Drag Link Sheered Off - Related to RC-N4919

[Ridge Pete]

I have a 2010 3500 Laramie 4x4. I had my truck recalled under RC-N4919. I was not personally notified for the same reason I have had multiple issues getting notifications on my truck, they for some reason do not have it registered to me personally. Another story, another time.

Let’s just say I eventually became aware and made the appointment to have it rectified. Almost exactly 11 months ago. One of the items was fracturing of the tie rods leading to potentially catastrophic results and death. Got it fixed, awesome, done!

Yesterday, I am driving home on the freeway, going the mandated 100kmph. I get off the freeway, remember I need to grab one more thing from the Home Depot. I pull into the parking lot, and go to turn into a parking stall when....snap...and my steering is gone, totally free of the wheel. Lucky for me I am now going 2kmph and I am able to just stop. I get out and under my front end and long story short, I find my drag link tie rod has sheered completely off. The end with the nut remains and the top end inserted into the drag link is still there as well, but it is fractured completely below the grease boot. If that had been 10 minutes earlier, I may have had that same thing happen at 100kmph on the freeway.

I scour my recall paperwork and I find that RC-N4919 calls for the replacement of everything...except for the connector tie rod. Even the drag link nut is to be replaced. Remember, this recall is about the fracturing of the tie rod connectors and the potential results are potentially catastrophic and possible death. Why the hell did they not think the drag link tie rod connector shouldn’t be a part of that recall.

Has anyone else experienced this issue. I just can’t believe I am the only one! I just can’t believe they wouldn’t at least recommend I change the only piece they didn’t change for this fix.

Holy Jesus American Christ is someone going to get an earful from me and a bill from my personal mechanic whom I CAN trust.

 

[POINTMAN380]

Glad your still here to tell us about it. Give em hell

 

[crazy jerry]

and you didnt bother to take any photo?

i dont believe theyre obligated to track you down. just a guess but im sure they just send a recall notice to the current registered owners last known adress. if your not the current registered owner or you dont live at that adress, thats not their problem. it sounds like you understand this

if the recall is for a tie rod end, why would you think theyll replace the draglink?

you can put your vin into the mopar site, among many other sites and see what open recalls you have. im not really saying its your own fault but it kind of sounds like it is. if i understand correctly, you werent in a position to recieve the recall notice through mail, at no fault of chrysler. and you didnt bother to check for yourself if there was any recalls

another thing. recalls or not. its a good idea once in a while to crawl under the vehicle and check for worn or loose components

 

[RamCares]

I have a 2010 3500 Laramie 4x4. I had my truck recalled under RC-N4919. I was not personally notified for the same reason I have had multiple issues getting notifications on my truck, they for some reason do not have it registered to me personally. Another story, another time.

Let’s just say I eventually became aware and made the appointment to have it rectified. Almost exactly 11 months ago. One of the items was fracturing of the tie rods leading to potentially catastrophic results and death. Got it fixed, awesome, done!

Yesterday, I am driving home on the freeway, going the mandated 100kmph. I get off the freeway, remember I need to grab one more thing from the Home Depot. I pull into the parking lot, and go to turn into a parking stall when....snap...and my steering is gone, totally free of the wheel. Lucky for me I am now going 2kmph and I am able to just stop. I get out and under my front end and long story short, I find my drag link tie rod has sheered completely off. The end with the nut remains and the top end inserted into the drag link is still there as well, but it is fractured completely below the grease boot. If that had been 10 minutes earlier, I may have had that same thing happen at 100kmph on the freeway.

I scour my recall paperwork and I find that RC-N4919 calls for the replacement of everything...except for the connector tie rod. Even the drag link nut is to be replaced. Remember, this recall is about the fracturing of the tie rod connectors and the potential results are potentially catastrophic and possible death. Why the hell did they not think the drag link tie rod connector shouldn’t be a part of that recall.

Has anyone else experienced this issue. I just can’t believe I am the only one! I just can’t believe they wouldn’t at least recommend I change the only piece they didn’t change for this fix.

Holy Jesus American Christ is someone going to get an earful from me and a bill from my personal mechanic whom I CAN trust.

We appreciate you bringing your situation to our attention, Pete. Although our specific team is equipped to assist United States based customers, we would like to point you in the right direction for assistance. Please contact the Canadian Customer Care Team at https://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/footer/Pages/contacts.aspx or 800-361-3700. We hope this helps.

Kate
RamCares

 

[mtnrider]

What is the RC-N4919 recall? I can't find any info on it nor can I find any drag link related recall for a 2010 truck, only the newer ones.


.

 

[Gr8bawana]

What is the RC-N4919 recall? I can't find any info on it nor can I find any drag link related recall for a 2010 truck, only the newer ones.

I thought the recall was for 2013-2017 3500's and 2014-2017 2500's. No 2010's even mentioned.

 

[mtnrider]

I thought the recall was for 2013-2017 3500's and 2014-2017 2500's. No 2010's even mentioned.

That is the current recall for the drag link (which doesn't apply to his truck) but I can't anything on the recall the OP is talking about? Have no idea what it is?

 

[Tach_tech]

N49 is an older recall that applies to certain trucks 2008-2012. It involves inspecting the front linkage to determine which style it has. If it has a steering shock with a stud that goes through the tie rod and is held by a nut. No repair is done.

