Nightmares 2013 Ram

[shicksjr01]

You know this is a rant, but you take your truck in for services religiously on time, etc. Well i had a incident while driving in a park, I heard a pop passenger side and looked behind me to see if I ran over something or a hole, well nothing then the front end got noisy and vibrations. So got it in to the dealership and found passenger side hub had failed. Its covered under Warranty for Life so we will take care of it. An hour later got the first of 2 calls. Both front axels are bad. Warranty wouldn't cover them because they were missing boots and rusted. Then the 2nd call. Couldn't get axles out of spline in differential because they were rusted in the spline, the seals had failed. Again not covered due to rust. I get all this it a 2013. What I do not get is why the dealership didn't see this stuff on previous visits and service. Going to cost every bit of 5000$ to get all repairs done. replacing 1 hub, 2 axles and the differential. SAD and frustrated.

 

[Daw14]

Find an independent mechanic who can do the job,it will cost a whole lot less then a dishonest dealer service dept .

 

[Jeepwalker]

Nobody can predict with certainty when a wheel bearing will fail. They can crap out at 50k miles (not usually), or go 250k miles. The torn boots, ...either it was an oversight on an earlier visit (maybe some young kid was doing the oil change), or perhaps the boots weren't torn then.

Cold weather is hard on rubber CV boots. The rubber gets old & degraded, less pliable. On a real cold day, turn the wheels sharp and the stiff rubber boot can tear. So maybe yours failed over the winter on some cold day. ?? I've trained my wife to never turn the wheels sharp on real cold days ...unless it's absolutely necessary.

Doing the wheel bearings can be (often) a bugger (to language clean) of a job, which can involve a lot of work, hammering, 4-letter words blurted at high volume, and even enraged tool-throwing. I've done some real challenging ones that were rusted in there nice and tight!! I'm sure other guys here have too. No fun. Depends how difficult they are to remove.

Plus the dealer is going to use Mopar parts ..at full bore dealer cost. But they're top notch parts too. Beware of cheap parts.

.

 

[indept]

You know this is a rant, but you take your truck in for services religiously on time, etc. Well i had a incident while driving in a park, I heard a pop passenger side and looked behind me to see if I ran over something or a hole, well nothing then the front end got noisy and vibrations. So got it in to the dealership and found passenger side hub had failed. Its covered under WFL so we will take care of it. An hour later got the first of 2 calls. Both front axels are bad. Warranty wouldn't cover them because they were missing boots and rusted. Then the 2nd call. Couldn't get axles out of spline in differential because they were rusted in the spline, the seals had failed. Again not covered due to rust. I get all this it a 2013. What I do not get is why the dealership didn't see this stuff on previous visits and service. Going to cost every bit of 5000$ to get all repairs done. replacing 1 hub, 2 axles and the differential. SAD and frustrated.

What is WFL?

 

[Jeepwalker]

Hub/bearing assemblies and front half-shafts go out on Rams quite a bit. No shortage of forum posts here. Probably not much more than other vehicles. Usually they can become 'loose' by the axle stub shafts (which is a bigger problem). So if your truck's are seized tight, maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[DILLIGAF]

5K is straight Highway robbery.

CV axles 150$ each
Output shaft 500$ for passenger side 50$ for driver - Or do the Gen 3 front diff swap .
Hubs are 150$ each

Stealersh!ts are to greasy to even tell you its rebuildable. they rather screw you out of money instead.

Wheel bearing swaps on Ram 1500s are a simple AF. Literally 3 bolts.

 

[HuskerRam]

What is WFL?

Warranty for life

 

[jws123]

$5000.. I have gotten rusted stuck axles off of the diff many times common issue It just takes paitence they where lazy you got ripped off never go to the dealership if not under warranty.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Mopar bearing assemblies are $200 ea. But any shop is going charge you a lot more than that ...even a cheaper shop. An independent shop has to price the job figuring worst-case, which can be high on a hub/bearing replacement. But if it goes easier than expected they can always say, "It went faster than we expexted, so the price is $2,350, instead of the $3,200 we quotd you".

The dealer didn't hose him yet bc they haven't done the work as I understand it. OP, before you dump the dealer, make sure you are understanding all the work they are quoting. Customers are famous for leaving half the details out. And if what you say, is all they're going to do, see if you can talk them down to something more reasonable.

