Dump truck shaking, only when loaded

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by JpsFarms47, Jun 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM.

  1. JpsFarms47

    JpsFarms47 Bobtail Member

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    Hello everyone, seeing if anyone can point me in the right direction towards diagnosing this shake issue with my dump truck, which is driving me nuts.

    Truck is a 06 International 4400 single axle, 7spd with 65k miles. I've had it for about 4 months, I use it for hauling dirt/rock/sand and occasionaly towing an excavator.

    It has a pretty good shake to it, enough to shake things off dash and vibrate the mirrors. It only does this when loaded with 8-10 tons, and only between 50-60mph. 55-60 is about its top speed. It feels like a back to front/front to back type shake, maybe a little up and down. I can feel it in the seat, the steering wheel does not shake side to side. I cannot feel it through the shifter, and it does it accelerating, decelerating, and in neutral.
    I can count the shakes, and they seem to come in "waves", shake shake shake shake shake, slight pause, comes again and again till I drop below 50. Hopefully I described that well, lol.

    What I have checked/tried:
    Everything under the front end seems tight. Bearings, king pins, tie rods, leaf spring bushings.
    New shocks on front - no difference.
    Front tires are new Toyo M170 11r22.5s. I put them on when I first got the truck.
    Cab mounts look fine.
    Motor mounts look fine.
    New Spicer U-joint behind trans, and Spicer carrier bearing. Old ones of both had a tiny amount of play - no change.
    The other two U-joints are tight. Driveshafts do not appear to be missing any weights. Do not appear dented/damaged.
    Rear leafs all look good, no cracks.
    Rear leaf bushings look fine.
    Truck does not have rear shocks.
    Rear tires are 295 75 22.5 Ironhead IDR 311s that the previous owner put on a year ago. With the truck jacked up and running in gear, I did not see them being out of round or any major runout issues.
    The tread on all 4 of them, if you run your hand accross, feels like cupping (each tread block is taller in front, shorter in back). Not sure if that matters but they are wearing weird.

    Hopefully I provided as much detail as I can, not really sure what to look for/replace next. Maybe rear tires?

    Thanks
     
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  3. Sons Hero

    Sons Hero Road Train Member

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    When you put your front tires on, did you have them spin balanced? Or put bags of Equal in? Sounds like a tire issue to me, as far as the tread cupping, we had a 2006 IH 4300 single axle for a good number of years, used it to haul a good sized skid steer around with a dump trailer. Tires always wore cupped on that one too, never shook though. Your trailer brakes work?
     
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  4. Big Road Skateboard

    Big Road Skateboard Road Train Member

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    You mentioned leafs, but is it an air suspension? I assume not.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2025 at 1:20 PM
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  5. JpsFarms47

    JpsFarms47 Bobtail Member

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    The tire shop said they checked for balance, however there are no weights on fronts.

    I have only hauled the excavator a few times, I do not have electric brakes hooked up yet.

    It has leaf springs all around, no airbags.
     
  6. Oldman83

    Oldman83 Medium Load Member

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    The rear tire wear you describe is just what I call torque wear. It comes from the tread block flexing from the rotational torque on the drive tires.
    The shake you are describing is most likely a driveshaft imbalance issue if it comes in waves as you describe.
    A tire imbalance issue typically gets more pronounced/less pronounced as you increase/decrease speed.
    I would get a good driveshaft shop to spin balance the driveshaft.
     
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  7. wore out

    wore out Numbered Classic

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    Exactly what I was thinking. Especially when he said it comes in waves. I would call it a drone however we all describe things differently.
     
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  8. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

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    Maybe you got your drive shaft out of phase when reinstalling it after putting new u-joints in? That'll get it out of balance. A quick visual there to see and easy fix if so.
     
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  9. JpsFarms47

    JpsFarms47 Bobtail Member

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    Thanks guys. When I did the front U-joint and took off the front shaft, I marked the splines and put it back how it was. It appears to be in phase. Does it matter if the U-joint cap part of the Yokes are in the same spot front and rear? I attached pics.

    I also jacked it up again and took a video of the driveshaft spinning. Slight wobble it looks like? 20250619_193440.jpg 20250619_193450.jpg Hopefully video uploads.
     
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  10. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    I'd say worn splines on the driveshaft(s). The fact it is more pronounced with a load, is the rear suspension is collapsed more and rides on the worn part of the splines.(?) A bad harmonic balancer will cause vibrations under load. Typically, a worn U joint will cause vibration under load too, I'd replace those as well, and with GOOD ones, not that Chinese junk. Caution, you can spend a fortune on "vibrations" and if you aren't going very far, I'd just put up with it. Lords knows, we all did. Not to preach, but 55-60 with an excavator is too fast anyways,,:biggrin_25516: Good luck.
     
  11. AModelCat

    AModelCat Road Train Member

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    Might be a stretch but have you compared driveline angles empty and loaded?
     
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