anyone ever try changing out a transfer case - basically taking the one out of my 2008 ram and using one from a previous year(s) model?

here my issue: I get a shuddes in 4x4 hi operation, any condition. been in 3 times now...

Chrysler is telling me that 1. tires in slippery conditions do not spin at the same rate... and 2. the new transfer cases are not like my old 2001 - that the new ones are "fully locking" and contain no "viscious disk" sp?, which would allow for tires not being able to slip on hard pack terrain... And that on hard pack, non-slippery conditions, the transfer case does not allow any slippage so if the tires don't slip the transfer case will shudder.

In slippery conditions, tires slip keeping the transfer case from binding. therefor the shudder should not occur.

so i'm wondering if i change it out to an older style transfer case if that will make the problem go away???

here's all the sorted details...

On November 21st 2008 we got a few inches of snow. I put my truck into 4x4 hi mode and proceeded to pull out of my driveway. Immediately I could feel a shimmy in the truck. As I accelerated I could feel the shimmy develop into a shudder throughout the truck. I took the truck out of 4x4 hi mode and finished my drive to work.

Once at work I called the dealer’s service department and spoke with Kevin Jordan. He was able to get me in at 1pm the same day (November 21st). They diagnosed the problem as a “bent front drive shaft” between the transfer case and front differential. They replaced the drive shaft.

We had no snow so I was unable to test the result of their diagnosis until Sunday, November 23rd. After testing on the 23rd I found that the Shudder was still there, just as bad as before the replacement drive shaft was installed. I took the truck to the dealer overnight drop off with a note about the problem still remaining.

I called the dealer Monday (November 24th) morning at 8am to make sure they not only got my note, and that they understood the issue was still the same. At 3pm Monday afternoon I called them to see what they had found. The result was that they could not find any issues that would cause the problem.

Unsatisfied with that response I told them that I was on my way and that I wanted the service manager to ride with me. When I arrived the service manager told me that he had just taken the truck for a ride, and that there was “definitely a problem with the truck in 4x4 mode”, and that he wanted to keep it another day to try “clocking” or indexing the front drive shaft.

I told him that I would need a loaner vehicle by Tuesday afternoon if they were unable to find the problem and wanted to keep it longer, as I was leaving for Washington, DC to visit my daughter.

The dealer arranged for me to have a loaner through Enterprise car rental, and I received a call from an Enterprise rep that evening (Monday, November 24th).


Tuesday afternoon (November 25th) I called the dealer. The result was that, while they were able to slightly lessen the shudder by indexing the front drive shaft, the shudder was still there in 4x4 hi mode. Kevin informed me that they had called the Chrysler STAR line and was told by Greg that the shudder in 4x4 hi mode is normal for all Dodge 1500 trucks while in 4WD, and that 4x4 hi mode was for OFF ROAD conditions. This is not an off road truck, nor did it come equipped with all terrain or off road tires, just street radials.

Still not happy with this response, I picked up my truck from the dealer Tuesday afternoon, November 25th.

That night I logged on to the Chrysler website and sent an email complaint to Chrysler Corp. outlining my experience with this truck.

In addition I called the Chrysler Customer Service line on Wednesday, November 26th at 10:05am before leaving on my trip. I outlined my issue with the Customer Service Representative who then assigned me a reference # (18120065) and then transferred me to the corporate representative. I then outlined my issue with yet another Chrysler representative. That person asked me, “What were my expectations of Chrysler?” I stated that I either wanted the truck fixed or I did not want the truck. And, that I had not purchased a 4wd vehicle for it not to work properly. That I have owned 3 Dodge Rams since the mid 1990’s and have never had any issues of this sort. Her response was that she was going to contact the dealer and have them take a more thorough look at the truck.

I received a return email on Wednesday, November 26th. The contents of the email are attached. Chrysler assigned me a reference # (18118144) as well as an email case # (2141336).

Wednesday, November 26th my wife and I left for Washington, DC and returned on Saturday, November 29th. While taking our trip my wife noticed there was a slight shimmy at highway speed while in 2wd operation.

As of today, Sunday, November 30th the shudder in 4x4 mode is still there, and the shimmy in 2wd operation seems to have gotten worse.

Monday, December 1st – called Towne Dodge service department at 8:06am to schedule a 3rd attempt to diagnose the problem. Dropped the truck off Tuesday night for Wednesday, December 3rd appointment.

Wednesday, December 3rd – Dealer determined the 2wd vibration was a result of unbalanced wheels. They rebalanced all four wheels. The 2wd shimmy is reduced, although still there at highway speeds. The service manager, Bob Voss, told me over the phone that they could not get the 4x4 shudder to go away. Bob claims again that according to STAR (Chrysler) the 4x4 shudder is a normal operating condition for all 1500 4x4s.

Bob went on to state that tires are not all the same and that tires spin at different rates. Bob claims that the new transfer case does not contain a viscous ring, as previous models did. That creates the transfer case to be fully locked when in 4x4 operation. And that the transfer cases with a viscous ring allow wheels on hard pack to spin at different rates without creating a shudder condition. However the new transfer cases without the viscous ring will not allow tires to spin at different rates without creating the shudder. Therefore the truck needs to be used only for off road very loose pack conditions so that the different rates of tire spin can be absorbed by the loose conditions.

Hard pack snow, ice etc will cause the condition. So, on my way home I stopped by my companies Derby plant. The plant is closed for a one week shut down, therefore the parking lot was not plowed. There was about 3 inches of snow with ice below, loose conditions. I pulled in, stopped the truck, put the truck into 4x4 hi, and lightly accelerated. Immediately the truck began to shudder. The shudder problem persists in ANY condition with this truck.

