Truck says STOP!

[Cruzman]

Truck is a 2013 RAM 2500 with the 6.7 turbo diesel 6 speed auto and electronic switch to go between 2 wd and 4 wd and currently has 168k miles. On my way out of town I slowed to make a turn into a car wash and my front axle locked up. It was not the brakes but appears to be a problem in the transfer case. I ruled out the front axle as the truck was pulled onto the flat bed wrecker one front wheel was turning forward and the other was turning backwards. I believe this indicates that the front diff is free and working properly. This leads me to believe that the issue is in the transfer case. I assume it will need a rebuild or replacement.
The questions I have are as follows:
1) what else should be inspected (front axles, front diff, front drive shaft?
2) As my truck is not near my local shop, If it is the transfer cased could I just drop the front drive shaft to make the 115 mile treck home and then have it prepared.
3) What do you suppose would be the cause for this to occur. All I had had done was the transfer case fluids changed at 100k i

The overriding thought now is how bad this could have been had I been hustling around one of my local mountain roads and this happened. It could have resulted in me going into an oncoming lane or going straight off a cliff. This has me considering installing manual hubs on the front end (This is a $2k in parts alone) but it would be safer.

What are your thoughts, anyone have anything similar happen?

 

[mtofell]

Lots of assumptions..... many of which have solid methodology but it's a lot of guessing at this point. Get it into a good driveline shop or the dealer and see what they come up with.

 

[olyelr]

They drug your truck up on the flat bed and one front tire was spinning forward and the other front tire was spinning backward?!? Ummmm, sounds like a differential issue to me.

 

[Cruzman]

They are going to crack the dif open as they say they hear it making a bit more noise then they expect it too. They also say that today the truck is driving across the parking lot.... should have a definitive answer by tomorrow I guess.

 

[olyelr]

They are going to crack the dif open as they say they hear it making a bit more noise then they expect it too. They also say that today the truck is driving across the parking lot.... should have a definitive answer by tomorrow I guess.

I would guess something in your differential let loose and bound/locked up. Then when dragging it around it became dislodged and allowed movement again.

 

[Mister Luck]

Car wash like hand wash or service station drive through?

 

[Cruzman]

Ok so I heard back from the shop today. It seems that an inner front axle bearing bad and the truck needs new bearing kit and in pinion shaft. And guess what if you own a 2008 - 2013 and need one of these you are out of luck as they have been discontinued. So I guess it is up to the aftermarket to save me. However there is some speculation that it might be cheaper to swap in a new axle. On a side note I guess this may be why I have had the dealer installing new pinion seals every 10k miles for the last 5 years. So perhaps this will fix that. What do you think my chances are of making them fix it under warranty with 170k miles on the clock?

 

[Awokenotwoke]

Ok so I heard back from the shop today. It seems that an inner front axle bearing bad and the truck needs new bearing kit and in pinion shaft. And guess what if you own a 2008 - 2013 and need one of these you are out of luck as they have been discontinued. So I guess it is up to the aftermarket to save me. However there is some speculation that it might be cheaper to swap in a new axle. On a side note I guess this may be why I have had the dealer installing new pinion seals every 10k miles for the last 5 years. So perhaps this will fix that. What do you think my chances are of making them fix it under warranty with 170k miles on the clock?

I would say slim to none —— but hey, it’s worth asking I guess. Don’t be surprised if you hear laughing out the shop though.

 

[Cruzman]

Well, it gets worse. The pinion bearing spun in the housing and now it looks like I need a new housing (front axle assemble) now if I could just find one.