Well, it’s broken:(

[bigdodge]

found this "One of the main things you need to understand is that it is, the manufacturer of your vehicle, that is responsible for, administers your warranty coverage, and pays for your repairs, not the dealership."

here

Understanding Your Vehicle's Factory Warranty

Car Pro Radio Show host Jerry Reynolds shares an inside look at the factory warranty process from the dealership side.

www.carprousa.com

 

[22Rebel_USCG]

found this "One of the main things you need to

found this "One of the main things you need to understand is that it is, the manufacturer of your vehicle, that is responsible for, administers your warranty coverage, and pays for your repairs, not the dealership."

here

Understanding Your Vehicle's Factory Warranty

Car Pro Radio Show host Jerry Reynolds shares an inside look at the factory warranty process from the dealership side.

www.carprousa.com

Well they are definitely acting like they do.

 

[kdawg]

I'm wondering if the issue was caused by shifting into 4L AND locking the axle at the same time. Doesn't it take some momentum to engage the transfer case into 4L... and once that is complete you can then lock the axle but shouldn't enable both at the same time from standstill? However, I don't have enough experience with this to say whether it will cause a mechanical failure and I hope Ram covers the expense.

 

[c3k]

This should be totally covered by your warranty.

 

[ferraiolo1]

Op did nothing incorrectly per the owners manual.

If the parameters aren’t met, the truck will not shift into 4low.

Unless there was an issue with a sensor somewhere in the truck that caused something internally to not fully engage and bind.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheWaterman83]

I don't feel you did anything wrong here. 12" of snow in front of your driveway should NOT be snapping driveshafts or busting transfer cases. With that being said: Play very very dumb. It's sad but I don't trust dealers/manufacturers to do the right thing anymore.

Maybe I missed something but to engage into 4wd low you need to be on flat pavement, with the transmission in neutral, to engage it? Also, you can lock the the locker in 4wd high, low, or even 2wd drive. The only issue is it's speed limit and whacky around turns (as you'd imagine it to be). I've personally used it in 4wd high in unique situations.

 

[devildodge]

Judging by the pictures. Which it is very hard to discern if you are not familiar with the front driveshaft...this absolutely has nothing to do with the rear locker. nothing. The fact it was engaged or not has nothing to do with it.

It is obviously a defect in the cast of the double cardian joint of the section that is bolted to the transfer case. This should absolutely be honored by warranty.

The OP said he made the 4low shift in neutral. And it was completed indicated by a solid 4low light.

The OP did everything correctly. He is not at fault and has no need to play dumb. The facts are that it was a failure of a warranty covered part

Alot of people with trucks truly need to understand 4low.

When you shift in to 4hi/auto...you are just engaging the front drivetrain. It can be done at any speed in any gear including park. It is best to be moving...but can be done stopped.

4low is a whole different ball game. You are changing gears. Your changing the operable speed. You are changing the torque manipulation.

YOU HAVE TO BE IN NEUTRAL. You should be coasting under 5 mph...but can be done stopped.

If you try to do it in Park reverse or drive it will not let you. If you try to do it over 5 mph it will not let you.

BUT, if you do it in P R or D or over 5mph and you then go into neutral and/or under 5 mph it will start to make that shift...and if you then shift into drive or reverse...catastrophic transfer case failure can happen...as the gears bang together instead of mesh together.

When shifting into 4low...select neutral. Select 4low. Wait for the light to be steady. Then select your gear and apply minimal accelerator until you are sure you have engagement.

Again...the OP did everything correctly. The rear locker has no part in the issue...and was also engaged correctly. This should be covered under warranty and other than a possible parts shortage...should not be anymore of an inconvenience than if a power window switch broke.

Why do dealers continue to punish customers? No-one knows. But they sure do think it is their right.

 

[Shots]

.... I have put 4WD systems through so much worse, for long periods of time and never had anything break. On every truck I've had, I've eventually forgotten to take my truck out of 4W High before leaving the farm, and I drove 75 miles home at highway speeds on dry pavement, only to realize my mistake when I went to turn into my driveway and felt it binding. Nothing ever broke, not on any of them.....