Furthermore, Bob told me that he received the information from Chrysler regarding my phone call to the Chrysler customer service line. And that he then followed up by saying, since STAR told him this is within their “normal operating condition” that he closed my case with Chrysler.

If you look at the last service record from the dealer, dated December 3rd, they only noted the problem on page two, and never did anything to address the problem.

 

so what year models don't fully engage? I guess i got a little lost by your post...your header says "Changing transfer cases out from an '08" but what you really want is to put an older transfer case in your '08, is that right?

I've got an '05 4x4, I'll try putting it in 4x4 on pavement and see what I notice...sounds like to me they're giving you a bunch of BS. Off-road only...yeah right...try doing that then bringing it in for repair when you break something "off-roading." They'll quick as $hit tell you you voided your warranty for taking it off road!!!!

 

What a load of crap! While I don't normally favor things like "lemon laws", you might check to see if your state has one and whether it might help. I don't think you should spend that kind of money on a vehicle, only to go and change parts to correct their screwups. But in all truthfullness, all I can do is offer my sympathy. Hope they work out something for you besides "sorry".

 

That's correct. I'm going to call another dealer to have them look at it, and I have already downloaded the paperwork to start lemon law proceeding in NYS. I'll be contacting the State Attorney General's Office very soon.

From what I understand it seems to be a change to the 2006 - 2008 transfer cases. But it does not affect all of them. My buddy has a '07 (pretty much the same truck as mine). He has no problems at all.

Thanks. Funny thing is, if you go to the Ready Lift website, they make this statement.

"Due to a design issue with Dodge Ram front differential and suspension, some owners may experience a vibration in the front end when in 4x4 mode, or a violent shaking vibration of the front wheels when going over a bump at speed. These two symptoms are often called a "death wobble", but actually appear to be two different problems with the Ram truck.

The 4HI mode vibration is a vibration or shudder that occurs when accelerating in 4x4 high mode. This affects Dodge Ram 1500 non mega cabs; Dodge couldn't discover why their stock trucks would do this for some customers. The solution for Dodge was to state that there is no problem and that all of the new Rams will shudder or shake when in 4x4 high. This symptom appears isolated to 2006-2008 1500 non-Mega Cab model trucks and when in 4-hi mode.

The steering wobble or vibration has to do with the steering/ball joint equipment.
Dodge had released TSBs on this problem - Daimler Technical Service Bulletin # 22-005-06. This affects 1994-2008 Dodge Ram 1500MC/2500/3500 4x4's."

 

Well id have to say that all the people telling you the tires spin at different speeds leading the truck to shake, are idiots.. and that 4 HI is for offroad.
The transfer case has nothing to do with the opperation off the wheels, the axles decide which tires are driving and which are not, in a open diiferential both tires turn on straight line, during turning or loss of traction only one turns.. and this applys both front and rear, now if there is a LSD in the rear both tires will turn regardless.
So them telling you the transfercase allows your tires to spin at different speeds, is dum.

Transfercase, Turns your Rear Driveline, in 2Hi and both drivelines in 4HI.. Thats It

(Now Ive driven My 06 on the street in 4hi, and never had any problems with shaking,
Untill i Leveled the truck and put bigger tires on. Then I went to Les Shawb, had them do a full front end alignment, and i have no more shakes)

 

I know brother... i'm so tired of getting the run around because they don't know what the problem is.

I've had 3 dodge rams before this one, and not one had any shudder in 4x4 hi, even on the dry pavement. (not that I often road on dry pavement in 4x4). My 2001 i had 35" goodyear MTR's and even on the dry road it never shuddered.

anyway, i hate this f'n truck. on the way home today i was hoping for an accident to total this POS.

been a solid die hard dodge ram person since 1988... the way they have handled this situation may have cost them a customer.

 

Take it out in wet grass or snow if available and drive the crap out of it in 4x4 hi and see what breaks. Then they will have to fix it!!

 

LOL - we got about a foot of snow yesterday. put it in 4wd hi and ran it pretty good. Nothing broke... the shudder is damped a bit in the deep snow, but still there. It's like driving on a cobblestone road.

 

Then it sounds like you do have a problem! It should not shudder in deep snow as the snow allows the front and rear to spin at different speeds. Manufacturers these days are cheap asses and they don't put viscous couplings or torque sensing diffs in transfer boxes (exept in AWD as they have no choice!) so they can make more money! In the old days it was only race and rock climbing transfer cases that locked the case. In the old days it was only a recommendation to rotate the tires, now it's a mandatory service requirement as odd circumferences in the tires trash the transfer case! If you were to go the route of a different transfer case Atlas do a good one as you can read on my thread 'Aftermarket transfer case' somewhere in this forum. My truck shudders only when you turn on the dry in 4x4, on a straight line you are ok but in the snow I get no shudder. My transfer case is on it's way out so an Atlas one will be going in after the new year! Oh by the way the Atlas is locked (as it is a race unit) but it is so stong apparently that you can use 4x4 and it wont hurt it as it is all gear driven, none of the stupid chain drive garbage as they use in the stock one. Check all of your UJ's front and rear, centre support bearing on the rear, then front shafts for play, after that wheel balance and see if you have any bulges or flat spots on the tires, check the front are not more worn then the rears or visa versa and after all that pull the covers off the diffs and see if there is any play in them of foreign objects in the bottom of the case! If you still find nothing get all the props balance and true tested by someone who specialises in props not the dealers as they are not set up for that type of work.

Hope this helps

 

Thanks for all the input meridian. Definitely helps. The most frustrating part of the entire thing is that, it's only 4 months old, under full warranty etc...

It's going back to the dealer Wednesday... I will bring up some of these ideas you wrote about.

thanks again