Dealership Says No Lubricating Front Driveshaft

[sandawilliams]

Retired crippled old man spends 50k plus for his truck and can’t climb underneath, The least he could expect is the dealer to do their damn job. Not everyone has the luxury of doing it themselves.

Its only the 2500's that have the grease requirement.

 

[SETEX 6.4]

My 2014 2500 6.4 Hemi has never been greased. Just shy of 62,000 miles now. Im very mechanically handy as I call it and I've been under my truck several times looking. I've watch all the videos. I have all the right tools.
I've found the spot where it is suppose to go but it's like there is a steel or aluminum concaved plug in that spot. It will not push in and there is no hole in it.
I'm not to worried about it as the driveshaft on these newer trucks don't turn unless in 4wd.
If I coul I would grease it.

2014 Ram 2500 Mega Cab 6.4 Hemi 4:10 Gears Ram Boxes 35x12.50R18 on Factory Wheels
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[22hemi13]

My 2014 2500 6.4 Hemi has never been greased. Just shy of 62,000 miles now. Im very mechanically handy as I call it and I've been under my truck several times looking. I've watch all the videos. I have all the right tools.
I've found the spot where it is suppose to go but it's like there is a steel or aluminum concaved plug in that spot. It will not push in and there is no hole in it.
I'm not to worried about it as the driveshaft on these newer trucks don't turn unless in 4wd.
If I coul I would grease it.

2014 Ram 2500 Mega Cab 6.4 Hemi 4:10 Gears Ram Boxes 35x12.50R18 on Factory Wheels
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

There’s a little indent. Mines a 14’. It’s there. But I agree I bet there’s a **** ton of them on the road never greased. I do mine every other change. It never takes much no worries from it. I don’t 4wheel a heck of a lot.

 

[Hootbro]

Orientation is the key ... I have to have my head pointing towards the driver side and rotating the axle towards the driver's side also. It doesn't work the other way for me.

Pretty much this. Very easy to overlook if not looking at the right angle. I think too many oil and lube techs are expecting to find a traditional nipple zerk fitting and easily discount one not being there at all and moving on.

 

[Ratket]

My 2014 2500 6.4 Hemi has never been greased. Just shy of 62,000 miles now. Im very mechanically handy as I call it and I've been under my truck several times looking. I've watch all the videos. I have all the right tools.
I've found the spot where it is suppose to go but it's like there is a steel or aluminum concaved plug in that spot. It will not push in and there is no hole in it.
I'm not to worried about it as the driveshaft on these newer trucks don't turn unless in 4wd.
If I coul I would grease it.

2014 Ram 2500 Mega Cab 6.4 Hemi 4:10 Gears Ram Boxes 35x12.50R18 on Factory Wheels
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Get the geese fitting that looks like a epidermal needle. The thing is huge. It’s what I used.

 

[tdeperte]

Is someone saying "Factory Certified Technicians that know your vehicle" don't know about this grease fitting that just about every owner knows about???

 

[RedRaiderHemi]

is lincoln lubrication 5803 grease needle what I need? Its what popped up on a google search for "ram grease needle"

My 07.5 4x4 never was greased in the 165k miles that I owned it - but Im going to try to take care of this for the 16 I have now.

What grease? general purpose lithium?

 

[22hemi13]

is lincoln lubrication 5803 grease needle what I need? Its what popped up on a google search for "ram grease needle"

My 07.5 4x4 never was greased in the 165k miles that I owned it - but Im going to try to take care of this for the 16 I have now.

What grease? general purpose lithium?

I grabbed my needle from auto zone. It’s cheap.

 

[Ratket]

The last time I ever did mine, I had a buddy help me, I held the light, and found the dimple and put the needle in and had him pump so I could watch for grease to come out and say stop. It was a lot easier with two sets of hands.

 

[clifford15]

Its only the 2500's that have the grease requirement.

3500 4x4 has the same requirement...

 

[SyN]

is lincoln lubrication 5803 grease needle what I need? Its what popped up on a google search for "ram grease needle"

My 07.5 4x4 never was greased in the 165k miles that I owned it - but Im going to try to take care of this for the 16 I have now.

What grease? general purpose lithium?

I purchased a few tubes of (Red) synthetic Amsoil grease at a local garage sale down the street a few years ago.
I’m sure a good quality lithium grease would work.

In my mind —-> Any kind is much better then dry with nothing at all to lubricate those needle bearings.

My set up is extremely similar to 22hemis. The hose gives you flexibility to maneuver around the wire harness.

Like I posted above: A good bright light is very helpful.
With a properly equipped & working grease gun - 1-2 pumps should be efficient.
If the knuckle is dry it might take 3 pumps to get new grease to ooze out the backside.

