Feels Like It’s Stuck in the Mud

[MCRUdy51]

We recently took our 2020 Ram 1500 on a long vacation FL to Michigan and back. While on the trip the truck started feeling sluggish around town and noticed drop in fuel economy from 17+ to less that 11. After we got home I noticed that when starting the truck and driving in the morning the rear feels like it’s stuck in the mud and the inside tire when turning skips or feels like it’s shuttering. The truck has just over 20K miles and is 2wd long bed crew cab. Love the truck but concerned over what I feel and not sure what it is. Truck is at the dealership for evaluation now. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Sascwatch]

I’m not sure if these trucks have an ethanol sensor in them like my old gm did, but one time I had similar issues and it turned out to be that it needed to be reset. The truck though for some reason the fuel had 50%+ ethanol in the tank while it was actually ~10%.

 

[MCRUdy51]

I’m not sure if these trucks have an ethanol sensor in them like my old gm did, but one time I had similar issues and it turned out to be that it needed to be reset. The truck though for some reason the fuel had 50%+ ethanol in the tank while it was actually ~10%.

Thank you for the response. I am not sure but will be updating with that the dealership says.

 

[TNRamGuy]

Almost sounds like the parking brake is sticking. Any error codes?

 

[1awesomelaw]

We recently took our 2020 Ram 1500 on a long vacation FL to Michigan and back. While on the trip the truck started feeling sluggish around town and noticed drop in fuel economy from 17+ to less that 11. After we got home I noticed that when starting the truck and driving in the morning the rear feels like it’s stuck in the mud and the inside tire when turning skips or feels like it’s shuttering. The truck has just over 20K miles and is 2wd long bed crew cab. Love the truck but concerned over what I feel and not sure what it is. Truck is at the dealership for evaluation now. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Report it to the dealer as soon as you can, don't wait get it serviced as soon as possible. or you might find yourself on the side of the road going nowhere.

 

[Richard320]

Report it to the dealer as soon as you can, don't wait get it serviced as soon as possible. or you might find yourself on the side of the road going nowhere.

Did you even read his post? Quote: "Truck is at the dealership for evaluation now. Any thoughts would be appreciated."

 

[LaxDfns15]

Before you got to the 2wd part I was thinking you put it in 4wd and left it. Do you have the limited slip rear diff or the locker? Might have somehow gotten locked/bound without throwing codes. The wheel hop makes me think differential binding.

 

[MCRUdy51]

Almost sounds like the parking brake is sticking. Any error codes?

No error codes or check lights to make note of. I thought possibly brakes however no tell tale smell of brakes after driving 10-15 miles. No excessive heat either that would be expected. My belief is that there is an issue with the rear differential however waiting to hear from the dealer. I have noticed tire wear is much faster than would expect and drive like an old person. 20k miles and at wear bars on a 60k tire but another issue for another thread.

 

[MCRUdy51]

Report it to the dealer as soon as you can, don't wait get it serviced as soon as possible. or you might find yourself on the side of the road going nowhere.

It’s at the dealer today I dropped off last night.

 

[MCRUdy51]

Before you got to the 2wd part I was thinking you put it in 4wd and left it. Do you have the limited slip rear diff or the locker? Might have somehow gotten locked/bound without throwing codes. The wheel hop makes me think differential binding.

The rear is limited slip but feels like a possi rear. I have read that when differential lube fails it causes the clutches to stick and could be related.

 

[LaxDfns15]

The rear is limited slip but feels like a possi rear. I have read that when differential lube fails it causes the clutches to stick and could be related.

That is what I was thinking as well. You wouldn't be the first person to have low/no fluid in their rear diff.

 

[1awesomelaw]

Did you even read his post? Quote: "Truck is at the dealership for evaluation now. Any thoughts would be appreciated."

I did not , i only scanned the first post, my apologies.... need new glasses.

 

[MCRUdy51]

Got my truck back today. The Tech drove the truck and he serviced the rear differential changing the fluid. Drove the truck home and the fuel economy went from 11.6 heading to the dealer to 17.3 on the way home. Also didn’t notice any issues with rear differential noise or tire skipping. Very pleased that the issue was resolved. The Service Writer and Tech both advised to be aware of rear differential and if any issues return to bring back ASAP.

 

[1awesomelaw]

Got my truck back today. The Tech drove the truck and he serviced the rear differential changing the fluid. Drove the truck home and the fuel economy went from 11.6 heading to the dealer to 17.3 on the way home. Also didn’t notice any issues with rear differential noise or tire skipping. Very pleased that the issue was resolved. The Service Writer and Tech both advised to be aware of rear differential and if any issues return to bring back ASAP.

Interesting, has anyone else had this issue?

 

[Whoa_Ram]

I recall reading a post that some people found that their rear differential fluid levels are low from the factory. I'm going to go check mine out this weekend and fill up if needed, but it makes me question if that was the issue on his?

 

[LaxDfns15]

I recall reading a post that some people found that their rear differential fluid levels are low from the factory. I'm going to go check mine out this weekend and fill up if needed, but it makes me question if that was the issue on his?

That's what it sounds like, and from what he was describing I'd be worried about any damage to the spider gears from driving it so much with low fluid. At least he's got it on file with the dealer now in the event anything else happens.

 

[Sascwatch]

If the oil was low enough to cause friction issues to the point where your mileage suffered I’d be worried about what kind of damage has occurred to the bearings, ring and pinion and spider gears. It would have to be near dry for it to affect mileage.

Im thinking there something else wrong here that is intermittent or there was something else at play to drop your mileage that much, hopefully nothing major has occurred.

 

[R.A.M]

We recently took our 2020 Ram 1500 on a long vacation FL to Michigan and back. While on the trip the truck started feeling sluggish around town and noticed drop in fuel economy from 17+ to less that 11. After we got home I noticed that when starting the truck and driving in the morning the rear feels like it’s stuck in the mud and the inside tire when turning skips or feels like it’s shuttering. The truck has just over 20K miles and is 2wd long bed crew cab. Love the truck but concerned over what I feel and not sure what it is. Truck is at the dealership for evaluation now. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sounds to me like truck was left in 4wd. Tire skipping is due to binding, outside wheels travel a further distance than the inside wheel.

 

[Eighty]

Sounds to me like truck was left in 4wd. Tire skipping is due to binding, outside wheels travel a further distance than the inside wheel.

OP said, “The truck has just over 20K miles and is 2wd long bed crew cab”