Oh Lord Stuck in Old Lodi....

[4X4Dodger]

Well Cheyenne Wy. actually. (apologies to CCR)

My new 2014 Dodge threw the pin in it's differential putting a hole in the casing and bringing me to a halt by the side of the road in a construction zone 39 miles from Cheyenne.

Now I called the Chrysler/Dodge road side Assistance and they had a tow truck to me within an hour and towed me and my trailer to the KOA in Cheyenne and then my truck to the dealer. At the dealer they ordered a new rear axle assembly while I stood there and put me in a brand new Dodge Durango FREE. They apologized for not having a 3/4 ton truck for me so I could continue my trip!

Along with the fact that the Dodge warranty is a good long one on the drive train, 100,000 miles and 3/36 on the rest of the truck with this road side assistance and the free car it really took the sting out of the whole debacle.

I have been very impressed with the way this has been handled so far.

Makes me wonder how GSE RSA might compare?

This KOA is simple but clean and the owners have been very nice.

This is when you start looking for ways to make Lemonade out of Lemons.

As for my trailer a 2007 Gulfstream Innsbruck, it has performed perfectly. Tows straight as an arrow (no sway apparatus) and has had no problems. My years-old Goodyear tires with great tread were inflated to 65psi and other than the routine checks one makes before any trip I did nothing special to get ready for this trip from Minot, ND to San Francisco to the Grand Canyon and back.

Unfortunately the one thing I had no way of checking was the thing that broke...on my brand new truck.

[PAThwacker]

I towed my camper 130 miles home 2 weeks ago, go to back into driveway. No reverse. Transmission internals went to the ****ter. I'm glad I made it home.

[4X4Dodger]

dodge guy wrote:
Glad you are not taking the truck (axle) issue seriously. some would come on here and beat Chrysler into the ground because of the breakage! Like you state that failure is a 1 in 100,000 chance of failure, I`m glad it happened to you (not because you broke down) but because you know how and why things fail! now if we had 100 people complaining about this type of failure then I can see it being an issue.

And yes AAM is the axle manuf. and this failure could have happened in a GM truck as well.

Glad you are making this out to be a good thing, enjoy your unexpected delay!

You are right, beating on Chrysler or the Service guys would serve no purpose whatsoever. They didnt assemble the axle. And they have done everything they could so far to make it right. As for complaining about Dodge here on this forum. I know what you mean. People spend too much time and energy trying to find someone to blame instead of working toward a solution.

While I was in San Francisco the dealer called me and told me the axle had been shipped and would be in Cheyenne on Friday or Monday. If it gets here on Monday they tell me they will have me out Monday afternoon. Again I cant complain so far.

In matter of fact rear axles are statistically one of the most dependable of a cars subsytems. They are very well tried and true technology and rarely fail. Yea we can all point to a problem here or there but in reality problems are few.

[randallb]

Bubba,
In 38 years in the auto repair business at the dealership level I experienced requests from the manufacturer to put off major warranty repairs for up to a week towards the end of the 1/4. Sometimes it was delayed by the dealer to keep the dealer's warranty index from spiking for the 1/4. The warranty index is what would determine if an audit of your warranty repairs was coming. Also, when the "goodwill" budget was gone, which sometimes happened with in 6-8 weeks, customers could beg, plead or be nice and none of it would get them a rental or even a 2 week out of warranty repair. Retail sales can not in any way be compared to automotive warranty repairs. If you needed a rental or out of warranty repair early in the 1/4 it was usually granted immediately and with out question. If there is no money left in the warranty or goodwill budget there is no nice in the auto business.
Randy

[BubbaChris]

randallb wrote:
Bubba,
I hate to burst your bubble but nice has nothing to do with warranty repairs, free rental cars, etc. If this repair were to be needed towards the end of the operating quarter the niceties may not have been available. All manufacturer's operate their warranty divisions on a quarterly budget. If the budget is gone repair approval may be delayed by a day or two to get the billing in to the next quarter. If the rental budget is all used up you can ask until you are blue in the face and no free rental will be available to you. Now if your new vehicle warranty states that a rental will be available to you if the vehicle is off the road for a predetermined number of days this is a contract that the manufacturer will honor. If this is not in the written warranty your freebies are entirely determined by the monies left in the quarterly budget.
Randy

Randy,

There's no bubble to burst. I've been working in retail sales for over 10 years and decades ago did telephone technical support for a computer company. As a result I know how to coax the best possible response from somebody in a customer service role. Nice goes a long way in your favor, even if you've already been inconvenienced by a product or company.

And on the other hand, the customer also has the ability to put a rep/company into a defensive mode where they are doing the least-possible required (no matter where they are within their budget/quota constraints).

I was making an educated assumption that the OP was not merely lucky that Dodge had not run up against their quarterly budget limits.

Best regards,
Chris

[randallb]

Bubba,
I hate to burst your bubble but nice has nothing to do with warranty repairs, free rental cars, etc. If this repair were to be needed towards the end of the operating quarter the niceties may not have been available. All manufacturer's operate their warranty divisions on a quarterly budget. If the budget is gone repair approval may be delayed by a day or two to get the billing in to the next quarter. If the rental budget is all used up you can ask until you are blue in the face and no free rental will be available to you. Now if your new vehicle warranty states that a rental will be available to you if the vehicle is off the road for a predetermined number of days this is a contract that the manufacturer will honor. If this is not in the written warranty your freebies are entirely determined by the monies left in the quarterly budget.
Randy

[BubbaChris]

All the "nice" that you put in your original post probably comes through on the telephone too. That tends to get most customer service folks into the mode where they're doing the most they can for you.

Sorry this happened to you, but glad you're being treated well by the Dodge folks.