I don’t really need/require 4WD very much in our region.
Only really during the winter months (Snow/Ice). It is really a life saver 1 or 2 times out of the year - hence the reason I have always owned a 4WD truck.

HD2500 & Anti-Slip rearend with 300lbs worth of sand bags up against the tailgate really helps with not needing 4WD most of the time with Snow\Ice.
Having new AT tires is a Huge plus as well.

Logical Common Sense tells me —->Since (my) drive shaft is only turning - while the 4WD is actually engaged & I only have to engage the system 2-3 times a year for short periods of time I really don’t have to pump a God Awfull amount of unnecessary grease into the knuckle that’s Not Turning very much at all during the year.

Maybe just give it one pump before every winter.

 

[mohemipar]

I have been doing mine every other oil change and seems to be plenty. Kind of a pain but the fitting is in there. Always listen to the manual. It’s written by the engineers and they know what they built. Sometimes in customer service people say “let me double check this” and don’t actually do anything.

 

[sandawilliams]

3500 4x4 has the same requirement...

Sorry- I should have said only the HD's have it.

 

[CincyCuda68]

Sorry- I should have said only the HD's have it.

Is it all 2500HD or just the power wagon?

 

[22hemi13]

Is it all 2500HD or just the power wagon?

All hd trucks have it

 

[CincyCuda68]

All hd trucks have it

Thank you

 

[Old Fart]

I used a paint pen as a reminder. I do my own maintenance but since I had the driveshaft out for the cadran joint repair I indicated the lube spot.

 

[KrisK]

I have been doing mine every other oil change and seems to be plenty. Kind of a pain but the fitting is in there. Always listen to the manual. It’s written by the engineers and they know what they built. Sometimes in customer service people say “let me double check this” and don’t actually do anything.

No kidding. I sent an email to customer service on Monday for written confirmation of whether or not the lubrication is required. Upon submission I received a confirmation of submission stating I would receive a reply within one day. Here it is Thursday, and still not response.

Overall I’ve been happy with my first Ram, but not with the customer service.

@ramcares can you read this thread and help me out?

 

[KrisK]

UPDATE! SITUATION RESOLVED!!!!

I did finally receive an e-mail back from Chrysler Customer Care on Monday 11/12/18 with the following response:

Kris,

Thank you for contacting FCA US LLC.

VIN: 3C6UR5CJ6HG5*****

2017 Ram 2500 4x4 trucks with the double cardan front driveshaft have a grease fitting (factory equipped front driveshaft), which requires maintenance at every oil change.

A quick Google Image internet search has several examples of photos, some with arrows pointing at the grease fitting.

The double cardan universal joint on the front propeller shaft near the transfer case is equipped with a flush mounted grease fitting. The grease fitting is a concave tapered hole on the shaft and can be difficult to locate. The grease fitting may be hard to spot right away and may require some searching before locating the grease fitting. The grease fitting is normally covered with dirt and can’t be seen unless cleaned really good. This fitting requires a needle nozzle for applying grease (the tip should be coned shaped >). We suggest that you have your local dealership first verify your vehicle is equipped with a double cardan universal joint front propeller shaft. Once this is confirmed and if your local dealership is unable to locate the fitting, our suggestion would be to seek a second opinion from another Ram dealership that has a technician more familiar with this model vehicle and whom has performed this type of maintenance on a like model vehicle.

Sincerely,
Joe

By the time I received this e-mail I had already received a similar response after private messaging @ramcares through this forum. I then contacted the service manager at my local dealership via e-mail and provided him with a copy of the private message I had received stating the lubrication instructions were not an error. He scheduled for me to come in this morning, and sure enough when he put it up on the lift, there was the grease fitting. He had a tech come and in about 10 seconds had it lubricated. I did ask him to provide me with a service receipt showing the front driveshaft had been lubricated, and he obliged. I wanted to have the documentation since I previously had them document on my service tickets when they stated that the truck did not have a grease fitting. This way if there is ever a problem I can show that I requested the work performed, and it wasn't until the truck had 34,000 miles that they actually performed the service.

Overall, the whole process was a headache, but at least from this point forward I know that my dealership is aware of the proper lubrication to be performed on my truck. Also, I expect this will prevent a whole bunch of other people from receiving misinformation from the dealer as well.

Hopefully anyone else who has a similar situation will be able to locate this thread in the future and it will help them out.

Thanks again everyone for your comments and feedback!

 

[chrisbh17]

I admire your tenacity, but Ill put down 20 bucks that the next time you go for an oil change, the grease fitting will no longer exist (again)