Are the Ram 1500 rearends really this weak?

[imq707s]

I have around 144,000 miles on my 2004 Hemi Ram 1500 Quad Cab. My family and I decided to take a road trip with our 20ft camper from Springfield Missouri to Pensacola Florida for a week....about 1600 miles round trip.

The trip was going great, until the rear-end started making some horrible noises on the way home....we are actually stuck in Memphis right now waiting for the shop to put a complete used rearend in my truck. After they got the diff cover off they showed me the gears.....the ring and pinion are trashed! I actually changed the fluid in the diff before we left on our trip and everything looked great inside of it.

Are the OEM gears on the 9.25 rearends that Dodge puts in the Ram 1500's so weak that they can't stand up to regular towing? Our camper only weights around 4000lbs fully loaded. I was hoping that it was just a pinion bearing making the horrible noise.....didn't expect to see a chipped and chewed up set of ring and pinion gears.

....so now me family and I are stuck in a hotel room for a few days waiting for a new/used rearend to get swapped into my truck.....$2500. Sucks!

[imq707s]

In theory the "pull over ASAP" thing is correct.....but if you are close to Memphis and pulling over puts you in the ghetto, and an unsafe environment for you and your family......I'm going to keep on trucking until I can find a safe place to pull over.

[Wes_Tausend]

...

One of the primary correct things to do if a diff (or any other part) is making noise is to stop immediately. Sometimes the pinion nut can be checked and tightened, or a leak can be found, but mostly quite a few bucks can be saved by just stopping early, not seeing how far one can make it. No excuses.

Some years ago a certain young man was using my Craftsman air compressor out in the garage. He came in the house and, after having casually finished making most of a sandwich, mentioned that my compressor was making noise. I said, "Well you shut it off, didn't you?"

"No."

Leaping to action, my foot just made it in the door when the now-hammering compressor blew up. It had apparently lost a rod-cap nut and eventually threw the rod through the crankcase. Early on, it WOULD have been salvageable with a new rod. $300 up in smoke. There was a lecture.

Years ago, the summer after high school grad, I worked in at a 24 hour full-service gas station. We normally worked in shifts of two attendants on duty at a time. I was a good mechanic and the owner preferred to work the dayshift with me. He was a lazy bum that spent all his time behind his desk doing his bookwork and God knows, while I frantically covered everything else alone. Still I liked, and took, a lot of shop work.

The drive-way bell would ring and within the second, he would yell so that I would arrive at the pump before the customer stopped. Inevitably I left a differential plug loose during check-list and forgot to tighten it when I finally got back in the shop. And as my customer glared and hovered, I was embarrassed to be running late on my promised 10 minute oil change/grease. Wes be quick.

The loose plug fell out somewhere in Montana and the diff soon threw all the lube out. $200 up in smoke. I apologized profusely and offered to pay the repair but the owner refused. I never saw him again though. At my recommendation, the boss did hire a 3rd man, a full time day shop mechanic. It wasn't me. Lesson learned.

Wes
...

[TurnThePage]

Well the op indicated weights were ok. Even when weight is the issue, it doesn't show up in the diff, right? I've never seen a half ton diff fail from weight alone. Walkabout axles maybe. I've grenaded two with abuse but not overloading. Those two were Fords with teenagers showing off behind the gas pedal. Operator error aside, diffs are typically pretty stout.

[BenK]

And the majority of those overloaded and at the hairy edge of their
ratings to over will just be okay during the good days out there...their
issue will be when Mr Murphy crosses their path...like what happened to this OP...

Many say it only happens to the 'other guy'...well this OP is that
'other guy'...

Semi-floaters has a failure situation that is dangerous not just to
those in that vehicle, but to others around them...have seen one come
off and fly a couple lanes over to the shoulder. Lucky there was no
vehicle in the way...

tinner12002 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Weights? Its all ablout weights. How loaded or overloaded is your rear end? Loading to the max or over weights will eventually lead to failures of lots of parts. What did the old oil look like? Water in it? There will always be more to this story for sure.

I agree about the weights, but there are a lot of people on this site that think nothing of overloading and think that as long as their TV pulls it they are good to go!

[tinner12002]

donn0128 wrote:
Weights? Its all ablout weights. How loaded or overloaded is your rear end? Loading to the max or over weights will eventually lead to failures of lots of parts. What did the old oil look like? Water in it? There will always be more to this story for sure.