[randallb]

Dutch,
AAM has nothing to do with Dodge or GM other than selling them pieces. AAM is an investment group put together by Richard Dauch (formerly of Chrysler), James McLernon, Raymond Park and Morton Harris in 1994 that then purchased 5 of the 18 plants GM had for sale. These 5 plants made up GM's Final Drive and Forge business unit and after the acquisition became AAM. AAM is to this day an independent manufacturer that supplies driveline units to the automotive industry. Their primary competitors are Meritor and Dana.
Randy

[bigcitypopo]

That dealer in Cheyenne is well known for its great service... my cousins have bought all of their trucks there.... They are hoping they open a sister dealer in Laramie.

[wannavolunteerF]

I am glad things worked out so well for OP. and mostly that you found dealers who were willing to do everything to keep you happy. I have found much less caring dealers in my experience. I have received poor warranty service with both a Ford dealer and a Dodge dealer in the past. Current Ford dealer is just okay, but better than they were before being bought out. Current servicing dealer is the only one who has ever put me in a different vehicle and that was a used vehicle of another brand that smelled like cigarette smoke. Again, so glad things are working out so well for OP.

[chryslermastert]

in the last say 10 years i have only replaced 1 aam rear axle due to complete destruction. Front diff is a differnt story probably 6 failuers and out of that number 75% were owner operator mantiance. Out of that 75% 60% didnt know that at the rear of front drive shaft on the cv joints there is a grease fitting for the center bearing in the joint, when that bearing goes bad it starts vibrating and will cause the ujoints to become dislodged form the shaft, the vibration will either cause the tcase to break or will cause the rear pinoin bearing to fail spining the bearing in the housing. I know that dodge/ram has a sticker under the hood (on edger of fender)drivers side that recommends greasing this joint at25K, easiest way is to remove shaft to grease.

[dodge_guy]

Glad you are not taking the truck (axle) issue seriously. some would come on here and beat Chrysler into the ground because of the breakage! Like you state that failure is a 1 in 100,000 chance of failure, I`m glad it happened to you (not because you broke down) but because you know how and why things fail! now if we had 100 people complaining about this type of failure then I can see it being an issue.

And yes AAM is the axle manuf. and this failure could have happened in a GM truck as well.

Glad you are making this out to be a good thing, enjoy your unexpected delay!

[DutchmenSport]

ScottG wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
I'm glad this turned into "lemon-aid" for you! It sure could have been worse. Hope your truck gets repaired in a timely manner so you can get on with your trip too. Enjoy the "down time" and take the opportunity to just relax a little.

About your choice of trucks. I "could" say something but I'm not going to. I have made comments about different trucks on these forums and been beat up pretty bad from time to time. I've learned that everyone is going to get the truck or tow vehicle they want and all the persuasion in the world won't change anyone opinion. If you are still happy with your truck, your purchase deal, your warranties, your service plan, .... that's really all that matters!

I am a firm believer though ... if you begin to have problems with your current tow vehicle and trailer combination, causing issues for the tow vehicle, then it's time to consider something else ... bigger or a different brand. But each person has to make their own choice what and when those choices are. Advise is OK, even criticism is OK, but in the end, it's your choice.

I really hope they fix your truck up and you'll have many more happy miles on the road! Good luck!

Well as for the breakage it was in the rear axle which is manufactured by Rockwell, Spicer or possibly Dana or Eaton. All US pickups use axles from these manufacturers and this didnt have anything to do with towing. As the dealer said this is clearly a manufacturing defect. Secondly my trailer is thousands of pounds under the capacity of the 2500 4x4 Dodge, even loaded. So I think the Tow vehicle trailer combination is sound.

But I can say this for sure right now I wouldnt trade this Chrysler Corp warranty for a GM or Ford one at this point.

I am happy with my truck and my long years of engineering background tells me that this is one of those occurrences that happens in every ten thousand or so vehicles that has nothing to do with who makes it. I had a Ford 7.3 Diesel many years ago (early "90's) that experienced a similar problem and had to have a completely new Axle assy put in it. This particular kind of breakage can happen in any axle.

And it would be really hard to beat the service I have gotten so far.

Time will tell.

The Rams diff, like the GM's, is made by AAM (American Axle Manufacturing) and not by any of the companies you listed. This is a joint operation by those two companies.

I'm glad your OK with everything. Just for a bit of back-ground ... several years ago I had a Chevy 3500 (gas) dually towing our Dutchmen Sport (5000 pounds). We were in Wisconsin and the front differential did about the same thing as your rear did. I now forget exactly what the problem was. We were just exiting a state park, just made it to edge of the road when ... bam!

The state park let us park the camper right at the entrance overflow parking. Tow truck took us to the closes GM dealer, we waited at the dealership while they fixed the truck. As I recall, we spent the night in a motel room nearby, and next day the truck was fixed.

It goes without saying, it was shortly after that we decided to trade for our first diesel dually. We began to experience other minor problems we didn't want to deal with, but I also never trusted the truck again and kept expecting another power train failure. Never happened, but the "fear" was always there ... Well, I stayed with GM. So Yes ... I perfectly understand!

[colliehauler]

In 98 I bought 2 new Dodges a 1 ton and a 1/2 ton. The half ton had a programming issue that they flew in a representative from Chrysler. They had the truck for several months before they could get a EPA approval for the change. The dealership gave me a Cirrus for a loaner. I put 5k miles on the car before I got my truck back. I almost felt like I owed a car. They resolved the issue and I drove the truck several more years.

[The_Mad_Norsky]

Wow!

all my years on the forum, and I think this is the first time I've heard of this happening.

Glad you're making the best of a bad turn in luck.

Best of luck!