 

[indept]

Warranty for life

So if it's the free powertrain warranty they used to give, then as long as you took it in for the required periodic inspections they should have covered it since they missed the axle issues. Claiming rust for seizing the shaft to the diff lets them off is bull. Why didn't they notice that the seals had failed previously. I would fight it in small claims court if you can't get relief talking to them.

 

[Jeepwalker]

How about Ramcares

(this forum ...do a search)

 

[GTyankee]

Dodge dealerships usually have 2 Service Departments for cars & Light Duty Trucks , then a 3rd service department for Heavy Duty Trucks.

They send cars & light duty trucks to the EXPRESS LANES for regular services
The Express Lanes are suppose to do the service & something like a 35 point check of the vehicle.

My dealership had the Express Lanes in the rear of the JEEP Sales Building.

I used to watch them service vehicles, i would stand right outside of the big roll up doors.

They checked the fluid levels in the engine compartment & changed the oil & filter
sometimes i saw them change air filters

They looked at the tires & looked for leaks at the wheel cylinders.
Is there a way to look at the brake pads & rotor when a vehicle is on a lift ? ?
They did not rotate the tires.

They never ever checked the differential fluid level, they did not check my Pinion Seal for dampness

I left the Express Lanes, with a standard B.S. inspection sheet
It read that my Air Cleaner had been checked & needed replacing.
There were no finger or hand prints on the plastic box, so the people in the office were going by a service check sheet that read, at this mileage air cleaners usually need replacing.

My rear differential has its own Dip Stick, they never checked the fluid level

I drove less than 150 miles the next day, when the light growling noise started, i still had over 250 miles to drive that day, or i should say night.
The last 70 miles, i was seriously considering calling a Tow Truck, it was that loud.

I drove up to the Service area gate at 7 AM, they don't open until 8 AM

The Service Dept called me that same morning, everything had turned BLUE from not being lubricated. The Pinion Seal was the culprit.

I drove my other truck over to the Express Lane & i was irritated enough that the office people were walking away from the billing window, nobody wanted to be near me.
The manager kept claiming that they had done everything correctly, when i asked about checking the rear differential level, he had no more excuses & walked away.

My dealership used to have windows in the waiting room, a customer could watch what was going on in the repair area.
Now those windows are sheet rocked closed

 

[Jeepwalker]

GTyankee: Yep. I can see that. They put their new and lower paid, less-experienced guys in the oil change bays. Some of them are right out of high school. Real common.

We used to run into those situations on large HVAC service accounts. Those are an organization's bread and butter acounts. You put your lower paid guys changing air filters bc it takes a long time, but you pair them up with an experienced tech too who can go along and make equipment inspections. The whole point (and what we sold to the customers) of doing routine maintenance weather on a vehicle or building equipment is to do the items which will preserve the life of the equipment (or vehicle). AND to see other items which may be the beginning of wear or problems ...catch them early while they're cheap. That was our intention as an "Organization" and how we sold the maintenance.

However, the service department in our (and many) companies is under their own profit/loss center. Eventually the pressure to cut costs and show a profit means they are going to look for any way to reduce the fat. That means not having an experience journeyman show up and do those key inspections. Yep, I'd get the call when the new guys would miss obvious items. Those kind of 'cuts' actually COST us money as an entire organization when customers just leave.

And that's what's going on in the oil change dept. The funny thing is, that can be where the most sales take place, if a good mechanic spots items like worn brakes, leaks, bad suspension items. Worn items which may make the vehicle less safe or more expensive to repair.

 

[indept]

Dodge dealerships usually have 2 Service Departments for cars & Light Duty Trucks , then a 3rd service department for Heavy Duty Trucks.

They send cars & light duty trucks to the EXPRESS LANES for regular services
The Express Lanes are suppose to do the service & something like a 35 point check of the vehicle.

My dealership had the Express Lanes in the rear of the JEEP Sales Building.

I used to watch them service vehicles, i would stand right outside of the big roll up doors.

They checked the fluid levels in the engine compartment & changed the oil & filter
sometimes i saw them change air filters

They looked at the tires & looked for leaks at the wheel cylinders.
Is there a way to look at the brake pads & rotor when a vehicle is on a lift ? ?
They did not rotate the tires.

