3.55 gears are not good for towing at all, but more of a performance thing, they should still have pulled that little bit of weight with no issues at all. If they were needing to be replaced, I sure hope you had them put at least 3.92's in there or better yet 4.10's.
As Hanson said, the OD thing is more of a tranny savor than for rear ends. It sure would have been nice to have the parts to see exactly what caused the failure. With the Chrysler 9.25 built by AAM, I don't think they are nearly as bulletproof as the older Dana's, but they are still considered a strong rear end compared to GM & Ford stock 1/2 ton rear ends.
I have not seen a major failure like that in a Chryser rear end that was not directly attributed to the LSD clip issue, and even with that, I don't think I've seen a rear blow out that bad...

 

Wow! Picture tells a thousand words! I'd be pissed. I love my truck but reality isthese dodge rearends are very weak and thatcould happen to anyone of us. If you canprove this was aC clip failure it should be reported to the NTSB.
Dan

 

Incredible. Man, I would send that picture to Dodge headquarters. That's just a disgrace, cause I am sure they are still making them like that . .. CHEAP.
If we took your picture with the one of the driveshaft that exploded and exposed the cardboard paper inners, we can make poster size of them. I would take those to the dealers and put them in front or near the entrance. Maybe take it to the news, or put it up on a billboard in a busy intersection.

 

Wow, never saw, or heard of anything like that before.. While driving did you hear or feel anything strange?

 

the frame you were towing i think i've seen it before it's a full size chevy with heavely modified frame rails so the air bags can lay it flat on the ground right. maybe i saw it in a mag or a car show. come to detroit area much? anyways it looks bad *** the ram sorry to hear about.

 

Wow thats gotta hurt.

When you had it serviced earlier this year....
Who did the service?
Do you still have the receipt?
What all did they do for the service?
Did they put friction modifier in along with the lube?

Just some questions I’d be looking at. Not to say it wasn’t a clip, just trying to cover all the bases.

 

My driveshaft was the one piece model.....and i think it was aluminum.......heres a pic of it.

 

i heard a weird noise......soemthing spinning very fast but off balance.....then a clunking noise ........and then i noticed the smoke or steam or whatever it was behind me......and the noise of the driveshaft draging.....

when it all happened i thought i burst a tire, and the rim was draging on the pavment it sounded that loud.


I was not under warranty, and i had about 1400$ woth of repairs to get made just so i could drive back home.

I had serviced the rear end earlier this year, just the basic situation, drained teh fluid, changed the seal, filled it back up, didnt notice any metal chips or scraps or anything.

I dont understand, i had the 3.55 gears stock, and ive pulled a load much heavier than this, much further of a distance.....mind you it was with the OD off, but it pulled great last year, with a 26ft enclosed trailer, with a full size vehicle inside it.

this trailer and frame dont weigh half of what that did.

I just cannot see how the 3.55 gears and this truck couldnt tow that load. If thats the case, then im going to have to say that these trucks are poo. because that isnt a heavy load, and it isnt any kind of unusual stress.

im just strugling to find an answer here. Im afraid to tow again just because i cant afford another problem like that.

if the clips were to cause.....is there any way of fixing that? permanientaly


taylor

 

I am willing to bet it just happen to be coincidence. If you weren't towing it could have possibly happened as well. I guess what I am saying is don't just assume the two were related.

 

If you had the crappy stock LSD, this would have the infamous c clip issue/problem.
I believe the only way around that is to fit an aftermarket LSD like an Auburn or a Detroit Truetrac.
Al.