new to the whole truck/ram scene.
my areas have always been Jeep and bikes.
found a really good deal on a 03 SLT QC with the 5.7L Hemi.
For $7500, and it had 47k miles( verified with carfax)
so i took it in to the dealership for a tire rotation and possible alignment( slight shake at 65mph) and i walk away with a $5000 quote. that didnt even count the fluid changes and tune up!
$2200- they told me the front Control Arms were shot. lowers could be rebuilt but uppers had to be replaced. i found the pieces at Advance for not even $500... what gives?
2000-2800- apparently the C-clip on my LSD has come off and they wanted 2000 to rebuild it or 2800 for a whole new axle from jasper.
* they quoted this having only looked through the fill hole....?
now I have put over 1400 miles on this truck, i dont get very good mileage11.4 currently (full city never above 45) and 14.8 on my last HWY trip. but i know its a truck...lol
my thinking tells me if something was that messed up in my differential i would know it by now??? i pulled the plug the other day and the fluid doesnt seem to have any flakes...
any input from others who have experience either of these? i will have a good amount of money coming in the next 6 months ( VA), but i dont have any right now.
Nice purchase price!!
As for the quote. You are leaving out several things here. One is the difference between dealer OEM part pricing and aftermarket part pricing. There is usually a substantial gap here, but generally you get a higher quality part
that they will fully warranty. Second is labor. Its quite the chore to R&R all ball joints and control arm bushings. A lot of labor hours at or around the industry standard $100/hr labor rate adds up quickly.
They are undoubtedly talking about the clutch retainers as redtruckVA stated. These can be inspected without even removing the fill plug, as there are testing procedures in the ESM and tech assist programs to check for proper operation of the LSD unit. these tests are fairly accurate, and dealer's will check for them every time because this is a common problem that affects hundreds of thousands of units, and can cause serious damage or an accident if left untreated. Verify you indeed have the LSD, sometimes the computer systems that guide the techs are wrong about the equipment options, but none can detect a previous owner swapping it out for a non LSD.
I always recommend in situations like these to either do the work yourself and have someone do the alignment, or shop around and compare prices but make sure you are getting either OEM or equivalent quality parts. As for the rear diff, I would seize this opportunity to re gear and put a real locker back there. A good driveline and axle shop will charge around 550-1000 in labor if you supply the parts.
That was your first mistake. Take it to a good independent shop that has a good reputation.
Do not go to a dealer again.
The bushings and ball joints could be shot, but you only need to change those that are. Again, a good shop will tell you.
As for the rear diff -- that is hilarious. If you doubt the c-clip is there or not, have a shop remove the rear disks. If the axles simply pull out, you have big problems. If not, put it all back together and go celebrate.
If you have some spare time, now is the time to buy some manuals, some tools and start wrenching on this yourself
I really hate that people have this misconception and go around forcing it on others simply because they disagree with the pricing or the amount of recommendations when the vehicle is serviced.
The simple truth is that at dealerships, the vehicle is inspected by techs that are trained on that specific brand, we know what to look for. We have access to specifications that others dont, tools, procedures, bulletins, service manuals, and traning that allows us to give the vehicle a thorough inspection and make the needed recommendations.
The technician is held accountable for any and all missed recommendations, so few things get missed. It is the job of the service writer to use discretion in what is pertinent to the situation and discuss it with the customer. Often times they tend to present the whole deal first then if you are not interested, get down to what is a safety concern, or the original reason you brought it in.
OP- I'm sorry for hoggin up thread space here, but I don't like seeing misinformed people try to spread the love.
You are up for some great bonding time with your 03, do your own work and you will appreciate the old girl more. Often the term "C" clip is spoken, but really what they are talking about are the LSD clutch retainers. These are harden steel pieces that can break off and float around in the housing causing occasionally serious damage. First you need to determine if you have the LSD differential. The open rearend doesn't have the clips, so they can't break and be a problem. If you do have LSD, then pull the cover and inspect the differential. Probably time for a oil change anyway. The gas mileage can be a lot of things, but I would clean the TB, change the spark plugs and wires, replace the air filter, PCV, maybe add a CAI, install the TMR mod, pwr wire and maybe add a 180 stat. Then there's the LP booster, Y pipe and any straight through performance muffler. Find a used SC3815 for around $140 as it is all that a 03 can use and you should be steadily improving mileage as you go along. Good luck...
Best advice so far.
grrrr