You are not alone on this. I've seen some 4wd systems ABUSED and not have that happen. Visit a Jeep forum some time, and you'll see people flat out flogging their vehicles. Yet their differentials aren't exploding in a driveway. Something very abnormal happened here, and I find it highly unlikely that it was operational.

Every time I see one of these threads I feel so grateful that my local dealer is apparently magically not like this.

Amen to that. My dealership has been great about any issues I've ever had and I've taken them Rams, Chargers and Jeeps (and the Rams/Jeeps have all been lifted or leveled). There's been no push back from the dealership. I don't understand why some dealers act like the repair is coming out of their budget. FCA covers it not them. Why not try to work with the customer? I guess the moral of the story is once you find a good dealership and/or service department, stick with them.

@22Rebel_USCG , I have no idea where all the comments in the beginning of this thread are coming from. Your truck is meant to use 4 low with lockers. If you are sitting on snow all the more reason to use it. It is an electronic shift. It will only shift when it is able......

I don't think anyone was accusing the OP of doing anything wrong. It was more a matter of pointing out how the system is supposed to be used.
As others have noted, if you select a 4wd setting at the wrong time, the truck typically won't engage it. So even if it was done wrong it shouldn't engage and then detonate.
The early posts were "FYI" and/or "don't give them an excuse to deny warranty on an unrelated issue" comments. I don't think anyone was trying to imply that shifting into 4LO improperly would cause the front diff to break.

OP, did you take any photos of the truck where it broke? Not just the close ups you posted, but something like a wider shot of the truck in the driveway? If so, those may be helpful to show Ram so they can see you weren't out rock crawling or something.

 

[Aseras]

It won't even let you shift to 4 lo without going into neutral. it literally hand holds you through it in the EVIC. There's 100% nanny that the truck won't let you break it.

I used 4 lo on my truck and pulled my tractor out of a hole. it worked fine and the stupid autopark is disabled in 4 lo too.

 

[CalvinC]

So I can definitely see this happening if your front wheels are cranked one way or the other from when you parked, and then you pulled out in 4lo without straightening the wheel.

Despite the snowfall it’s still high friction, dry road for a few inches below the tires where it was parked.

And from my experience doing *exactly* the same and blowing the front prop shaft on a Durango, as well as TFL blowing theirs on their Rebel, I believe dodge makes their prop shafts out of porcelain.

 

[22Rebel_USCG]

Hmmmmm

 

[22Rebel_USCG]

I’m waiting to see what they say today when I go up there. If it’s a dumb answer I’ll contact RamCare and hopefully get some help that way. Either way I’ll post to let everyone know what’s up.

 

[22Rebel_USCG]

You are not alone on this. I've seen some 4wd systems ABUSED and not have that happen. Visit a Jeep forum some time, and you'll see people flat out flogging their vehicles. Yet their differentials aren't exploding in a driveway. Something very abnormal happened here, and I find it highly unlikely that it was operational.


Amen to that. My dealership has been great about any issues I've ever had and I've taken them Rams, Chargers and Jeeps (and the Rams/Jeeps have all been lifted or leveled). There's been no push back from the dealership. I don't understand why some dealers act like the repair is coming out of their budget. FCA covers it not them. Why not try to work with the customer? I guess the moral of the story is once you find a good dealership and/or service department, stick with them.


I don't think anyone was accusing the OP of doing anything wrong. It was more a matter of pointing out how the system is supposed to be used.
As others have noted, if you select a 4wd setting at the wrong time, the truck typically won't engage it. So even if it was done wrong it shouldn't engage and then detonate.
The early posts were "FYI" and/or "don't give them an excuse to deny warranty on an unrelated issue" comments. I don't think anyone was trying to imply that shifting into 4LO improperly would cause the front diff to break.

