ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

Try taking it to a 4wd specialty shop if you have one close to you.

Take a close look at sway bar to make sure it's not bent or end links/mounts aren't bent/broken.

Jack the front end up and wiggle the wheels to see if there is any play side to side or top to bottom.

 

[rick619]

Try taking it to a 4wd specialty shop if you have one close to you.

Take a close look at sway bar to make sure it's not bent or end links/mounts aren't bent/broken.

Jack the front end up and wiggle the wheels to see if there is any play side to side or top to bottom.

Bent Sway bar or end links?

When reading this, I also thought of the sway bars. Maybe check if they are broken. Not my Ram, but I did break my rear sway bar on my Jeep while off road and had some similar issues until I replaced the sway bar.

Also check your control arms. Those are known to fail pretty easily (mostly with oversized tires) and aren't that expensive to replace.

I'd also try rotating the tires as suggested above. Pay attention to where the tires move to and see if the problem moves with the tires. I feel like that sounds unlikely though.

 

[BowDown]

Another vote for control arms (lower).

 

[Morenar]

Something else I just thought of. It's possible the radial (steel cords) in the tires snapped when it hit that hard. May not the rocking motion but a bad ride, yes. Road force balancing would be something to check off the list.

 

[Scram1500]

Should also look the frame over for cracks/broken welds and check body bolts/bushings

 

[HSKR R/T]

Something else I just thought of. It's possible the radial (steel cords) in the tires snapped when it hit that hard. May not the rocking motion but a bad ride, yes. Road force balancing would be something to check off the list.

He said he had road force balancing done in the tires

 

[Morenar]

He said he had road force balancing done in the tires

Sorry missed that when I read through it on my phone.

 

[boogielander]

rotate tires and see if that problem transferred. Remove sway bar and end link and see if problem persist. I don't think the bearings are screwed, but while you have the tires off the ground shake the wheel holding it at 3 & 9 o clock and then do it again at 12 and 6 oclock position and see if it feels loose.

if you're in socal bring it by the shop i'll take a look at it.

 

[n8zcc]

Set up a GoPro or equivalent to watch what is going on down there while driving. Also, check the drive shafts to make sure it isn't the source of vibration.