[paintsnow]

Purchased my 3500 SRW in May of 2021, immediately left town for work, truck was hardly driven until winter. I almost immediately noticed a clicking sound from the front left while in 4wd.

Took it in to the dealer 2 hours away in the big city and they replaced the driver side wheel bearing, claiming there was visible evidence of failure around 6k miles. No resolution.

Attempt 2, back to the dealer and was told the wheel bearings look fine, and that they didn't know why the driver side was replaced since it looks great. Obviously it looked fine, it was the replacement they were looking at. Claimed they could not replicate it, truck was fine. No repairs made.

Attempt 3, emailed them a video, they said they could hardly hear it, but would throw a new U joint in. No resolution.

Finally I went to my local tiny dealer in a town of 8k with the run down shop, tiny lot, outdated facility, and showed them the same video. The service manager immediately said it was my front driveshaft, ordered the part, and scheduled an appointment without even seeing the truck. 8am, the tech is waiting for me, goes straight on his rack, and after checking all the front end fluids and going over the truck, the problem is resolved! They said they see this pretty often with the new sealed CV style shafts. Hoping it was just a manufacturing defect and I don't continue having problems. Truck was bone stock when the issue started. It was mostly noticeable when coasting down a hill under 10 mph and turning, seemed to go away with throttle.

 

[paintsnow]

Mileage was 25k when it was finally replaced, when I took the tech around the parking lot to replicate the sound, it was a lot worse than normal and more grinding and clunking in addition to the click. Glad I caught it before it gave out. Maybe my driveshaft curse has been lifted, all of my major vehicle breakdowns were driveshaft related.

In 2010 my Nissan Xterra bolts came out from the front driveshaft at the transfer case right after a clutch replacement at 75mph on the highway. Destroyed transfer case, exhaust and more. Dealer refused to warranty due to the hole it put in the floorboard, claimed they don't touch the DS bolts to do a clutch, and that it was an insurance claim since the body had to be replaced and the vehicle was totaled.

Turned that into a rock crawler on 42's and D60s. This one is understandable due to the custom nature and hard use, but it ate a yoke, and several front u joints. Other than finding a weak point during the shakedown after the build and tearing the top links off the rear axle, I had no other issues with that build

Duramax had a rear driveshaft fall out at a stop sign after 4 hours on the highway immediately after having a dual disk clutch installed, different shop, refused to help. Thankfully I think I just needed some new bolts for that one and it was an easy fix.

 

[gsbrockman]

Finally I went to my local tiny dealer in a town of 8k with the run down shop, tiny lot, outdated facility, and showed them the same video. The service manager immediately said it was my front driveshaft, ordered the part, and scheduled an appointment without even seeing the truck. 8am, the tech is waiting for me, goes straight on his rack, and after checking all the front end fluids and going over the truck, the problem is resolved! They said they see this pretty often with the new sealed CV style shafts. Hoping it was just a manufacturing defect and I don't continue having problems. Truck was bone stock when the issue started. It was mostly noticeable when coasting down a hill under 10 mph and turning, seemed to go away with throttle.

Really odd.....since the driveshaft only engages when in 4WD.

 

[paintsnow]

Really odd.....since the driveshaft only engages when in 4WD.

My understanding is that it does spin just without torque from the t case

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Really odd.....since the driveshaft only engages when in 4WD.

You do get some residual spinning from the drivers side axle being not disconnected and the power going through the open carrier

 

[Chrysler Factory Warranty]

Purchased my 3500 SRW in May of 2021, immediately left town for work, truck was hardly driven until winter. I almost immediately noticed a clicking sound from the front left while in 4wd.

Took it in to the dealer 2 hours away in the big city and they replaced the driver side wheel bearing, claiming there was visible evidence of failure around 6k miles. No resolution.

Attempt 2, back to the dealer and was told the wheel bearings look fine, and that they didn't know why the driver side was replaced since it looks great. Obviously it looked fine, it was the replacement they were looking at. Claimed they could not replicate it, truck was fine. No repairs made.

Attempt 3, emailed them a video, they said they could hardly hear it, but would throw a new U joint in. No resolution.

Finally I went to my local tiny dealer in a town of 8k with the run down shop, tiny lot, outdated facility, and showed them the same video. The service manager immediately said it was my front driveshaft, ordered the part, and scheduled an appointment without even seeing the truck. 8am, the tech is waiting for me, goes straight on his rack, and after checking all the front end fluids and going over the truck, the problem is resolved! They said they see this pretty often with the new sealed CV style shafts. Hoping it was just a manufacturing defect and I don't continue having problems. Truck was bone stock when the issue started. It was mostly noticeable when coasting down a hill under 10 mph and turning, seemed to go away with throttle.

This is the result of dealerships having all the work they want and then some. 20 years in the business and I see dealers turning away work that they get paid good money to do? Warranty work pays good money. I obviously have experience with the Mopar Extended Warranty but also have experience with the regular manufacturer warranty. Most of these cases unless a transmission or something really expensive, the manufacturer will pay the dealer to throw parts at this type of repair. I see this all the time with visits. The tech wants to bill Chrysler, Mopar Warranty or even the customer for a half hour or hour of diagnostic time and do no repair and say nothing is wrong. I am glad you found someone to get it fixed.

 

[Grit dog]

Sounds like the past issues were with people not tightening bolts. Not with driveshafts. But glad you got it fixed.

 

[iceman.ko]

Would you be able to send me the video you showed to the dealer? My truck has been making a similar noise for years and has spent way to much time at the dealer with no resolution.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk

 

[paintsnow]

Would you be able to send me the video you showed to the dealer? My truck has been making a similar noise for years and has spent way to much time at the dealer with no resolution.

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk

Let me know if the link doesn't work
New video by Filip Dziadek

 

[iceman.ko]

Let me know if the link doesn't work
New video by Filip Dziadek

It seems a little worse then mine but I'm going to look into the front drive shaft more. Thank you

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