Rear Axle Pinion snapped while driving

[Trident309]

Hello all. My vehicle is a 2016 Ram 1500, 5.7, crew cab, big horn. currently around 54,000 miles.
So yesterday I went to the local oil change place to get my oil/filter changed. they suggested change the front & rear differential fluids be changed as well. I said ok.
the receipt says they put in 75w90 x 2.4 pts in the front & 75w140 x 4.6 pts in the rear.
Mileage in was 54103.
I drove home, maybe about 2 miles away. took side roads. did not go over 50mph. No issues.
today i got on the expressway and i smell a burning oil smell and the truck is kind of "holding back" when i let off the gas pedal. the same feeling you would get if you were to put you car from "drive" then shift into "2" or "L". that sensation. I got off the nearest exit and now im on the service rd heading towards a red traffic lite and i hear a snap/bang sound. then a dragging sound. i feel no forward power when i press the gas and now the engine is sounding very weird. as if it were getting flooded from too much gas or something. I stop at the red light. now the smell is very bad and the engine seems to be stalling. i put it in park and shut off the truck. i get out and the truck starts rolling backwards because i am on a slight incline. i hop back in and press the brake and emergency brake. i get out and look underneath and find the rear driveshaft snapped and hanging on the street. see the attached pics. the mileage now is 54112. Ive driven 9 miles.
how can it be that a driveshaft snaps like that? any thoughts? looks like a clean snap.

 

[G-Ride990]

That is not your driveshaft that broke, that is the pinion in your rear differential that snapped.

Did the lube shop not put any oil back in it??

Welcome to the forum! Sorry this BS is your first post, truck looks nice otherwise.

 

[NJMOPAR]

Sounds like "hey Joe, did you fill the rear diff?"
"Uh....sure!"

 

[Trident309]

thanks for the welcome...
I honestly don't know what they did under there. i was sitting in the car while it was all being done. but there was a little bit of fluid splattered on the bottom of the car, as you can see in the picture. nothing was dripping out when it was stopped in the street, but then again, i was stopped on an incline which would force the liquid back into the unit. there was some fluid that leaked out onto the bed of the flatbed. it looked new & clean. maybe there was not enough fluid put back in that caused a seize in the rear end gears? fortunately for me, it did not seize the rear tires, but instead produced enough torque to snap that pinion?
And thank you for correcting me on what snapped. I did not know what that part is called. I updated my title. Thank you..

 

[81SHOVELHEAD]

I agree
Thats a broken pinion gear . I would call the mechanic that said he put 4.2 pints of oil in the rear end ? I would also check the front differential, Just sounds suspect to me that it happened after you had it serviced . Wow.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You should be there with your camera and pay a shop/mechanic to remove the diff cover to check the oil situation. Don't do it yourself, or it'll be a lot harder to have recourse on the oil-change shop. It's not going to be a cheap fix unless you can find a whole new rear end assembly.

This is the exact reason I don't let shops touch my tk for simple things like this. My wife ...before we were married, they backed her car out of the oil-change shop with oil drizzling all over the place. They were adament it was normal. She insisted they push it back in the garage and check the filter (after calling me) and wouldn't leave till they did. She stuck to her guns and sure enough the filter was double-gasketed and leaking all over the place. I could recite a couple other stories like that people I know have had happen to them.

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Bummer

 

[pacofortacos]

I also think that they forgot to fill it, filled it with something else, left the drain plug out.
I guess it is possible that it was just a coincidence but that would be just horrible luck.

 

[EdGs]

I would definately pay to have a reputable shop take a look so that the cause of failure can be documented, with pictures, video.

Sure does appear that something was not done (or done right).

Hopefully you will be able to get reimbursed for your loss. Very sorry you have to go through this. I pray that you have the best possible outcome from this mess.

Please, keep us posted.

 

[healthyrx]

On the bright side, if you ever had thoughts about a early 4th gen front diff for larger gears and a locker in the rear now would be the time to do both

 

[PoMansRam]

Oh man that sucks on such a low mileage nice looking truck. Like said, if you're going to pursue the oil change place, I'd get the cover off the rear diff and take lots of pics. If it had no or very low gear oil in there there will be all kinds of gear and bearing carnage in there. It was enough to lock up the works and cause the pinion to twist itself apart.

From the sounds of the time/mileage frames, the burning smell, sluggishness and then the bang, it sure does sound like a lubrication related failure.

