Why I Love my Ram but miss my Silverado...

[Ashton]

That really sucks. I have heard about some clunks when coming to a stop or occasional jerkiness but that sounds awful and dangerous. Hopefully it gets fixed.

Lol nothing clunks like a gm.. I came to this ram from a gmt900 sierra with the 6 speed auto. When on quick decel it would clunk the front end like crazy. Unlike Ford and Ram, gm still uses a slip yoke on the front driveshaft instead of the fixed or ball and trunion style coupler and that causes the clunking. You have to open it up and grease the splines every couple months if you want to keep the clunks at bay (if you google it there's even a tsb on it). Not to mention the 07-13 5.3L engine were complete trash for cylinder wear and oil burning/fowling because of the cylinder deactivation. Also the famous 5.3L AFM lifter tick when its cold out and you start it first thing in the morning. I'm not really a ford guy but they make decent trucks, my concern is all this mpg war between the big 3.. the ecoboost is just so bad, trust me its a pain to change the engine on that thing.. most even have plastic engine oil pans on them that have stress cracks and leak from the factory out 10 that came into the shop about 3 or 4 of them have to be sent back for warranty repairs on the defects (all with between 3000-8000 miles). The thing i did like about the ford is that the cargo space in the back seat is completely flat.. that's about it... Anyway I bought the Hemi and never looked back, absolutely love the truck. I wouldn't dismiss ram altogether, you probably just got lemon..

 

[tidefan1967]

Lol nothing clunks like a gm.. I came to this ram from a gmt900 sierra with the 6 speed auto. When on quick decel it would clunk the front end like crazy. Unlike Ford and Ram, gm still uses a slip yoke on the front driveshaft instead of the fixed or ball and trunion style coupler and that causes the clunking. You have to open it up and grease the splines every couple months if you want to keep the clunks at bay (if you google it there's even a tsb on it). Not to mention the 07-13 5.3L engine were complete trash for cylinder wear and oil burning/fowling because of the cylinder deactivation. Also the famous 5.3L AFM lifter tick when its cold out and you start it first thing in the morning. I'm not really a ford guy but they make decent trucks, my concern is all this mpg war between the big 3.. the ecoboost is just so bad, trust me its a pain to change the engine on that thing.. most even have plastic engine oil pans on them that have stress cracks and leak from the factory out 10 that came into the shop about 3 or 4 of them have to be sent back for warranty repairs on the defects (all with between 3000-8000 miles). The thing i did like about the ford is that the cargo space in the back seat is completely flat.. that's about it... Anyway I bought the Hemi and never looked back, absolutely love the truck. I wouldn't dismiss ram altogether, you probably just got lemon..

Even the two wheel drive models have a similar clunk. I had a 2011 that did it and my dads 2008 Silverado clunks when you let off the brakes and take off. I bought mine new and he bought his with 9K miles on it back in 2010.

 

[Ashton]

Oh yea, the early gm's 07.5-10 were the worst for it, the rear tail shaft clunks because the main shaft spline coming out of the rear of the trans is made from hardened steel vs the super cheap quality cast yoke on the driveshaft. I think they made a mistake on the clearance between the splines on the shaft vs yoke causing it build a ramp/grove in the splines and thus wearing the yoke prematurely. Wears faster especially if you tow or have a heavy foot. More often on 2wd vehicle than 4x4 because the transfer case buffers/takes a away a little bit of the power/inertia/stress from the yoke. The rear driveshaft isn't fully sealed though, so greasing it will cause the grease to mix with the transfer case oil and grenade that... The greasing trick only works on the front shaft since its sealed internally on the transfer case. The thing i know works is buying a billet yoke (yes very expensive of course) and that stops the rear from clunking permanently because it is built for the correct and tighter tolerance it needs to function properly.

 

[ram1500rsm]

I have no cluncks in my 10 Silverado 2wd and 5.3l engine now with 110k miles. That truck has been in fact 100% trouble free for us. I need to sell it cause the wife wants something different and ill hate to do it considering the only thing ive done to the truck asides from HPTuners, 5100s all around to level and 3 set of 33's is oil changes every 8-10k miles, trans fluid once, rear diff fluid once, steering wheel fluid once coolant fluid once and spark plug set once. As a said again i cant say the same about my RAM and i wouldnt be able to defend the brand in the Chevy forums. Lol, at least when it comes to number of recalls and the damn manifold bolts, everything else has worked correctly so far in the RAM knocking on wood, plus i have 80HP more with the RAM and i get better MPG's with it even on 37's compared to my Silverado on 33's with the 5.3. All in all i can say i still enjoy the best of both worlds hahaha.

 

[16RamHemi]

this clunk you guys are talking about....my wife has an 09 yukon denali 6sp. once in a while we get a clunk going into 2nd gear (typically the first 1 to 2 shift of the drive) and then once in a while when letting off the gas (car slowing down ahead, turning etc) then getting back on it it clunks once in a while.

this what you guys are talking about? ill be honest, i do like this yukon though. no afm either!

 

[kingtchr]

UPDATE: So, the dealer replaced my fuel tank. Guess what? The truck drives like new again. the tranny slap or clunk is gone, the acceleration is great, the MPG is back to normal. My thought is the gas tank was jacked beyond a normal fault. I am worried that there were no engine lights, the tech said the scan was clean. Maybe the scan was in parameters of accepted ratings. Anyway, thanks for all the feedback and I'm happy again.

 

[RamCares]

UPDATE: So, the dealer replaced my fuel tank. Guess what? The truck drives like new again. the tranny slap or clunk is gone, the acceleration is great, the MPG is back to normal. My thought is the gas tank was jacked beyond a normal fault. I am worried that there were no engine lights, the tech said the scan was clean. Maybe the scan was in parameters of accepted ratings. Anyway, thanks for all the feedback and I'm happy again.

Hello kingtchr,
We are happy to hear your dealer was able to resolve your concern. If you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our team. We are always happy to help.
Laura
RamCares