Hi everyone:

I bought my 2011 ram laramie crew cab one and half month ago, took the truck to do my first oil change today , unfortunately, mechanics found out a cover
of a gear box that stays next to the front differential has been broken. The service adviser said is something to do with the 4X4 option. Need to schedule an appointment to fix it.

The thing is , I didn't hear any sound of the chassis was hit on something while i was driving. To me , it looks something exploded from inside of the case.

My question is what is it , what does this thing do? any guess why it got broken. I attached a picture to help to understand.

Many Thanks!!

 

Definitely looks like a transfer case. Were you using 4x4 on any dry surfaces?

 

Front axle disconnect.

 

x2. It is what connects the 2 halfs of the passenger side shaft together so that you have 4wd. They do this instead of locking hubs on most street vehicles. Looks like you'll be getting a whole new front axle assembly.

What is interesting to me is that it appears that the tube is pulled out of both the housing and the outside of the axle disconnect.

 

based on age of truck my guess is it was damaged by delivery service while in transit (or coming on/off of trailer) on way to dealer.

 

Thanks very much for the reply above. I didn't use 4x4 on dry pavement, coz i know the 4x4 low and 4x4 lock option can only be used in snow . Only thing i did is turn the **** to 4x4 auto, which the manual say is ok to do so. don't know if the warranty cover this...
It's such a pain to see a brand new truck went into this situation so quick and have to wait till next week to find out answer from dealer....weekend ruined....

 

No reason that the warranty shouldn't cover it. Even if you were driving around in 4x4 lock, that would not cause the disconnect actuator to explode.

 

Update on this issue, the dealer said this broken cover is caused by foreign object hit on it. Warranty won't cover it. Change of this case will be 470 plus tax ! First , i am so mad that this is not cover by warranty. I just have this truck less than 2 months. Second , i didn't notice the truck was hit by a big big rock that can broke the cover like that when was driving it. The noise need to be really loud to cause a damage like this. Since this truck has 500 km on it before i buy it because the dealer transfer this truck from other dealer. I am curious that this damage was already there before i drove it off the lot. I know my argument is kind of weak since i didn't check the bottom ( big lesson) but that's the only possibility that i could think of.

Questions ffor and helps needed from other ram owners.

Any body know more about the warranty policy that i can apply it and use on my case ?

Does anybody agrees with me that the damage was there ? how can i talk to or negotiate with the dealer to drop down my cost?

What is the problem will be if i drive around this truck( for couple days , and about 200 km highway) to find a cheaper fix. I want to try the other dealer at other city because i am going there on Friday. Not just this dealer is pricey, also its service advisor are really bad ( one of them at least) First thing he talk to me after he heard what i describe to him is " We gonna check it , if is not cover by warranty ,you have to pay all the checking hour we spent" in a very rude way... so even i need to pay for it eventually, but i am not going to pay it to you.

Thank you very very much for your time. Hope you guys can help me out even just a little.

Thanks again.

 

Something hitting it would make sense, except that I would expect to see some damage on the tierod as well. You didn't happen to put a floor jack under the actuator did you?

 

Thanks for the reply oldjeep.
To your question , no, never.