Differential or Transmission Clunk

[NDanecker]

****UPDATE****
Dealer called and said that after driving a few other trucks on the lot that the clunk appeared in all of them and nothing else seemed to have issue.

So we shall see.

My adviser just called. They are still looking at it, and gave some random BS response stating their service manager is still talking it over with the quality controls guy. Lots of nice words that either mean 1) they haven't looked at it yet or 2) they know about the problem but don't have a solution.

Either way I am happy they seem to be trying to do the right thing here, and I have a loaner till they fix the issue. Whatever they come up with the answer that it is working as it should is not acceptable. I have had numerous Ram's in the past, and have friends with similar trucks. This noise should not happen, and is either a worn part or a design flaw, and needs to be fixed.

 

[The_Chemist]

I can put the truck in drive and let it idle roll it self into second and it will do it. I can brake from 40 to 30ish then roll acceleration back and it will clunk as soon as I start accelerating. Those are the two ways I can replicate it. It will do it a lot of other times though.


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Thanks. I needed a procedure to get mine do it on command - since it's intermittent . That'll be helpful when I try to get it fixed.

 

[The_Chemist]

My adviser just called. They are still looking at it, and gave some random BS response stating their service manager is still talking it over with the quality controls guy. Lots of nice words that either mean 1) they haven't looked at it yet or 2) they know about the problem but don't have a solution.

Either way I am happy they seem to be trying to do the right thing here, and I have a loaner till they fix the issue. Whatever they come up with the answer that it is working as it should is not acceptable. I have had numerous Ram's in the past, and have friends with similar trucks. This noise should not happen, and is either a worn part or a design flaw, and needs to be fixed.

Probably a flaw since mine has done it since the first week I owned it.

 

[KRField]

Probably a flaw since mine has done it since the first week I owned it.

See mine didn’t start till about 10k in so I made them first aware of it at the next oil change which was around 15k.

@NDaneker I am interested in what their response will be.


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[NDanecker]

Spoke to adviser late this PM. 3rd day with dealer having truck. They are not sure what the issue is. Could be 1 of a few different things, he said. They are working with STAR / FCA but no solution yet. If they don't hear anything by tomorrow morning the plan is to open a case with FCA Engineering so they can help solve the issue. So - it doesn't look like a clean cut part replacement solution. Hey said these 2019 Ram's are very new to the service side of things so not that much documentation (from a repair perspective) is available. We will see.

Will keep you guys posted.

 

[NDanecker]

Dealer just called. They said the bolts that hold the driveshaft to the pinion flange were lose and/or not torqued to spec. Once tightened the noise has gone away.

Going to pick up truck this afternoon. If the noise did not go away I'll report back, but they seem very confident that was it.

5 stars to the service department at Pine Belt in Lakewood for taking the time to find the root cause.

 

[Edwards]

Dealer just called. They said the bolts that hold the driveshaft to the pinion flange were lose and/or not torqued to spec. Once tightened the noise has gone away.

Going to pick up truck this afternoon. If the noise did not go away I'll report back, but they seem very confident that was it.

5 stars to the service department at Pine Belt in Lakewood for taking the time to find the root cause.

Does anyone have the torque specs for these bolts? @I Love Grits - do you have these specs?

I suspect I've got this too and I'd much rather tighten them up myself.

 

[NDanecker]

Does anyone have the torque specs for these bolts? @I Love Grits - do you have these specs?

I suspect I've got this too and I'd much rather tighten them up myself.

Appears to be 81 ft lbs. However, if they are lose the threads and/or bolt may have been damaged. They replaced the bolts on my truck. At minimum I'd pull one or all to inspect before torquing them.

I'd also like to add the clunk is gone, and the whole drive-train feels tighter (the way it should be).