 

[zogg]

I don’t believe in coincidences….I’d bet $100 that the rear ended is either dry or was filled with something other that gear oil. Good luck and let us know

 

[Daw14]

It’s a long shot but it’s possible the grease changer left a socket or extension laying in there . Make sure it’s documented with photos as it is disassembled. Let us know the outcome please, thanks .

 

[Timsdually]

Had the pinion seal go bad on my truck at 11,000 miles. I was driving back and forth from NJ to NC.
Using about 1 1/2 qts of gear oil per trip. You could smell it. Gear oil has that "smell", which is how I noticed it. Then the oil spray was all over my rear bumper and tailgate and on the front of my cargo trailer.

 

[Trident309]

I also think that they forgot to fill it, filled it with something else, left the drain plug out.
I guess it is possible that it was just a coincidence but that would be just horrible luck.

Drain plug is in place. good thought though.

 

[Jeepwalker]

The pinion going bad might be a sort of clue: A rear diff can be quite low on lube and still function and lubricate. Oil is licked up off the bottom of the diff and gets slung toward the front via a channel. That's how the front bearing gets it's lube. I've seen diffs pretty low on lube still function undamaged. Then the oil that lubricates the front pinion bearing makes its way by gravity down a trough past the rear pinion bearing before dropping down to the bottom of the diff housing. The side bearings can probably get by under low-load conditions in a cool environment by whatever tiny droplets of splashing oil get on them. Obviously not ideal, but rear diffs that are rather low do seem to survive under low-strain conditions. Side axle bearing races actually 'hold' some lub by the way they are designed.

So, the pinion going first 'could' be an indicator that there was no oil in the diff. Or... maybe the bearing just gave out. Not likely but that does occasionally happen. But I'm going with the no-lube scenario.

 

[EdGs]

Drain plug is in place. good thought though.

I'll take: Forgot to put oil in the rear diff for 1000, Alex.

If it leaked out while you were traveling, you'd have one hell of a mess underneath, IMO. The bearing looks like it got a bit toasty, too.

 

[Trident309]

I updated this thread with pictures of my baby. "Papa Smurf". 3rd pic is from a while ago with the old tires...
Nothing new to add to this story as of yet because the dealers 1st available appointment for me to bring it in is Monday, Feb 28th...
I really do appreciate all of your inputs though. I was thinking maybe it was overfilled. But now underfilled makes a lot more sense. Thank you everyone.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Truck looks great.
Seized rear end isn't the worst thing in the world. Mechanical parts, which can be replaced and don't affect appearance. Just costs $$. In the meantime, you might call around for pricing on a used rear end from, say, a wrecked truck. Lot of trucks have front end damage and rear diffs are fine. Just to get pricing. It' would be nice to be 'armed' with pricing information on a good/used unit about your miles, before the dealer gives you his price (run your vin to get the axle ratio if you don't know it). A used diff *might* be a more cost-effective way to go depending on the damage inside. But at least you'll have some numbers to compare by. And how good is the dealer at setting up a brand new gearset??

It's also possible there's plenty of oil in the diff it and all it needs is a new ring/pinion set. You never know till you get into it. Years ago I worked on a vehicle that had a pinion bearing seize, and I was able to cut the melted pinion bearing (with artful use of a plasma cutter) and reuse everything after the pinion bearings were installed. It was someone I knew and the rear diff never failed.

 

[JPT]

I'm not sure that this would be from oil in the differential. You would hear the gear whine way before the pinion would seize to the point that the pinion gear would snap.

I would think it is something that got trapped between the pinion and ring gear for a second.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Man oh man.
Reminds me of the time I went to a tire shop to to have my tires balanced and rotated. Got the all done and paid; and then jumped in '84 Dodge pickup and headed down the road. I kept hearing a banging noise and had a shake in the rear end. I pulled over to find 2 lug nuts holding the right rear wheel on. I had aftermarket aluminum wheels, which was ruined. The lugs where beat up and I cranked on the 2 holding the wheel on and limped it back to the tire shop about 3 miles. I pulled up in the parking lot and got the guy out that did the job too look at the damage.
He said "We didn't cause that! You drove the truck and caused the damage."
Fortunately the manager was watching and he must have seen I was about to explode. He wasn't apologetic but said they would replace the wheel, lugs, and lug nuts.