Ram truck problems ?

[Devocamper]

Not sure how to title this post but just looking for problems with ram trucks such as the stuff that GM chevys and Gmc have had over the years such as the current Chevy shake or vibration problems or some I have had myself like the transfer case pump rub, intermediate steering shaft issues,drive shaft spline binding , overheating LBZ duramax, brake and transmission lines rotting out . Or fords 6.0 problems . The only common issues I can find for ram / dodge are front end problems including tire wear I am guessing with the diesels , some earlier transmission problems and rear wheel well rot . Have been a GM guy for years but thinking back not sure why. Anyway just doing some research
Thanks
Mike

[cummins2014]

Me Again wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:
Interesting how people quote problems that occurred on 6.0 Ford diesels, Dodges with 4 spd transmissions, injector problems in Duramax diesels a couple of engine generations ago. The current crop of diesel trucks are pretty good. They have all experienced a learning curve and have become pretty good as a result. Buy what you like there isn't much difference from one to another anymore.

B.O.

That is why I said 2015+ RAM's have most of the bugs worked out, and then along came Troy!!!!!

Chris

Its good you said most, the emissions on the 2013-15 Ram Cummins are a problem, and well documented, and not just an isolated issue as some here like to paint.

When you see the recall on your 2015, then YOU will know, or you get a DEF warning and CEL, and off to the dealer for the TSB, or worse.

[Bedlam]

My truck falls under their BusinessLink coverage and does have loaner vehicle support. I have not had an unscheduled service or recall yet on my Ram 5500 after two years and almost 24K miles.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Cad3dc wrote:
I have a 2015 2500 w/ Cummins w/ 31k on the odometer. Was heading out of town this past Friday w/ a 13k lbs 5th wheel in tow, and lost all forward gears in tranny. Was towed to Dodge/Ram dealership and was told due to backlog of transmission work, transmission tech won't likely fix/address for several weeks. I got a similar story from another nearby RAM dealership. Meanwhile, I'm out of pocket on a rental car b/c dealership hasn't cracked open the tranny to make a diagnosis, and I'm told only five days of rental car will be covered anyway. Despite being upside down on truck, I'd trade tomorrow for a 2017 Duramax/Allison combo if they were available on the lots. I've had it with RAM.

Is this the selling dealer the truck was towed to? If not and you are/were out of town one phone call from the dealer to Ram trucks and they could have gotten you a loaner. If you were in town and truck was towed to the selling dealer he should have provided you with a loaner. It wouldn't be a truck but they should have given you something to drive.

I called my dealer and he is not aware of any transmission issues going on. He said they will get an occasional trans job here or there. But that's it.

If the truck is under warranty FCA sends the dealer a new trans and it only takes a day to get them. Something does not sound right here, either you have a very shady dealer or we are not getting the whole story here.

FCA does not let any dealer rebuild any warranty transmission period! Why, because they want it sent back in tact for a warranty tear down to find the root cause of the failure. Also any no shift would throw a transmission code.

BTW this is true for any and every engine failure, dealer is sent a new engine either a long block or short block and the old engine is sent back to the warranty claims center for evaluation. They want to know who is going to get charged for the repair, outside vendor or the FCA Pwoertrain plant that built the defective component.

Don

[Cummins12V98]

mtofell1 wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
68RFE or Aisin??? ^^^^^^^

It's a Hemi so I have the 66RFE.

Thanks, I have not heard of those symptoms with the Diesel trans.

[mtofell1]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
68RFE or Aisin??? ^^^^^^^

It's a Hemi so I have the 66RFE.

[NJRVer]

When buying I negotiate that the dealer will supply a vehicle for no charge if the new one breaks down under warranty and can't be fixed in one day.

[Cummins12V98]

68RFE or Aisin??? ^^^^^^^

[mtofell1]

kmbelt wrote:

mtofell1 wrote:
2014 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi. A decent truck but have had some problems. Mainly, my transmission blew up at 38K and was rebuilt. It still feels as though something is wrong but I can't convince my dealer. I have the lifetime warranty so I'm kind of just in a holding pattern waiting to see if it fails again.

Otherwise, I had to have the thermostat replaced, had a TPMS tire sensor go out and have needed some software updates to keep the radio from glitching out.

I had far fewer problems with my 2006 Duramax but I'm not sure it's a fair comparison with all the technology of these newer trucks.

Why did your transmission blow? Symptoms?

No prior symptoms at all.... just sitting in rush hour traffic one day rolling along at about 5mph, traffic took off, I hit the gas, the tach went up and I stayed still. The tech said the valve body just blew apart.

I'm still having problems and suspect the failure was a symptom of another problem and it will fail again. I get a terrible harsh shift into 1st when engine braking. Also, an occasional violent shudder when trying to find a gear around 1st/2nd - like when coasting into a corner on a city block and heading up a hill. The 1-2 area of the tranny is also where it failed which is why I think there is still something wrong.

The dealer gives me the usual Ram, "they all do that" answer and I don't have the time or energy to keep going in to fight with them. My biggest fear is a failure when I'm out towing and get stuck on the road with my family. Otherwise, I don't really care.

