6.4 Hemi Truck Issues (Sorry long write up but need advice)

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SETEX 6.4

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Well let me start off by saying I love my truck and I love the 6.4 Hemi.
What I don't like is ****** technicians and service managers at stealerships.
Let me know what you guys think about this whole scenario of things that happened and what your opinions are about what the problem could be.
It all started when I made and appointment at my local stealership for warranty issues. Issues were.
1. Pulling to the right (alignment)
2. Clunking in front end under passenger floorboard when suspension drops down off of a bump (bump is my driveway)
3. Ram Boxes not closing straight (body lines not straight when closed)
4. Tailgate not lined up straight in tailgate opening
5. Seamed to be excessive noise in rear end differential
6. Rear pinion seal leaking (not bad just oozing down the pumpkin)

I dropped my truck with 8500 miles on it at the dealership November 10th. I really thought it was weird that the pinion seal was already leaking.

So they had my truck from that Monday the 10th till Friday the 14th.
A coworker dropped me off at the dealership at 12 as we were leaving for lunch. I walked in and they assured me that everything was fixed. I drove away towards my house to go eat lunch.
Its about a 5 mile drive from dealership to my house and as I turned onto my road the truck started making a god awful noise and it was coming from the rear end. It was like a metal on metal grinding no clunking noise but it did make a slight clunk as I backed into the driveway.
I got out and looked under the truck but could see no physical signs of anything wrong.
I went in the house and ate and figured I would just drive back to the dealership when I was done.
So I left my house and while pulling out of my driveway the clunk in the front end is still there and it was still making the very bad noise from the rear end. I was tempted to call the dealership from the side of the road but I went ahead and made the 5 mile trip back.
They put it up on the lift and pulled the drive shaft and find that the PINION NUT had backed off.
Now remember the pinion was leaking that's one of the reasons I brought it in and they had changed the seal which requires removing nut and dust shield.
They told me they did that and reset the pinion preload yada yada yada, but when I asked them if they had used loctite on the nut the response was no they didn't figure it needed it because the truck had so few miles on it.
Needless to say they needed to keep the truck and was going to order a new pinion nut this time. I also told them I had the same clunk in the front end.
So I left the dealership pretty pissed because I had to explain to them that how do we/they know if any damaged occurred in the differential to the gears or to the bearings. I literally drove the truck with ZERO preload on the pinion bearings.
So they had my truck again from 11/14 to 11/18. I picked it up that evening of the 18th.
As I was driving home and sense that day there is a whinning howling noise from between around 30 mph to 43 mph. Its loud to me but not so loud to other people. But thats pretty much all I hear because I know something is wrong with my brand new truck.
Im not a dumb guy when it comes to vehicles I knew right away that it had to be the preload on the pinion bearings not set correctly or the pinion bearings are damaged from driving with zero preload.
I stopped back by the dealership on the 20th of November to tell the service manager that it was making the noise and he said "yeah we heard that and we think its your exhaust". WTF
I told him it was not my exhaust and it had just started doing this sense they had worked on the rear end and besides that I would have had that on the list of **** I brought my truck in for in the first place.
So I left to start my further research and own troubleshooting to try and prove to them that the rear end is not right. I was on vacation from 11/21 to 11/30 and during that time I sat in a deer stand a lot researching on my phone about my issue.
Sure enough numerous write ups about people having this problem after having pinion seals replaced.
So I basically fumed about it for 9 days.
On 12/1 afternoon I went back to the dealership to talk to service manager.
He could tell I was pissed. He asked if I could bring it in the following morning at 7am and we would go for a ride with the tech.
I show up at dealership at 7am on 12/2 and we all go for a ride with me driving.
Sure enough we can all hear it and we acknowledge that yes there is a sound there but they are not so convinced that its coming from the rear end.
I tell them it had to be, "its the only damn thing that's been touched on this brand new ******* truck." I told them I don't think they got the pinion preload correct or that damage must have happened when the pinion nut backed off while I was driving it.
So we go back to the dealership and they give me a ride to work.
Service manager calls me that evening of the 2nd and tells me they think its the transmission. I tell him thats bs and if it was the transmission it was one hell of a coincidence seeings how they had just worked on the rear axle and caused the pinion to back off.
He calls me back the next morning of the 3rd and tells me he has been driving the truck and just cant seem to pinpoint where the noise is coming from. I told him "its the pinion bearings or pinion preload." He disagrees and says that one of the techs has a set of chassis ears at home and was going to go get them so they could hook them up all over the truck to find the noise. He said if the sound was coming from the rear end they would rebuild the axle.
He calls me back the evening of the 3rd and tells me that they could not hear any of the sound that the truck is making through the chassis ears and he would keep the chassis ears hooked up and we could go for a ride and listen for myself.
I show up at 7am the morning of 12/4 look under truck and see all the chassis ears hooked up. We go for a ride and sure enough you can hear the whining noise still between 30 and 43 mph but I couldn't hear anything through the chassis ears. I could hear gears working and such but not the whining noise.
He had the leads hooked up to fins near the pinion and transmission and transfer case. Could not hear the noise through the headphones. Just the normal sounds of the gears.
We went back to the dealership and he told me that he had called RAM and that was no help, that they hadn't had any problems reported like mine.
He really did seem to be trying to find the problem.
He basically told me there was nothing further they could do because there is no physical evidence that leads them to believe that a total rebuild or whatever of the rear end needs to be done because they cant find out what the noise is.
I politely told him that was BS and left and told him I was going to a different dealer or rear end shop or something because bottom line is I just want my truck fixed properly. Its still brand new in my book 8500 miles.
He told me he hopes they can find the problem and fix it for me.