If it has a steering shock that is held to the tie rod with a clamp. Then the left/right tie rod assemblies will be replaced.

That recall has nothing to do with the drag link. It’s for tie rods shearing off. The drag link is not part of the recall because the recall is only to address the tie rod shearing off issue.

It’s entirely possible your drag link has been worn for some time and eventually failed completely.

 

[Ridge Pete]

So to follow up with everyone, here's an update on my story.

First, Crazy Jerry: Thank you CJ, I bought the truck new and I am the only registered owner, so how they cacked that up is the other story. I won't go into it here, but because my purchase discount was through a construction association, they had my truck tied to the association. I have tried multiple times to get it corrected but they just can't seem to get it right. I think I have it sorted out ten years in, but who knows. You are correct in that they are not obligated to call each individual owner by phone, but they are obligated to by mail. My only point there was if I hadn't been improperly put into the system in the first place, I would have got my notification on time.

Second, Crazy Jerry: Thank you again, but I did take pictures and I did compose a "brilliant" letter (with pictures) to the esteemed team at FCA but found out I cannot contact anyone at the company, they make that impossible by telling you to go to a dealership. More on that in a minute.

Third, Tach_Tech: Thank you as well, but the drag link tie rod is connected to the entire assembly that connects to the tie rod ends. It is effectively just another tie rod in that assembly that links all the moving parts together. The fact that FCA discovered the tie rods sheer off tells me common sense would have you look at all of them. That and the fact that NC49 had all tie rods replaced except for this one in the assembly makes me scratch my head. The fact that this tie rod sheered off on me while driving makes me a little steamed that they didn't have the common sense to change them all. I may not be important to the world, but I am to three girls and my wife (at least some of the time).

Now back to the ongoing story. When the incident happened and I realized where the problem was, I was not in favor of the same people fixing it. I instead had the truck taken another shop and paid the $1,100 to have it fixed by people who gave me a more confident feeling of competence. I had my truck back in 3 days and I continue to drive it today. I love my truck, ten years of happiness using it in all situations. My issue is with the error in the recall and the people I have had to deal with since. First I want others to know if you had this recall done you should have the drag link changed out as well because the effect of it going bad can be catastrophic.

Secondly for me is I wanted to put this information to FCA. I believe this issue is important for them to know so they can evaluate if it is more than a one customer problem. And lastly, Yes, I thought I should be at least reimbursed for my cost to fix it. I have had a great experience owning the HD Ram in more than one truck. I know from past experience that inherent safety issues with the truck are fixed by FCA without question and I believe this is certainly one of them.

Unfortunately for me, I was not comfortable with taking my truck back to the dealer for this problem after the fix did not fix the danger, so I took it to another shop. My pursuit of FCA since has felt like I am being avoided and deflected. I can't identify a person in the corporate tower. I did sleuth out a number of VP's in customer service end and copied them all on my letter (with pictures and receipts) to bring it to their attention. They were all sent back rejected (felt like "plausible deniability" theory in action). I asked repeatedly whom I could speak to via the only public email available and have been told my only recourse is to take it to a dealer to have it repaired. I have told them I HAD it repaired both times, so these responses feel an awful lot like nobody is listening to me.

I have included my letter here (as an attachment) to FCA for you folks to decide for yourself. It has been months and the COVID-19 pandemic has taken precedence in everyday life, but I am not one to give up so easily (my dad always said I was like "a dog on a bone" when something grabbed me) so give it a read. I may never get what I personally want from FCA (acknowledgement and reimbursement) but if it saves one driver from a catastrophic event, I am pretty damned happy.

Happy trails RAM drivers.

Ridge Pete

 

[Tach_tech]

Unfortunately with recalls they will only replace what’s covered by the recall. While the drag link uses the same style joint as the tie rods it’s not covered in the recall for whatever reason. Luckily drag links shearing off is a fairly rare event in my experience. It’s entirely possible you just had a bad one, it may not have even been worn out. Tie rods on the other hand have been a somewhat common issue mainly on the 2500+ trucks for the possibility of shearing.

Good on you for trying but the chance of FCA paying for the drag link repair is close to zero. At least you can say you tried.

 

[Ridge Pete]

Thats true tach-tech. I tried, and if it hurts someone in the future it will noy be for a lack of effort on my part to warn them.

 

[Bigg Greene]

View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 View attachment 244930 This same thing has happened to me TWICE! Im searching for a true heavy duty off road type drag link end to replace it for a third time. Thanks to whomever is watching over me as it happened a low speed and in a turn I am very careful about not turning lock to lock and thus binding the linkage. Guess it didnt help.

so sorry for all the extra photos never figured out how to delete them!!

 

[Mark Redmon]

The drag link on my 2012 Ram 2500 (175k miles 99% on-road) sheared off today. Exact same failure mode as Ridge Pete. I'm also quite lucky that this happened at 2mph in a parking lot. Dealer wanted $170, NAPA wanted $70. NAPA version has a zerk on top. Lube was not a factor in my case. Looking at the fracture, it appears to be a casting defect. I don't see a way to prevent this failure, but this failure is very concerning. I will have dealer inspect the front end in case the recall covers some portion of this, but I will replace the entire front end as preventive maintenance.