I agree about the weights, but there are a lot of people on this site that think nothing of overloading and think that as long as their TV pulls it they are good to go!

[bucky]

In my experience the last few years since LKQ started buying up used parts yards all over the country prices have skyrocketed. You won't find $500 rears any more unless you get real lucky and have time to mess with looking. Jaspers remans are pushing $2K and more.
To the OP I hope you get home OK and that FCA will take care of you. Have the shop pull the guts from the blown rear so you have something to show the FCA rep when he comes to your dealer.

[Community Alumni]

The pinion bearings went bad in my '02. No problems from my 08'.

[srt20]

The recall is real on the pinion nut. It is a problem an the pinion nut loosens slightly and this takes out the pinion bearing. The 3 dodge trucks I'm in close contact with, 2 mine, 1 my dad, all had loose nuts. I caught mine and my dads early enough, my wife's truck wrecked the bearing and caused some excessive wear on the ring and pinion gears. Dodge replaced the pinion bearing on my wife's truck at 194k miles for free since it's a recall. They deemed the gears were fine, which they look useable, but they do howl. I didn't argue, the truck is on its last leg and the rear gears will likely outlast the rusting body panels anyway.

So anyway your rear end is likely covered by the recall anyway. The dealer told me they would replace everything that was damaged. And it's clear yours is trashed.

[BenK]

Of course...they know you are stuck...and most act like this...

If a used diff/gear set/carrier...it should already be broken in...if NEW, then
take it REALLY easy leaving town...suggest driving around without the trailer to
break in the gear set

Assume that this half ton has a semi-floater like most half ton's do

The bearing out at the end of the axle by the wheels should not have
tossed debris that far into the diff pumpkin...normally, but not impossible

Most likely the carrier bears went, if it was bearings...

The gear set when it fails will toss flakes of gear facing into the
lube. That will take out the carrier bearings

When over loaded, gear's fail in two ways

#1 is that the face will work harden and 'potato chip' (flake) pieces
to leave a rough surface...that will make a whining noise. Those flakes
will destroy the carrier bearing.

It will heat up before it flakes off and some times smoke to flame out
the vent tube

This failure takes a bit of time and/or mileage and typically tells
by whining or some other noise. Some have described it as whirling

#2 is that the gear tooth/teeth will snap or chip. This is an instant
failure of the whole pumpkin. This is not common, but it happens and
the ones I've eyeballed were street/track racers popping the clutch or
some such.

[imq707s]

I'm sure they aren't cutting me any deals....but being stranded 6 hours from home, I don't have much leverage.....i pay their price or I don't get home.

[dodge_guy]

No they are a decent rear axle! The 9.25 is one of the best out there. I've never seen a gear set go bad, only pinion bearings and very very rarely carrier bearings. $2500 sounds a bit much. Are they putting a used axle in it? If so axles can be found for less than $500 and labor should be around $500! I think someone is inflating thier prices because you are in a bind!

And FYI....GM and Ford have similar rear axle bearing failures.

As far as the recalls go! Call Chrysler and see if your truck is one of the ones included in the recall!

[352]

Grit dog wrote:
No, just proof that Florida s ucks and you shouldn't go there! Your truck protested! Lol
In general 9-1/4 Chrysler rear ends are super durable, or they wouldn't have continued using them for what like 4 decades now.
150kmi, is a c rap shoot with any vehicle though and if well maintinaed, you just lost at c raps.
I've had good n bad in all of the big 3. Sucks it happened on your trip.
I've owned 4 - 2nd Gen ram 1500s with that axle and one had problems when brand new. Was a 1 year offering of different gears and they had some bad r and p sets. Never any high mile problems but all were sold under 100k and one at like 130kmi.

I really do agree that Florida sucks and you shouldn't go there.

[imq707s]

carringb wrote:
Did you replace the fluid with full synthetic? Were you towing at high speeds? I have a rear diff temp gauge and speed has a direct affect on the diff temp.

Towing from Florida all the way through Mississippi at around 65mph...fighting a mean head wind the entire time......I'm sure that extra load didnt help.

And yes, before I left I put fresh full synthetic 75w-140 in it.

[Chuck_thehammer]

go to the Dodge Ram forum... thousands of mid 200x have major differential problems.. some as low as 10,000 miles..

even a recall on early 2004 with dirt/grit in differential fluid.
spider pins sliding out of location... pinion gear failure.
problem has been known and available since 2004... and 2005, 2006.