So that the point Im still at today.
Rear end still whines and clunk in front end under passenger floorboard.

What are you guys thoughts on this?
Do you agree with me in saying pinion preload is wrong or bearings damage on pinion.
Have any of you had a similar issue.
What should be my next step? Another dealer?
I did make sure that all this was documented properly and it is all in the RAM database.

Please help,

Chad
 

6.4 dude

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Running no preload will prematurely ruin the pinion bearing along with changing backlash clearance. What your hearing could be either or both. The preload takes out internal clearances in the bearing giving the balls an exact path to run on. Without it, the balls don't roll properly and vibrate causing abrasive spots. The ring and pinion have their own groove as well. The factory sets the backlash and and once it's run in it doesn't like to be changed, much less bounce around a couple thousands.
 

ForceofWill

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Pretty much par for the course with most dealers of any brand these days unfortunately. Probably going to have to keep trying dealers until you find a decent one that wants the work.

For the noise up front, have you checked the passenger side spring? I know when I did my level I noticed that the stock spring was seated on there actually crushing the rubber boot around the seat on the bottom. So the spring was pretty much rubbing against the metal for about half the circumference of the spring.
 

tjfdesmo

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I have been through similar situations. You are off to a good start in one important aspect, and that is keeping meticulous records of all contact with the dealer or Ram. I'd call Ram and get a case number now, so the dealer knows you mean business, and are not going away. They will likely ask you to give them another try, or you may be able to plead for a referral to a different dealer. I would also push to meet with the regional service rep. These are all necessary steps to either get them to fix it, or, as a last resort, lay the foundation for a lemon-law case. I went through the lemon-law process on my '04 Chebby 8.1/Ally, and it was not a pleasant process, but I finally prevailed and GM bought that POS back. Hope you don't have to go that far, but you have to start right to finish right.
 

6.4 dude

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I can't tell from your pi c but have you installed a leveling kit? The factory shocks are almost maxed out length wise and will clunk without shock extenders or longer shocks.
 
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SETEX 6.4

SETEX 6.4

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My driver side spring was installed wrong from the factory. Had that fixed a couple months ago. It was the same issue you described about your passenger side.
I'm gonna call Ram tomorrow and see what they say about all this bs.
Nope. No level or anything.
They ride to tell me it is the body mount and they tightened them up. Still same issue though. I haven't had a chance to get under it and see if i can tighten the body mount some more. It does almost sound like the shocks extending all the way out. It's factory height though. NO LIFT at all.
 

Ratket

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I can't tell from your pi c but have you installed a leveling kit? The factory shocks are almost maxed out length wise and will clunk without shock extenders or longer shocks.

if you have the factory shocks up front on a lvled out 2500 they will max and clunk really easily when extended.. are those stock shocks? did u add a extension bracket or change to longer shocks? if the anwser is no, there is ur noise up front.. unfortunately for the rear end, you will have to probably drive it till it breaks for them to fix it, or convince them to just rebuild the rear end. that sucks bro!! keep us posted.
 
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SETEX 6.4

SETEX 6.4

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There is NO LIFT or LEVEL on the front but it does sound like a shock extending all the way.
 

Sir John

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Wow...that's the longest post ever!....awesome.

I don't have much advice except contact RAM and see what they can do. The dealerships mostly suck. It's difficult to find a good one.
 
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Sir John

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lol. Sorry.
It's a long storry with a lot of bs to explain.

Don't get me wrong....it was a good post. I totally understand your frustration. I've had many brands and Chrysler (Dodge, Jeep, Ram etc) dealerships have been the WORST by far. It's the way Chrysler has their dealer network set up....all privately owned. Chrysler cannot force the dealerships to do anything. They could pull thier franchise lincense but highly unlikely.
 

Esgordon123

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I hope you get this problem fixed. Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ForceofWill

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This stuff is one of the reasons I only take my cars to the dealer for large things under warranty like your diff issue.

Have you thought about just replacing all the shocks with Bilsteins and maybe tossing a level on there while you're at it? The stock shocks are garbage anyway and replacing them was the best money I've spent on this truck.
 
