Hi,

I'm new to this forum. My father owns a 98 Dodge Ram 2500 Turbo Diesel and it has been great. So I decided to buy a used 2004 Ram 1500 SLT with the 5.7l Hemi, It has just under 50k miles. This is my first dodge. I am pretty happy with it other than a problem I'm experiencing. At normal driving speeds, the truck will shift hard going into 2nd gear. It feels like a big jerk once it shifts into 2nd gear, but after that all other gears shift fine. It also only happens when driving normally, I tried flooring it from a dead stop and i don't feel that harsh 2nd gear shift anymore.

Is this a common problem? Does it need a transmission fluid change? I did notice under the truck, the differential front seal where the drive-shaft bolts up, is leaking. There is some grease/oil residue splashed around it on the exhaust and the gas tank. Maybe low on diff fluid? But why would it be only 1st to 2nd gear problem and not any other gears? That makes me think it's a transmission related problem. The used car dealership gave me a 1 year complete warranty on the truck incase anything happened to it. So I want to take advantage and have them fix this. They also told me that it might just be because it is a powerful truck, which I think is BS haha.

Should I take it to the dealer and get inspected, can anyone help me that knows these trucks? I am located in LA county in Southern California.

I forgot to add, the main purpose of this truck will be as a daily driver, sometimes carrying some medium loads of car parts and rotary engines. Also for towing a 18ft open car trailer with a 3000 lbs car, to the race track maybe 20 times a year