First off I'm a proud owner of a 2004 Dodge Ram SLT 4x4 "Ramble Bee" with a 5.7 Hemi one of 3 Dealer Optioned trucks set up to be more of a sporty SLT short box 4x4 ala Rumble Bee. I love the hell out of this truck, its been there for me when women haven't.


Today I was returning some parts to Auto Zone for the core charge exchange, and when I was backing out of my parking space and turning out, I heard some binding in my rear differential almost like the binding you'd have in 4 wheel drive when your chain gets loose and locks up or like the bind you'd get when trying to make a turn in 4x4, only I was FOR sure in 2wd...did a test burnout.


Anyway On the way home I made several turns and with them the noise got louder & added a clicking noise to the binding during your standard 4 way intersection turns. It seemed to be fine when going straight and no turns were involved until I got home and even something as simple as trying to back up on the ice in my driveway it erupted in the differential clicking & making the truck buck & shake.


Here's a video showing what the sound is like when trying to go in reverse.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51rg...ature=youtu.be


I put the transfer case & trans into neutral and blocked the front tires and I went under the truck & grabbed the drive shaft & checked for U-Joint slop and found none, I also grabbed the drive shaft & wiggled it side to side & up & down to check for play and again found none. I also checked for anything that looked suspicious that may cause a binding or twist from outside the pumpkin and everything looked fine, such as U bolts & leaf springs...attention fully on the rear differential after the initial inspection.


This truck has been known to do mostly one wheel burnouts and on RARE occasions it will burn both tires, so it may be a limited slip differential but I have no clue. Later today I am going to take the diff cover off and see if I can see anything wrong inside of it, I'm hoping its maybe just the differential lock or something easy & stupid as spending $1000 on a rear end isn't a very fun thought. I had to work so my diagnostics was cut short and didn't give me any answers.


Any thoughts on what my problem might be before I dive into it?

 

I ran the build sheet on my truck and they said my truck has the following rear axel....


DMDS 3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
DRBS Corporate 9.25 LD Rear Axle


Not sure if that's a limited slip or if its a standard rear end.

 

If I were YOU, I strongly advise opening the rear diff to see if its grenading. The 9.25 limited slips are known to drop clips(keepers) and grinding the case or getting lodged between the gears----do a search. You might get lucky, but you may also find yourself stranded with a pool of gearoil draining on the pavement.

 

That does not tell you if its an LSD.
Open the pumpkin up and look for clutch packs.
If you have them, then you have an LSD.
As said, that year did have issues with clutch pack retaining clips commonly but wrongly called c clips.
Search for those and theres lots of posts about these issues.
If nothing looks bad in your gear set and LSD.
Put it all back togeather with fresh fluid and if you have the LSD, make sure you habe the correct amount of friction modifier added to the diff fluid. Or make sure the fluid already has in incorporated in it like Royal Purple does.
However from your video, I think you'll find your diff is toast from the sounds of it.
Al.

 

The odd thing is that there were no symptoms of this happening, I went to Auto Zone to return some parts for my car and was backing out of the space and it started to click every now and then. I wonder if the differential pin came loose? I haven't had a chance to look at the truck yet due to being busy with work, but I miss the hell out of driving my Hemi around. I'm currently driving my 97 Ram with a 360 and she still holds her own against newer trucks, but my Hemi is the big middle finger to all these off brand trucks...miss it sooo bad.

 

I'm really surprised that none of the great minds here thought of this...Spider Gear Failure! seriously this turned out to be a pretty easy fix.

 

Probably because it's not a very common occurrence. I'd say you're lucky the pieces didn't get into the ring and pinion. Make sure to clean everything out real well, including all the bearings.

 

You are hard on the differential with your burnouts but that is a lot of damaged teeth.