I have a '11 Ram Crew cab 4x4, with a Hemi. I bought the truck last year it was a one owner, exceptionally clean and we'll maintained, having 130,000 miles on it.
The dealer I bought it from had had the oil changed and went with a Pennzoil brand so I drove it and changed it as the sticker said.

I've always ran Castrol Edge so at said oil change that's what I used. When I started my truck afterwards I immediately heard a ticking. My old Ram always had the Hemi tick, but this truck was quite until then. I simply dismissed it as the proverbial tick and ignored it.
After about 1,000 miles I developed a dead miss. Took it to a friend who's a local mechanic and we agreed to start with changing the plugs after his scanner showed the #3 hole dead. However, it still missed. He swapped the #3 coil pack with another and the 3 hole was still dead. He pulled the head and tested it pouring oil around the valve springs and low and behold it leaked around the valves for that cylinder, we believed it was the valve seats. So we ordered a 're-man' head, still missed. I believe now it was a carbon build up on the valve since that hole probably hadn't been firing correctly for a while.
Next step he tired it back down and alas it was the cam lobe. Put a new one in a wa-la she runs fine. The $2500 bill quickly ended my lovea affair with my truck.

Wait it gets better...the day I picked it up I noticed an oily substance in the passenger floorboard...bumfuzzled I simply cleaned it up and headed home. I turned my a/c on and it wasn't cold and it smelled like the oily stuff. I later put two and two together and figured it was Freon mixed with the coolant system oil.
I took it to a local repair shop they thought it could've been from not draining he hvac system with a machine and subsequently the expansion valve allowed it to bypass to the evaporator housing. They recharged it and put dye in it guess what it still leaks. That's another $1,000 repair....

I've had people tell me the oil could've caused my cam issues due to the additives, like zinc, being removed with all the epa regs and thus not giving proper protection. Is oil as good as it used to be? I'm open to every opinion here...

The leak in the floorboard....what the hell caused that? The second shop didn't think there was anyway it could be linked to my repair. My mechanic seemed dumbfounded as well. I can't see how it can't be related, it would have to be the coincidence of coincidences. Opinions?

 

Opinions.

I can give you some opinions. None worth anything though. Hehehe

The A/C failure might be the result of your mechanic recharging the system. Why? IDK to many variables. Overcharged? Bad O-ring? Worn parts? Coincidence?

The cam failed because of a catastrophic failure of a roller. Why? IDK to many variables. Your motor should have ~3,500 hours on it. Only the previous owner knows how it was used or abused. I hope you had your mechanics replace all of the roller lifters.

Roller motors are not brand loyal when it comes to oil. They don't need the old flat-tappet additive packaged oils. They are also good for 5,000 - 7,500 mile OCI with conventional oil. I don't follow this wisdom on OCI because it's my money. Lol

Like you, I have also passed the 130,000 mile mark. My 18 yo son has his eye on my truck. I'm ok with that because I can afford to get something else. I can also see my current 2010 RAM truck as a potential money pit.

I'm not planning on another 5.7 hemi partly because of the cylinder deactivation and mostly because of the improvements made to the 6.4 engine. The Eco diesel has my attention as well. Having owned Ford & GM, I do like the higher quality of this RAM.