well I got the first problem with the HEMI... and it isnt engine related, sorry to dissappoint those Nissan, Toyota and other rice burner lovers and critics of the HEMIS that seem to troll this group.

I started to hear a clunking noise a couple of months ago, it was very random and didnt seem to worry about it. Then as time wore on the clunking became more frequent and so I decided I start to hunt it down. I started when I had the first chance and decided that it could be coming from something banging around in my truck trunk(aluminum toolbox in the bed) but couldnt find anything, so I emptied it. That didnt help at all, still clunking. I have been driving an '02 camaro for the last 3 weeks so I havent pursued the adventure, but now I have that terrible sinking feeling. I jacked the rear tires off the ground today and discovered the noise is in the rear axle itself. Only really noticable when turning at low speeds... according to the service manual something related to the pinion is bad. At 24,000 miles, that didnt take long to go bad. Now I begin to wonder if the dealership will actually fix it the first time around, or if I will have to take it in more than 3 times and make a scene before they decide that its in their best interest to catch it now before one of my wheels passes me up on the freeway.

I have babied this truck compared to the last 3 trucks, I dont drag race it, havent been to the track, rarely pull anything, take mostly long road trips, it spends it life in the garage, hasnt seen rain in about 3 months, is always clean and well taken care of maintenance wise. Plus the boneheads at the dealer are the ones that have done all of the oil changes and whatever required crap that is supposed to have had with the exception of one oil change that I did myself.

So who has a similar experience with which I could use to judge how Dodge is going to respond to my problem.

 

well. . .the first thing they will do is take it for a test drive. they may hear it. . .they may not. if they dont, your out the door frustrated. if they do they keep it for two weeks trying to figure out what the problem is. . .and you also end up frustrated.

but that depends on your dealership. if they are as you say boneheads then I would be weary about taking it to them. try another dealership that seems to be better off.

or, if your up for some hair raiseing troubleshooting and are a little bit mechanicaly inclined. try this.

drive the truck around the block to get the gear oil slung inside the diff to keep it lubed. pull back into your garage put the rear axel on jackstands and pull off the diff cover. if you dont see anything out of the ordanary right off the bat do the following.

crank the engine, set the parking brake just enough to put a load on the drive train, but still allowing it to rotate. put tranny in gear and crawl under and see if you can pick out what the noise is.

you could have a carier bearing that is going, a spider gear that has a tooth with a chunk missing or something along those lines.

or it could be something as simple as a C-clip that has fallen out or binding, and the clunk your hearing is it repossitioning.

 

I read of several others having serious problems with their rear axle. None had any problem getting the Dealer taking care of the problem. Several instances of retaining clips breaking. One also had so much wear on the housing they had to replace the whole axle. They swapped the axle with another new truck on the lot. There are also several rear axle complaints for the Rams on http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...aintsearch.cfm


Hope everything works out.

 

Something like this shouldn't be that big of a deal for the dealership. Hopefully they just take care of it without too much drama. Let us know what they find.

 

He better hope its not a c-clip that fell out, otherwise his axle will pull out.

I would pull the cover and give it a look. Its easy to do, only takes a couple of mins. If you see something wrong bring it in.

 

Which rear do you have? Gear ratio? Limited-slip?

Thanks and best of luck.

 

Member of another forum posted this pic of what he found in the diff in his 03 Ram. Three others in the thread said they also had the clips break on their Rams. One of them was a 2nd gen the others were 3rd gen Rams. In reading the NHTSA complaints there were several Ram owners who had their axle leave the vehicle while traveling down the road. This concerns me more than the more numberous stalling complaints.

I've wondered if the ridiculously low 15,000 mile recommendation for gear lube changes isn't more for inspection purposes than the necessity to replace the fluid. I was going to let mine go, but have since reconsidered.

[IMG]local://upfiles/12354/BFA1750745EB4A50852D49BF808FDFE4.jpg[/IMG]

 

Any idea what those are? Looks like something from the LSD maybe?

 

Those aren't the "c" clips, but I'm curious what they are. I can't see that being part of the LSD either though.

 

Definitely not the C clips. Interesting though.