Very scared, 2010 Ram rear diff.

[Smith556]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and right now I am scared to death. I just bought a used 2010 ram 1500 crew cab 5.7 bighorn with a open 3.55 differential. After purchasing the truck I was made aware of a recall on the Differential. I was the first one in my area to have the M34 recall done. The rear diff. was silent and the truck was perfect at that point. After the work was performed I found out they only put the retaining clip whatever in the rear diff. I thought it odd since I had read that some had to have the differential rebuilt, but at that point the truck was fine so I did not question it. I purchased the truck with 82,900 miles on it and since I did not have a service history I took it to my shop where I had the tranny, transfer case, front diff and rear diff serviced. Moper ATF +4 in the transfer case and tranny and Mobile 1 synthetic differential fluid (oil weight per the owners manual) placed in the diffs. I now have 86,500 miles on the truck as I rarely drive it and there is a constant roar coming from the rear. It is there no matter if I accelerate or decelerate. But, on deceleration it sounds like the rear end is going to take off and land on the moon. Luckily I still have 14K of power train warranty left. i dropped it off at the dealer after taking it to my shop and having the guy make sure it was full of diff oil (it was) and to in general check the brakes just to be sure. He rode in it with me and said it sounded like metal to metal. Any thoughts or Revelations would be appreciated in dealing with the dealer to get it repaired under warranty.

 

[smurfs_of_war]

Get it in. Last thing you want is for that to pile up. The most common culprits for a noisy diff are bearings or worn/ poorly meshed gears or the limited slip.They are really finicky and if the tech that did it wasn't experienced and did a letter by letter reassembly, something may have gone funny. Too much/ too little torque or lash and it won't last long.

Anyone know if these newer axles still use a crush sleeve?

It shouldn't matter if you don't have the service history. They should provided it was done with a dealership. Even if it wasn't, the oil change frequency won't void the diff warranty. And since the pinion nut was done as a TSB, that means it was done with a dealer and they have record of it. Don't sweat it. Only a ****** dealer would give you a bum steer on that since the previous maintenance history was not in your control.


Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

 

[loveracing1988]

Get it in. Last thing you want is for that to pile up. The most common culprits for a noisy diff are bearings or worn/ poorly meshed gears or the limited slip.They are really finicky and if the tech that did it wasn't experienced and did a letter by letter reassembly, something may have gone funny. Too much/ too little torque or lash and it won't last long.

Anyone know if these newer axles still use a crush sleeve?

It shouldn't matter if you don't have the service history. They should provided it was done with a dealership. Even if it wasn't, the oil change frequency won't void the diff warranty. And since the pinion nut was done as a TSB, that means it was done with a dealer and they have record of it. Don't sweat it. Only a ****** dealer would give you a bum steer on that since the previous maintenance history was not in your control.


Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

Yes they still use crush sleeves.
If I had to venture a guess if it is louder on deceleration I'm guessing you have a bad tail bearing. Usually that is from low oil or driving in reverse for a few thousand miles straight. But since you are sure it has enough fluid it could have been the recall if they tightened the pinion nut too much.

 

[Smith556]

I don't think they did anything when the recall was done. They never tightened anything, serviced anything. And now I'm wondering if it was even checked before installing the retaining device. Some people do have the "well that looks tight to me" attitude. I'm not saying that happened, but it seemed way to easy and then a 1000 miles later my differential is singing. I'll know this morning what the verdict is and post it for you guys. Thanks for any advice anyone has in this matter.

 

[03MopaRamman]

Lover is probably right, Pre-load not checked, nut too tight, Pinion Bearing now Toasted....Maybe a Complete new Housing componenet axle to axle to U-joint splined and nutted sleeve is in order!

 

[Smith556]

Just received a call from the dealer that the rear Diff. Is the culprit. He mentioned a bearing being the issue but, did not specify which one. Luckily, he stated that this would be covered under warranty. He couldn't elaborate on everything they was going to replace due to the tech not having all the info yet. He stated that the tech seemed to think that the rear end had not been serviced very well prior to my getting the truck. Luckily I had it serviced when I bought it and told him about it, which he seemed interested in. It at the least seemed to him that I had done everything I should have in servicing it. He stated that a new bearing set would definitely be installed but, didn't know what else may be damaged yet. He kept mentioning that if I pulled, to service the Diff religiously. Does anyone know what parts may go into something like this now that we know a "bearing" is the issue?

 

[loveracing1988]

Just received a call from the dealer that the rear Diff. Is the culprit. He mentioned a bearing being the issue but, did not specify which one. Luckily, he stated that this would be covered under warranty. He couldn't elaborate on everything they was going to replace due to the tech not having all the info yet. He stated that the tech seemed to think that the rear end had not been serviced very well prior to my getting the truck. Luckily I had it serviced when I bought it and told him about it, which he seemed interested in. It at the least seemed to him that I had done everything I should have in servicing it. He stated that a new bearing set would definitely be installed but, didn't know what else may be damaged yet. He kept mentioning that if I pulled, to service the Diff religiously. Does anyone know what parts may go into something like this now that we know a "bearing" is the issue?

