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Please help. Front drive shaft

Old Jan 7, 2022 | 10:39 AM
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Default Please help. Front drive shaft

I have a 2012 Ram 1500. I turned on the 4X4 and everything worked fine. When I turned it off light went out I drove 10 feet truck stopped short and front drive shaft broke. Truck drives fine in 2X4 but I haven’t tried 4X4 since what would cause this and or where should I start? Thanks in advance.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2022 | 11:24 AM
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I'd suspect a bad U-joint in the front drive shaft. This thread should likely be moved to the forum that deals with later model Dodge trucks.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2022 | 11:27 AM
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Your '12 is IFS. Did the driveshaft itself break, or a half shaft?

Your symptoms don't make a TON of sense but I'd start by replacing the offending component. I'd also verify proper t-case operation with the truck in the air but even if something is wrong with your t-case I don't see how it'd break the front d/s...I guess maybe if the chain broke and wadded up at the front output but then I think it'd crack the case and you'd have ATF everywhere

So basically I think whatever broke was already on its way out
 
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Old Jan 7, 2022 | 04:53 PM
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Gonna have to crawl under there, and look and see what's broken, and where. That will determine what its gonna take to fix it.

Moving this to fourth gen ram section.
 
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Old Jan 7, 2022 | 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith_L
Your '12 is IFS. Did the driveshaft itself break, or a half shaft?

Your symptoms don't make a TON of sense but I'd start by replacing the offending component. I'd also verify proper t-case operation with the truck in the air but even if something is wrong with your t-case I don't see how it'd break the front d/s...I guess maybe if the chain broke and wadded up at the front output but then I think it'd crack the case and you'd have ATF everywhere

So basically I think whatever broke was already on its way out
I can turn the t case shaft and it turns fine w/o any noise or restriction. What about the actuator on the front end? If that hung up would that cause the quick bind up? And the shaft broke in 1/2.
 

Last edited by Huey66; Jan 7, 2022 at 06:30 PM.
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Old Jan 7, 2022 | 06:35 PM
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[QUOTE=Huey66;3534458]
I can turn the output shaft in the t case and it doesn’t sound like and grinding or any leaks. What about the actuator on the front diff? If that didn’t return all the way would that cause the problem? Very frustrating since we got a foot of snow today lol. I’m good with fixing things but not familiar with the newer 4X4
Set ups.
 
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Old Jan 9, 2022 | 10:30 PM
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if the front axle actuator got stuck or didn't engage correctly or something, it wouldn't snap the drive shaft. it might grind axle shafts or something if the forks didn't engage correctly, but most likely it would just lock in or out. I am agreeing with As stated previously, probably a bad Ujoint. 2012 is a 10 year old truck now. If you are in an area with a lot of snow, rust might have gotten to it or something.
 
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