2016 PW - 8 days old - explody drive shaft

So I brought home my newest Ram child, a beautiful flame red PW on February 18 (traded in my 2012 2500 Laramie which was preceded, in fact, by a red 2006 PW). I was loving that truck until last Saturday when, driving the speed limit down the highway, the driveshaft went, blew some transfer case housing too. Towed to the dealership (now have AAA because apparently, if you don't pay extra for roadside when you're buying the truck, the manufacturer nor the dealer give a rat's butt anymore about your 8 day old sale).

All week I have been told the order is in with the manufacturer, but the driveshaft is backordered, no ETA. Soon, the truck will have been in the shop longer than I have driven it. I have contacted the 800 line for Fiat\Chrysler and complained. They can't really do anything but call me back on Tuesday with an update. I am not expecting anything new with that call either.

Should I be worried that the driveshaft is back-ordered like this, no ETA, on a brand new truck? Should I be wondering if there are lots of other people with new 2500's or power wagons with blown driveshafts? We have to use this truck to pull a trailer up Rabbit Ears Pass in CO twice a year - I'm not feeling great about the replacement, but guess I have to trust it.

A few posts down a guy had the same thing happen

CO_Ram_Girl said:

So I brought home my newest Ram child, a beautiful flame red PW on February 18 (traded in my 2012 2500 Laramie which was preceded, in fact, by a red 2006 PW). I was loving that truck until last Saturday when, driving the speed limit down the highway, the driveshaft went, blew some transfer case housing too. Towed to the dealership (now have AAA because apparently, if you don't pay extra for roadside when you're buying the truck, the manufacturer nor the dealer give a rat's butt anymore about your 8 day old sale).

All week I have been told the order is in with the manufacturer, but the driveshaft is backordered, no ETA. Soon, the truck will have been in the shop longer than I have driven it. I have contacted the 800 line for Fiat\Chrysler and complained. They can't really do anything but call me back on Tuesday with an update. I am not expecting anything new with that call either.

Should I be worried that the driveshaft is back-ordered like this, no ETA, on a brand new truck? Should I be wondering if there are lots of other people with new 2500's or power wagons with blown driveshafts? We have to use this truck to pull a trailer up Rabbit Ears Pass in CO twice a year - I'm not feeling great about the replacement, but guess I have to trust it.

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I would be worried. I am taking mine in for the 8th recall in three weeks. Starting to wonder if I really screwed up buying this truck. (Pueblo West, Co.)

Sorry to hear of your troubles.
I bought a 2016 Power Wagon on 2/24/2016.
It was built in August 2015.
I've driven around 600 miles with no problems and no open recalls are listed on Ram Owner Connect.

I have 5000 on mine no issues , no complaints yet , gas is cheap, fill her up and repeat frequently

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Yikes

Recommend you refresh yourself with your States Lemon Laws.

If the wait is too long, let FCA buy your 8 day old truck, Then, you just buy another new one. Let FCA wait on the (&*^%^& part, for their new truck.

FYI< Exploding driveshafts are known but not frequent. Howeve,r unbalanced driveshafts, which cause vibrations are well known and frequent.

I got two nice little Radiator hose looking things on my Driveshaft, that was FCA awesomely cheap, shade-tree mechanic fix.

pitiful

Got a call this morning from the dealer saying that there is now an ETA listed for the part of the 10th, so that's something. Maybe it is being escalated. Happy for that. I might get the beast back by the end of the week or early next

gofishn said:

I got two nice little Radiator hose looking things on my Driveshaft, that was FCA awesomely cheap, shade-tree mechanic fix.

pitiful

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Using hose clamps is the proper way to re-balance a driveshaft. I've had to do it numerous times.


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Really??? The old hose clamp balancing act on a new truck??? Sure as hell wouldn't be on mine. Guess my first thought would be the plane of the shafts. Ether installed incorrectly or having the ends welded in the wrong position. No matter, that wouldn't fly with me. I'm generally pretty easy going but that would definitely twist my tail. Good luck on the repairs. Also, run it through the paces after you get it back so as not to have an unexpected repeat.

I wouldn't be worried. Try to negotiate a free extended warranty out of this.

Avgas said:

I wouldn't be worried. Try to negotiate a free extended warranty out of this.

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That's what I would push for from the dealer.


Sent from the Rocket in my Pocket

the driveshaft just explodes at the drop of a hat with no vibration or other warning sign ? that seems strange

Correct. You didn't bend the shaft climbing over something and allowing it to warp it as when 'high centered'?

I guess the dealership will tell you, as they would LOVE to find evidence of that to sidestep the warranty repair.

That being said, just confirm it is the REAR driveshaft? With no other issues leading up to this?

FYI - 2013 model here - climbed, clawed, swam and sped it's way, at times bouncing off the speed limiter, up to 40k miles here, and no issues.

Driveshaft EXPLODED? Like it was filled with explosives?
Or was it just a u-joint broke? Or did the weld yoke break? Did the tubing twist?
What exactly happened? Got pics?

Sorry it took so long to respond - I wasn't getting emails about the replies for some reason. Well, this fun got worse actually. That first repair took about 2.5 weeks. I found out from a mechanic report later that Ram customer service told him there was a bad batch of unbalanced driveshafts installed on some 2016's. If this is true, others may see this sooner rather than later. I live and work in the same town, and I was not wheeling - I didn't buy it for that capability anyway. I guess the term explodey was not really what happened, lol. It was the U joint and the shaft vibration caused it - I was trying to get over in traffic when it happened, to the safety of the shoulder, and at that amount of distance, the driveshaft apparently wrecked the transfer case and other bolts and parts - or this is what I was told anyway.

Then this Memorial Day weekend it broke down again doing the speed limit on the highway. Loud screech, pulled over, no gauges showing anything amiss, no warning lights. The dealer had it 2 weeks to replace cracked converter case and various transmission bolts\brackets etc, Ram was either going to send an adjuster to investigate or the dealer could make a video and submit it (which they did). According to the dealer, it was the closest he has ever seen to a tranny falling out and it did not - it was just hanging by a thread. He didn't want to accuse the last dealer of not tightening stuff down, and he couldn't absolutely rule out manufacturer issues or continued vibration issues, so who knows. It's funny about hindsight, because I had been feeling more vibration that day but I thought it was just the highway itself. I was done at that point and it's since been traded in. Just 3 months old and my family doesn't have the time to deal with this no matter how beautiful the truck was. I know this isn't the norm for Rams or Power Wagons - I've had Rams and another PW that ran like champs. I traded for another Ram in fact, so I still love 'em. Just wanted to update everyone who might have been following this.

I think you are more forgiving than I would be.
Jay