Hi, I own a 01 dodge ram 1500 and my truck broke down and was towed. The guy towing it put the 4x4 own for some reason and the idiot mechanic did not know and had been driving it in 4x4 for the last 2 days. He called me and told me that there was steering issues with binding when turning so I came down. The first I notice is the 4x4 is still on. I just got my truck back and test drove the 4x4 by turning on dry pavement and it works. Do you think anything in the drive train got damaged like u joints or anything?

 

if its not broke its probably ok.

don't go back to that mechanic.

 

How does the truck ride/turn in 2wd? I wouldn't think so unless he was doing some crazy ****, but I don't know much 4wd in these Ram's, as mine is 2wd.

But also, I'd bet the mechanic KNEW it was in 4wd, if not, he doesn't need to be a mechanic....

 

I don't have a 4wd Ram either but I have owned several 4wds. If it wasn't towed with a rollback, he probably meant to knock it in neutral. They'll do this instead of pulling the driveshaft. Like stewie01 said, unless he was doing some crazy ****, 70mph on the freeway, alot of turns in parking lots, **** like that, it's probably fine. As long as nothing is whining, grinding, or roaring. And find another mechanic. Someone that can't tell the difference in the way something drives in 2wd as opposed to 4wd needs to re-evaluate their career choice. That should have been on top of the list of things to notice before a test drive. And maybe another tow company too.

 

wait , isnt there a light on the dash that says you are in 4 wheel?
I think mech was tooling around and then just blamed it on the tow driver

 

What's kinda funny is, on a fair few transfer cases, neutral isn't really neutral.... the t-case is disengaged from the trans, but, front and rear drivelines are still locked together......

 

Yep. That's the reason for pulling the driveshaft, or use a rollback. Especially on long hauls. But that requires crawling on the ground.... carrying wrenches.... getting fluid on one's hands(if they don't zip it to the floorboard).... plugs for different models. I'm not familiar with Dodges. Are they floor shifts or push buttons? Or a mix?

 

I don't think I have seen a second gen yet with pushbotton. Quite frankly, that is one of the reason I liked the dodge..... I have had experiences (bad) with the electronic shift, and came to the conclusion that I really don't care for it.