OP, did you take any photos of the truck where it broke? Not just the close ups you posted, but something like a wider shot of the truck in the driveway? If so, those may be helpful to show Ram so they can see you weren't out rock crawling or something.

I didn’t man, and furthermore I had a 16 JK and did some legit sketch things once it had a 4” lift and 35’s… nothing like this ever happened!

 

[CalvinC]

I didn’t man, and furthermore I had a 16 JK and did some legit sketch things once it had a 4” lift and 35’s… nothing like this ever happened!

My prior comment about dodge’s porcelain prop shafts may read as a niggle but it’s actually a great thing in my view.

Way easier to fix than a transfer case or front differential.

Jeeps use stout Dana solid axles up front, more stout I suspect than the front IFS diffs in rams.

I found out after the fact that front diffs on dakotas and Durango’s were particularly weak, so the exploding prop shaft may well have been a “feature” and not a bug.

 

[HEMIJAKE]

Sounds like you did nothing wrong, and just got a dud. It happens. Them not wanting to honor your warranty should not happen though, in my opinion. If they don't honor it, hope and pray it takes them a while to fix it. As soon as your able to (30 days here in Pa.), call a lemon law attorney and file a claim. My wife and I did with her kia (down 59 days with a transmission), and it was very easy.

 

[killerformula]

So I can definitely see this happening if your front wheels are cranked one way or the other from when you parked, and then you pulled out in 4lo without straightening the wheel.

Despite the snowfall it’s still high friction, dry road for a few inches below the tires where it was parked.

And from my experience doing *exactly* the same and blowing the front prop shaft on a Durango, as well as TFL blowing theirs on their Rebel, I believe dodge makes their prop shafts out of porcelain.

This. That's what it looks like to me. The locker has nothing to do with it. Neither does how he shifted into 4lo. The failure wasn't in thr transfer case. It looks to me like what happened is the transfer case was in low, the front tires hooked up and they were turned on a solid, grippy surface. The 4 lo multiple torque to the front drive shaft when thr wheels were turned, it couldn't turn them at the same rate and the drive shaft was the weak link.

 

[Quint]

I use my 4-low often. With machinery it's use it or lose it. When I pulled my boat out of the lake, I usually switch to 4-low just to get those gears some use. If I get stuck in the snow on a lake, 4-low to creep out.

Now, I did notice that the OP mentioned something about turning the wheel which is a no-no on dry pavement. I'm just not exactly sure what he specifically did. How he engaged the system has zero bearing on the failure. If he turned on dry pavement, maybe, but most of us have done that a handful of times with zero incident. If anything, the wheels should have hopped, not snapped the shaft.

The dealership is definitely going to try to push the cost onto you. Don't even call your insurance. If they tell you it's your fault, get them to write it down on paper for your attorney to review.

 

[22Rebel_USCG]

This. That's what it looks like to me. The locker has nothing to do with it. Neither does how he shifted into 4lo. The failure wasn't in thr transfer case. It looks to me like what happened is the transfer case was in low, the front tires hooked up and they were turned on a solid, grippy surface. The 4 lo multiple torque to the front drive shaft when thr wheels were turned, it couldn't turn them at the same rate and the drive shaft was the weak link.

It was about 10” of snow, definitely not grippy. I have a driveway and it’s not covered, and about 17 out when it happened.

 

[killerformula]

It was about 10” of snow, definitely not grippy. I have a driveway and it’s not covered, and about 17 out when it happened.

You may be right, hopefully it was just a failure in the build or the front diff locked up for some reason. But if you're pulling out of a spot in the snow just consider the area under your truck has no snow on it; so there may have been some dry pavement for the tires to grab on.

 

[HSKR R/T]

You may be right, hopefully it was just a failure in the build or the front diff locked up for some reason. But if you're pulling out of a spot in the snow just consider the area under your truck has no snow on it; so there may have been some dry pavement for the tires to grab on.

Realistically, even if it was dry pavement under the truck, it should not have caused enough resistance in the tires to break the yoke