Could very well be. Our dad showed us how to get unstuck from mud and sand by rocking it in the old beast i pictured above. Not that we ever actually got stuck in the old beast.

On another hand, the Kia dealer, which is where i bought my Dakota to start off with, heard about the issues I'm having. He is a client at my office and a good friend of my boss. He called me up and says that he's pretty sure he can save me about $100 a month and get me into a 2014 Tacoma or Frontier. If it's properly packaged (TRD offroad or Pro-4X packages) and he has the savings that he is thinking that he can get, i might just do the switch. I don't really want to get out of my Dakota, I absolutely love my truck, but getting built in bluetooth handsfree, stay in warranty and the cost savings do make me curious if he can deliver. Oh, and the possibility of getting a manual transmission again is a huge plus. That and the Nissan and Toyota dealers are also clients at my office.

 

Still no word. I know that as of Wednesday of last week the transmission shop gave their diagnosis to the dodge dealer, and they had to e-mail someone else before getting it repaired. Not sure what the holdup is but i'm REALLY getting pissed off at all the delays in getting my truck fixed. I hope for their sake that they just forgot to call me telling me that it's approved and the parts are being ordered. I absolutely LOVE my truck, but this delay in getting an answer if it will be fixed through warranty or if i have to pay. I don't see how i abused my truck, especially just reverse as they tell me it's the only thing that he saw wrong with the transmission, the forward gears were all fine.

 

I got word this morning. The dealer is saying that my reverse clutch is burned, and he states that there is only one way to do this type of damage which is by abuse. I did not abuse my truck, my brother did not spin the tires and rev the engine in reverse when he was stuck in sand, he was doing what he could to not spin the tires. There has to be an explanation to why the clutch burned other then abuse.

What makes me so pissed off at Dodge (Chrysler, or Fiat or whatever you call them) right now is that I had to call the dealer this morning to get an update, I have not had any contact from them since last Wednesday when again I had to call asking for an update. The service manager said that he got the e-mail yesterday afternoon telling him that it was not approved under the warranty and he didn't even call me, I HAD TO CALL!!!! I asked what it would cost to repair my truck, and he said that he didn't know. THEY DIDN'T EVEN ASK THE TRANSMISSION SHOP FOR AN ESTIMATE FOR REPAIRS!!! He told me that he would call me back in 5 minutes. THIS WAS AT 10:30 THIS MORNING. IT IS NOW 7 HOURS LATER AND I HAVE HEARD NOTHING.

I just got off the phone with Chrysler Canada who said that they'll contact the dealer and find out how they got to the conclusion that it was not going to be covered under the warranty. I'm so pissed off right now, I want to get rid of my truck and pay more if i have to in order to get into something else.

I absolutely love my truck, but my confidence in the corporation as a whole is completely gone. Chrysler Canada told me that i could get it to another dealer and see if their diagnosis is different and if they would get it covered under the warranty. Do they not understand that the next closest dealer is 70 KM away.

I could live with a weak front end as i've been replacing slowly with MOOG. I can live with less aftermarket support, because other then bumpers i don't have much else that i want to do to the truck that isn't already covered, but i don't know if i can stay with a company that doesn't listen to it's customers. The Kia dealer across the street have lent me a car for the next few days and they are looking to get me into something else right now.

 

Hopefully Chrysler will at least compromise with you on this.

What is the proper way to rock your way out of mud or sand anyway? I knew someone who ruined their transmission years ago while stuck, never really thought much about it since.

 

The pRoper way to rock out when stuck is to use the truck's weight to get you out. You have to stop wheel spin and make sure the rpm's are kept relatively low. If there is too much wheel spin, and you don't stop it before going in the other direction, that's where you burn up a clutch. This is for sand anyways but generally works the same for snow and mud. The difference in mud is you need to find traction or use something else to help you find it, like a winch or another truck pulling. Snow and sand you don't want to dig down too much and high centre yourself on the pumpkin or frame. So go froward until you can't at low RPM's until you start getting wheel spin. Brake stopping wheel momentum and if done right your RPM's will drop low enough to let you shift without damage. Then go the other way and repeat until the truck's momentum can get it out. Slow tire speed with just a bit of spin at the top to make where your tire is dug into longer so the truck's weight and speed get it loose of where it is. Too much wheel spin and rpm's will make it harder to get out as well as cause damage to the truck.

Following this, you can get out of sand, thick shallow mud (not deep or very runny mud, you will spin too much and cause damage) and snow in almost any vehicle. I brought my 88 Chevy 1500 2WD manual truck to some pretty tough places doing just this. People in big 4wd truck's would always ask where I came from and pointed they way they came and got stuck. It's all in knowing how not to get stuck and where you put your tires. And if you get stuck, don't over spin which makes it harder to get out. Mud needs wheel spin but too much in mud makes it worse also.

 

And Chrysler and my local dealer are not budging. They say that my reverse clutch is burnet and they only way it can happen is by abuse or misuse. Th guy at the transmission repair shop said that the forward clutches looked so good that it almost looks like they were installed yesterday. But even with that, they are not budging. As much as I will miss my truck, I don't know if I can stick around after getting such bad customer service. The huge delays from the dealer, me having to call to get updates all the time and not listening to me, the customer, who can guarantee that the truck was not abused. The dealer and Chrysler themselves are calling me and my brother liars. I'm paying for the transmission repair, making a claim with the BBB, and possibly switching out. My credit right now makes it that I can't get into the frontier or Tacoma, so I don't know what I might get just to get away from my local dealer and Chrysler yet.

 

I really thought they would of went half with you at the least. I'm the same way, if a company screws me - we're done for life. Citibank comes to mind. I used my credit card to buy a motorcycle 15 years ago. I made a mistake and paid the whole balance but $1. They refused to let me off the hook for the interest.... which was no small amount.

Get er fixed and hopefully your finances will get better in the future.

Thanks for the schooling on getting unstuck. Hopefully I'll never need it.