Hi all,,im new to the site so sorry if I do anything wrong,,I just bought a 2002 ram 1500 5.9 with 60,000 miles on it with plans to tow a 26 ft camper around the area. We went to the campsite {30 miles away} once and other than that just used it to go back and forth to work. Coming home from work Thursday mornig ,I was on the highway, doing about 70,,when big bang,,,major shake,,i thought I blew multiple tires it was so bad,,I got to the side of the road and looked underneath and theres the front end of the driveshaft on the groundand fluid leaking, I had it towed to the garage and they called me 3-4 hours later and said the transfer case had a 14 inch crack in it and the transmission is cracked also,, to the tune of $5000 to fix. They had just replaced the u joints the month before,,,,by the way, this was at the Chrysler dealer where I had bought it. They asked me what I had done to do this,,i told them,,im 63 years old and don't 4 wheel or drive over curbs or whatever. I ended up with the main manager asking him what he was going to do to fix this,,he said the truck didn't have anywarranty,,I only had it for 90 days,,except for the extended warranty I had bought when I bought the truck. I had guys from work telling me that these trucks aren't made to tow anything and will only keep breaking. I had contacted the original owner and he used the trailer to pull his camper 4-5 times a year { his camper is 6100pounds} He said he never had a problem and had the ujoints replace not to long before he traded it in on a new ram 2500hd..Do I need to get rid of this truck or what?? What happened for it to break??

 

First off all, they're full of crap, these trucks can and will tow more than an equal truck of another brand. The transmissions & transfer cases are tough. Lots of IDIOTS who rip these transfer cases don't realize that its the same transfer case used in a lot of chevy trucks as New Venture Gear was a joint Chrysler & GM effort to combine their knowledge & make great drivetrain components for eachother. The Neon Manual Trans is one of the pieces to come out of that joint Chrysler & GM Partnership.

What probably happened on your truck was the snap ring failure in the transfer case, they sell an upgrade kit somewhere, I've never done it myself and have been meaning to do it on my 97 Ram, I replaced the original transfer case because of a stretched chain (due to previous owner driving on dry pavement in 4x4 a lot) with a rebuilt one, so its probably already upgraded for me.

Keep in mind that even though your truck is a 3rd Gen Dodge, it really only refers to the body as you have a 2nd gen drive train in the 2002 Ram. The 2nd Gen forum would probably have more info on the snap ring upgrade but its worth a shot.

These transmissions are tough, they really only need pure ATF+4 with occasional filter & fluid changes and check ball valve inspection in the return line near the radiator checked for movement & to ensure operation that its not stuck (kills many 45RE Trans when it sticks).

My old 97 once towed a 22,000 lb lift out of the mud like a boss and towed junk cars a lot to the junk yard with it as well as going through 6 sets of rear tires in a summer doing burnouts with 188,000 on the clock. If you get that snap ring upgrade your transfer case should be able to take all you can throw at it.


http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_cata...ase_saver.html