They never ever checked the differential fluid level, they did not check my Pinion Seal for dampness

I left the Express Lanes, with a standard B.S. inspection sheet
It read that my Air Cleaner had been checked & needed replacing.
There were no finger or hand prints on the plastic box, so the people in the office were going by a service check sheet that read, at this mileage air cleaners usually need replacing.

My rear differential has its own Dip Stick, they never checked the fluid level

I drove less than 150 miles the next day, when the light growling noise started, i still had over 250 miles to drive that day, or i should say night.
The last 70 miles, i was seriously considering calling a Tow Truck, it was that loud.

I drove up to the Service area gate at 7 AM, they don't open until 8 AM

The Service Dept called me that same morning, everything had turned BLUE from not being lubricated. The Pinion Seal was the culprit.

I drove over to the Express Lane & i was irritated enough that the office people were walking away from the billing window, nobody wanted to be near me.
The manager kept claiming that they had done everything correctly, when i asked about checking the rear differential level, he had no more excuses & walked away.

My dealership used to have windows in the waiting room, a customer could watch what was going on in the repair area.
Now those windows are sheet rocked closed

Hopefully you found a better dealer to rob you. Hookers charge less to screw you than dealers do. And the hookers check all your fluids.

 

[GTyankee]

Actually that dealership changed for the worse when Covid happened.
In April 2020, they closed down the whole Jeep Sales & Express Lanes, They blocked the driveways into that portion of the property.

They Let all of the Service Writers in the Repair section go,
They had a Service Manager come in & then they had Trainees that greet you, they would write you up & the Manager double checks with the customer, before a lot boy drives the vehicles back into the service area.

There are mostly new people in the Parts Dept. but they know the job

I have not gone over to the Heavy Duty Repair area, it is also the BUSINESS LINK section

They have also closed the Customer Waiting Room
& they no longer have Courtesy Vans, they used to pick up & drop off customers that were having their vehicles worked on.

I expect things will change now that almost everyone has tossed masks into the trash, even at the hospitals

 

[RamInfo]

The first thing that should change is the dealership you use!

best,
DG

 

[GTyankee]

I only had my OIL & filter changed recently

They topped off the radiator & brake fluid & the OIL level was within an 1/8th of an inch of the full line.
I checked it before i left the property
I also looked for any new dents & scratches

 

[DaveSharp]

The grease on a bad boot doesn't wear out and allow complete rusting of a shaft or hub in 5k. Just doesn't happen and I work in the rust belt. If you had your vehicle in for oil changes within the scheduled service period then you should call bullpuckey on this techs gravy train and get the dealer to show you HOW this rusted out and seized with 5k. They get paid more for retail and I think are screwing you. Ask how much the difference is between the two and you'll have your answer.

 

[DaveSharp]

The first thing that should change is the dealership you use!

best,
DG

I think he should challenge their horsecrap. The vehicle is covered under warranty and they are pulling the warranty to retail switch to make more money. How can my assessment be anymore outrageous than their when the vehicle was just in for an inspection and a ripped boot or loose joint should have been obvious. He could get a second opinion but should force them to honour the warranty. That is what they make lawyers for.

 

[Dusty]

Nobody can predict with certainty when a wheel bearing will fail. They can crap out at 50k miles (not usually), or go 250k miles. The torn boots, ...either it was an oversight on an earlier visit (maybe some young kid was doing the oil change), or perhaps the boots weren't torn then.

Cold weather is hard on rubber CV boots. The rubber gets old & degraded, less pliable. On a real cold day, turn the wheels sharp and the stiff rubber boot can tear. So maybe yours failed over the winter on some cold day. ?? I've trained my wife to never turn the wheels sharp on real cold days ...unless it's absolutely necessary.

Doing the wheel bearings can be (often) a bugger (to language clean) of a job, which can involve a lot of work, hammering, 4-letter words blurted at high volume, and even enraged tool-throwing. I've done some real challenging ones that were rusted in there nice and tight!! I'm sure other guys here have too. No fun. Depends how difficult they are to remove.

Plus the dealer is going to use Mopar parts ..at full bore dealer cost. But they're top notch parts too. Beware of cheap parts.

.

One of my sons has a novel approach to dealing with rusted hubs. He uses cheap(er) aftermarket which only survive 12-18 months. They don't have time to get rusted in.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 88148 miles.