It depends on how cheap the warranty repair is going to be. In theory you will get new diff case bearings and new pinion bearings. I doubt there will be enough bearing material in the tubes to take out the axle shaft bearings so those should be fine. I also doubt the gearset got damaged unless the pinion nut did loosen up. You said theh blamed it on lsck of service? I don't know Chrysler's maintenance schedule but I kow Ford recommends the diff fluid be changed every 100k. I changed the fluid in my dads truck at 120k and it still looked almost brand new. I wpuld imagine yours should be the same. It doesn't really matter since they are covering it under warranty but I think they are just making sure their tech doesn't get blamed for not doing their job correctly.

 

[Smith556]

Thanks for the responses indeed. I'm stupid when it comes to differentials. The service writer was interested in something about the differential which did not make a lot of sense to me. The tech was there asking questions over the phone to the writer asking if I had been pulling anything of "excessive weight" or "been pulling at the max, and not servicing the diff", of which I reminded them that I bought the truck used from them with 82,900 miles and that I had only put a little over 3000 on it since I owned it. They actually asked me if I owned a bobcat fork lift? Apparently some guy around the city has a truck like mine and has been observed pulling way over his weight limit! After they was done interrogating me, which I didn't have anything else to hide after having my **** cavity checked, the writer told me it was no problem that it would be covered by warranty. So, I'm not sure what the tech observed, but I could tell by his tone in the background it was not pretty. Ill keep ya updated when I get the parts list to be installed. Thanks everyone for the insight and much appreciated comments. I love my truck and am ready for it to be fixed!

 

[Smith556]

Talked to the tech today and he stated that he was going to put in a new pinion bearing and a new pinion gear. He said that the pinion gear was a little scarred from the bearing and that he was going to replace it just incase. I assume a host of seals and other stuff will go into it. He stated that the rest of the Diff looked good and could find no reason to replace anything else. What do you guys think? Am I on the right path here? Anything else I should ask, say or do?

 

[loveracing1988]

Talked to the tech today and he stated that he was going to put in a new pinion bearing and a new pinion gear. He said that the pinion gear was a little scarred from the bearing and that he was going to replace it just incase. I assume a host of seals and other stuff will go into it. He stated that the rest of the Diff looked good and could find no reason to replace anything else. What do you guys think? Am I on the right path here? Anything else I should ask, say or do?

Gearsets are ALWAYS replaced as a set. They have a specific wear pattern. If he is just replacing the pinion you will be screwed because if the pinion is spalled or pitted your ring gear will probably match.

 

[Smith556]

Can the parts dept. just order the pinion gear separate? Or will it be a set? Surely to God the technician would not replace just the one pinion gear if it could do damage etc..When talking to him he just mentioned the pinion gear and bearing, I wish I had known it should be a set. Damn I wish I had listened to my dad more.

 

[OutlawTrucker]

I had an entire rear axle housing replaced due to excessive gap in the pinion bearing race and housing.

 

[loveracing1988]

I had an entire rear axle housing replaced due to excessive gap in the pinion bearing race and housing.

You can't really fix that so you need at least a new housing.

 

[Smith556]

The verdict:

Tech installed a new Ring and Pinion gear set, drive pinion seal, Drive pinion Bearing kit, Bearing spacer, Pinion Bearing, Differential side Bearing kit, 2 axle shaft bearings, 2 axle shaft seals, shim. Backlash was set to .06 per the work order.
I do appreciate you guys. Forums like this are a cool resource.

 

[loveracing1988]

The verdict:

Tech installed a new Ring and Pinion gear set, drive pinion seal, Drive pinion Bearing kit, Bearing spacer, Pinion Bearing, Differential side Bearing kit, 2 axle shaft bearings, 2 axle shaft seals, shim. Backlash was set to .06 per the work order.
I do appreciate you guys. Forums like this are a cool resource.

Wow, so they rebuilt the whole axle. Suprising!

 

[smurfs_of_war]

Wow, so they rebuilt the whole axle. Suprising!

Surprising and commendable.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[Smith556]

Update:

Took the truck for a spin to my in laws house and back, roughly a 180 mile round trip. Rear end is dead silent now, no vibration, no sounds. I'll be pulling my camper for a trip in January, is there any REAL break-in I should follow? I had planned to change the rear Diff oil in about another 300 miles. I have a trailer that weighs roughly 2000lbs loaded, should I pull that for a short trip before hooking up my much larger camper? My goal is to make it last and I've heard from some that properly breaking in a new gear set is key. Any advice is appreciated.