 

[RMRam]

New member here. Just took delivery of '19 Limited on Thursday. Bought this with 6100 miles on odometer from my local Ram dealer. Second Ram I have owned ('16 Bighorn traded in). No big issues before with '16. Thanks for the resolution to this issue as I noticed this same thing with mine on drive yesterday. I knew that viewing this forum would help me find a possible resolution to the situation. I am going to send a link to this thread to my service manager so that he will be prepared for me when I return home. Also am going to alert dealer manager to have service manager to monitor this forum ( ) so he will be ready for me when I show up with known issues and known resolutions shown on this site. NDanecker congratulations for having a dealer seeking root cause of an issue and resolving for you. I hope to have the same type of experience.

 

[I Love Grits]

Does anyone have the torque specs for these bolts? @I Love Grits - do you have these specs?

I suspect I've got this too and I'd much rather tighten them up myself.

81 ft-lbs is correct - see attached.

 

[Edwards]

I checked mine and they were tight. My clunk is very random but sounds like it's coming from this area so I'll keep listening.

 

[Ramloco]

Bad news is they all been clunking since 2013, good news is you can lemon law and FCA will buy it back. Lemoned my 13 limited and my 16. Lost my a$$ but I at least I got some money back. Goodluck...

 

[The_Chemist]

Bad news is they all been clunking since 2013, good news is you can lemon law and FCA will buy it back. Lemoned my 13 limited and my 16. Lost my a$$ but I at least I got some money back. Goodluck...

Does it make any difference what rear end ratio we have? For instance, mine is 3.92. Will a standard rear end still clunk?

The noise it makes is pretty intimidating. Are the gears being chewed up every time this clunk happens? Mine has sometimes got such backlash when it happens, that it can make my truck lunge forward. If you're not careful, and don't have your foot on the brake, you could possibly rear end someone.

Thanks to any knowledgeable individuals in advance who can answer these questions!

 

[eduardolalo11]

Would this damage the truck in any way this is happening to me too :/

 

[Fidomac]

I picked up my Longhorn Tuesday night. So far I have less than 150 miles on it.

Today driving home from work, I started hearing a clunk and can feel a slight jolt when starting and stopping in slow moving traffic (such as creeping your way up to a stop sign, waiting for your turn to go).

I'm disturbed by this and don't know if it will continue doing this until something self-destructs.

The clunk sound appears to be coming from the rear end. Maybe the differential or transmission....

I have a 3.92 gear ratio and a non-etorque engine.

Is this normal?

On another note, I can hear something rolling around inside the dash every time I stop or start moving. Guess the boys at the factory dropped something in there during assembly.

You think the assembly people would take pride in their work!

Any ideas on the clunk noise?

I have the same thing... I expect the dealer will tell you this is normal

 

[eduardolalo11]

Your description sounds like what I am experiencing. I noticed it also when I was pulling into a parking spot and just about getting ready to stop. I felt something like a really hard downshift and a "clunk" then a slight jolt.

I guess I'll monitor it for a while and see what happens.

have you been able to figure this out? I am having the same exact issue!

 

[The_Chemist]

have you been able to figure this out? I am having the same exact issue!

The truck still has the phenomenon (for lack of a better description) but not as frequently.

It may be backlash as others have stated.

I find if I come to a complete stop, the issue doesn't occur. Sometimes there's no way to avoid it though, such as when you are in stop and go situations such as approaching a stop sign waiting for your turn to go.

My truck has to go in soon (whenever I get around to scheduling it) for its first oil change and 2 recalls. I may ask the dealer to look at it. I'm still under 2, 000 miles I just drive it on the weekends. My 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe is my daily driver.

 

[Jacobs]

Mine has the same problem. 1200 miles on it. Have any of you found out the solution?

 

[Ramzy]

Dropping my truck off for the third time today. The problem is coming to a stop or slowing to make a sharp turn the truck makes a slamming noise / feeling and the ac and radio sound (not display just sound) shuts off. Seems to be worse when the outside temperature is hot. I live in Florida and now that we are getting back in the 90’s it’s happening more often.

 

[NDanecker]

Its been a few months so thought I'd report back with an update. I had very similar characteristics to what most have experienced on this thread and since the dealer tightened the driveshaft flange bolts to spec the noise/clunk has never returned.

Good luck to those that are still struggling with this.