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SETEX 6.4

SETEX 6.4

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This stuff is one of the reasons I only take my cars to the dealer for large things under warranty like your diff issue.

Have you thought about just replacing all the shocks with Bilsteins and maybe tossing a level on there while you're at it? The stock shocks are garbage anyway and replacing them was the best money I've spent on this truck.
I agree! The clunk doesn't really bother me.
The diff issue is what I'm worried about.
It makes me almost wish i would have just left it seeping a bit. Bell then it didn't make noise at certain mph.
 

smurfs_of_war

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I'll be the odd man out here and recommend you not go to a dealer again for the diff issue. here's why, and I mean no offense to any of the techs out there that work at a dealership:

Often the techs you get, as a lone consumer, are what would be thought of as the lowest common denominator. Dealerships are a "learning hospital". Not to say they are not smart and good at what they do- but they simply lack the experience required to properly service an item like a differential. There are shops that specialize in this day in and day out and they do it for a reason. The really experienced techs at the dealerships are almost ALWAYS overwhelmed with fleet service and repair because they are more experienced and more efficient and able to push work through at an alarming rate and that keeps the fleet guys happy. Happy fleet purchasers spend money.

I get that the dealer likely botched it to begin with, but at the end of the day- what is your time and frustration worth to you? I'd personally fork over the cash to a specialty shop to diagnose the issue properly and I would inquire about the cost to repair it properly. At least then you'd have some ammunition to take to the dealer. Were it me, I would just pony up and get it fixed right and move past it.

My tolerence fuse for dumb **** is really, really short. I go from calm to bat-**** crazy in about 7 seconds flat when people are trying to cover things up. I am of the schooling that if you don't know- just admit it and find out the right answer. It just sounds like you are getting the run around because nobody there knows what is wrong nor how to diagnose it correctly- and in that, I would be concerned about their ability to actually repair it correctly. Personally, my sanity and peace of mind is worth more than a thousand bucks or whatever it will be. It really sounds to me like the dealership is laying the foundation to brush you off.

EDIT: I might add that if you are completely fed up with the issue- raise **** with the manager and tell him or her you want the experienced tech to look at this instead of the line techs. You'd be surprised. A lot of things that are seemingly a mystery to most, these guys have seen a hundred times. I used to deal strictly with the old man at Ford all the time- called him tin-skin because he looked like tin man. Anyways, if I ever had a real spooky issue no one could figure out, I'd bet the old bugger a bottle of whiskey he wouldn't find it. In the 20 years until he passed away, I never collected a single bottle, but I sure paid a few out.
 
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Andrew09HEMI

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Im the say way as above, I know a decent amount of cars/trucks and how to diagnose a problem. I simply dont go away and politely raise hell til I get what I want. The fact they admitted to hearing a sound and still havent fixed it shows me incompetence and I would immediately find another dealership and explain your problems. I did this with my 09 and the issues I had, took my **** to another dealer, explained to the service manager directly my concerns and experience at another dealership and was looking to establish a trustworthy relationship. You'd be surprised at how far they will go to take business from another dealer..
 

loveracing1988

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I had to double check you weren't from Michigan. I have had the same noise (rear end whine and clunking on shock extension) on my truck since it had about 1000 miles on it. The dealer I bought it from gave me the same story as yours. I work for the company that makes these axles, I know the ins and outs of them, my problem is the pinion depth isn't set correctly, but the dealer won't even pull the cover pan to check the pattern on it because if something wasn't set correctly there would be metal shavings. No matter how I explained to them that if the pinion depth isn't set correctly it will just make noise. I have yet to make it to a different dealer for it to be fixed though. As for the clunk in the front it does sound like it is coming from the shocks but it only does it to me when cold, and it only does it on some potholes, others are fine.
 

NYCruiser

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Keep after the dealer for a truck that's under warrantee. Speak to your salesman or sales manager too if it is the dealership that sold you your truck.

If the truck needs to go to a specialty diff shop to get it sorted, let the dealer send it out for you. I've had issues with other vehicles that needed service like that. I got it done by suggesting it to the sales manager after the dealer shop had a couple of cracks at it and let him talk to the service manager.

Good luck, hope that helps.
 

wyo2track

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New guy here to the forum. Been following the 6.4 Hemi thread for quite a while now and starting to see some of the same questions I've had come up so it was time to join. I haven't had any whining or problems with the rear r&p thank goodness. The clunk is present on mine when dropping suddenly into potholes. I didn't like the stock shocks anyways, so I have Bilstein 5100's all around now. Rides smoother especially on dirt roads, but unfortunately it did not cure the clunk problem. It doesn't happen as much with the new shocks as they are much more responsive than the OEM, but both right and left front suspension areas will clunk. Lots of discussion elsewhere if it tie rod ends, body mounts, springs and any other bolted on fitting in the front end area, but I have yet to see a firm resolution to the problem. From my research, both Hemi and CTD equipped trucks are experiencing it.
 

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