I'll try to keep this short....

I own a 2003 Ram 2500 (Quad cab LB) 4X4 w/ the HO Cummins and a 6-speed. Truck currently has a little over 88K with no mods, just regular maint. Miles are a majority highway, when driven round trip is 110 miles. Hasn't had the chance to tow anything yet and the biggest load was a palette of Lime for the local football league.

So back in early 2004 I took the truck in for what felt like a slipping clutch. The dealer tells me the driveshaft is out of balance and replace it under warranty.

Then in 2005 she goes back because there is a moan at about 23-25MPH. Dealer writes this off as bad synchros between 3rd and 4th and replace the transmission. Truck had maybe 55-60K on it at this point, I've since bought another car and split time between them. When I'm leaving the dealer after the trans work I still hear the moan. The dealer then starts an investigation with Dodge. They tell me the moan is actually the middle bearing in the driveshaft. They say its a known issue but they haven't come up with a fix yet. Guess the good news would be I got a new trans out of it....

Last week, the weather was getting better and I had the truck out windows down. From a stop as I let the clutch out I hear a rubber on metal squeaking sound. It does away as soon as the clutch is all the way out and doesn't last that long. My first concern is the driveshaft bearing, I've always thought the problem there was lubrication since it really did it more in cold weather and seemed to go away as it 'warmed up'. So I take the truck to the dealer (thank you ext. warranty) and they tell me I have at least 1 bad U-joint and they will replace all of them (4) under warranty.
I asked the service mgr if I should be overly concerned that I've had my "Heavy Duty" truck in there so many times fir driveshaft issues. To me the 3-4 times I've been there is 4 years is excessive, maybe I'm wrong. He pulls my history and runs down when and what was done. Then looks up at me and says 'Nah I wouldn't be concerned. They are very durable trucks'. (WTF am I here for then).

So my question is has anyone else had similar problems? Is this a known issue with these trucks? I was sort of nervous about getting the 03 since there were some 'new' things introduced that year. I don't' see TSB or recalls on them for this though. Is there a way to express this concern to someone above the dealer? If so who? One of my biggest concerns is I'll be doing this again and again every year and a half without the warranty umbrella.

 

it is possible they f'ed up the ujoint when they did the trans, and or the center bearing in the dline took out the ujoint. as far as the center bearing being bad, can't they just replace it? I know it's serviceable in the medium and heavy duty trucks.

 

Well this is one of the areas the dealer confuses me. Even though the original shaft bearing never made a noise. The service guy acted like all the bearings did this and Dodge hadn't submitted a true fix yet and replacing it wouldnt' fix it.

Now I've never heard another Dodge make the noise either.....

The original shaft was replaced due to being 'out of balance'. If it really was I dont' know. The same place replaced the transmission for what ended up being the noisy DS bearing.

 

Does it make the same noise when you pish the clutch in? Noises with clutch actuation can be a few different things, the two common ones are the linkage (usually the slave cylinder to throw-out) or the throw-out bearing itself. If it makes the squeaking noise only when you push the clutch in or out it's likely just the linkage, If it make the noise when the clutch engagesand after you've let your foot off the pedal its probably the throw-out bearing. The linkage squeaking really isn't anything to worry about, if it's the throw-out you want that fixed before it leaves you sitting.

 

only does it as you are letting the clutch out from a stop or very slow speed. Actually as the clutch is about half way out and starting to load the drivetrain it squeaks. As soon as the clutch is all the way out and the drivetrain is under full load it stops. I never heard it while pushing the clutch in or while slowing down.

 

Well got the truck back today. No more noise. But I have to go back to them. the service write up says that replaced the 3 U joints between transfer case and diff. They actually only did the 2 on the rear shaft. The noise is gone (of now) but I want to make sure there is nothing stupid possible since the paperwork is wrong.