[blofgren]

Cad3dc wrote:
I have a 2015 2500 w/ Cummins w/ 31k on the odometer. Was heading out of town this past Friday w/ a 13k lbs 5th wheel in tow, and lost all forward gears in tranny. Was towed to Dodge/Ram dealership and was told due to backlog of transmission work, transmission tech won't likely fix/address for several weeks. I got a similar story from another nearby RAM dealership. Meanwhile, I'm out of pocket on a rental car b/c dealership hasn't cracked open the tranny to make a diagnosis, and I'm told only five days of rental car will be covered anyway. Despite being upside down on truck, I'd trade tomorrow for a 2017 Duramax/Allison combo if they were available on the lots. I've had it with RAM.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Your story is NOT common with Ram trucks. I would be getting very vocal starting with the manager of the dealership all the way up the chain of FCA if I were you.

[Cad3dc]

I have a 2015 2500 w/ Cummins w/ 31k on the odometer. Was heading out of town this past Friday w/ a 13k lbs 5th wheel in tow, and lost all forward gears in tranny. Was towed to Dodge/Ram dealership and was told due to backlog of transmission work, transmission tech won't likely fix/address for several weeks. I got a similar story from another nearby RAM dealership. Meanwhile, I'm out of pocket on a rental car b/c dealership hasn't cracked open the tranny to make a diagnosis, and I'm told only five days of rental car will be covered anyway. Despite being upside down on truck, I'd trade tomorrow for a 2017 Duramax/Allison combo if they were available on the lots. I've had it with RAM.

[ksss]

I think it is easy to look across the fence and see greener pastures. I have had a few issues with my 06-3500 LBZ. I did have the pump rub issue taken care of before it became expensive and of course the tranny lines. My recent GM trucks have all been trouble free. 2011 6.0 2500 to 65K no service calls, my 2015 3500 6.0 to 15K no trouble and my current 2015 3500 Duramax which is at 32K has not had a service call. All of these trucks did or have routinely pulled 30K combined. I recently had a GMC 5500 which washed a cylinder at 90K and ruined the motor. Every OEM has their issues and sometimes it is hard to keep that in perspective. Now if your always in the shop than that is different, but chances are regardless of what it says on the tailgate your gonna spend some money on it, especially if your working them hard.

[Durb]

Mine is a 2004.5 CTD 2WD with 81k, 19k since I bought it. I had the same clearance light leaking problem but some silicone fixed it for me. I had the front end aligned to factory specs and the truck wanted to steer into the ditch. My tire shop tech did some magic and since then it tracks perfectly. Dodge routed the fan motor through the ignition switch. Too much current and it fries the switch and the fan motor doesn't work. 40 bucks and 30 minutes later the new installed switch fixed the problem. When I bought the truck the engine was coarse, really noisy and with a rough idle. 2 tanks with Optilube XPD sweetened it up. Other than that no problems.

[rjstractor]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
I don't think the Cummins or 6.4 will make a bit of difference with a Camper on board. I am sure some of the weight will hit the front axle but I really don't see a problem with the Cummins up front.

x2. I know the 6.4 has higher payload "on paper" but a quick look at the Ram towing and payload guide can be telling. First, the one 6.4 truck with highest payload was the 6.4 with 4.10 gears. The same truck with 3.73 gears has a lower GVWR by 700 pounds despite having the exact same FGAWR and RGAWR! That makes no sense at all, gearing should effect GCWR but not payload. Anyway, the Cummins trucks have an extra 500 pounds of front axle capacity to help offset the weight of the diesel. The real take home is all of the trucks in the config I checked out (4WD crew cab DRW) have the same RGAWR and the empty rear axle weight was within 100 pounds on all 4WD CC DRW models. So in reality they can all handle about the same weight camper. Now, I know the 6.4 will move down the road just fine at GVWR, but if you would prefer a diesel, don't let the 'on paper' difference of 1000 pounds in payload sway you, because when you break the numbers down to what counts the difference is much less.

[spoon059]

Devocamper wrote:
Thank you for your helpful reply would like to ask if you know how much your buddy with the 6.4 is towing weight wise? my trailer is around 12K most of the time could be up to 15400 which I would not expect the 6.4 to do well at all with even for the short trips and usage we plan for the firth wheel. The ram configuration I would be looking at would be rated 15900 with the 6.4 and 4.10's.
Mike

His 5er has a GVWR of 12000 lbs. He normally carries firewood and a host of other stuff in his bed as well. He also has the 3.73 gears... he wanted the 4.10's but his desire for a new truck was stronger than his desire to wait for the truck that met his needs =)!

If you are doing short trips up in New England, I can't imagine having any troubles at all with that kind of weight. Not too many mountains up there, certainly not any excessive altitudes either. In terms of a gas engine truck, I think the 6.4 Hemi has the most HP and torque.

[spoon059]

goducks10 wrote:
Couldn't your friend just use the toggle shift button and drop it to 3rd himself?

I believe that is what he has started to do. We go to the same campground about 3 times a year, beautiful lake front spots and he and his wife have a boat up there =). I think on this last trip towing, he manually shifted. I think it worked better, but he is understandably annoyed at the programming that causes it to shift that way...