John Halter

I took my truck to a dealer not far from my house in Ashland Ohio for new universals in the rear drive shaft a month ago and it has been down hill ever since . With it squeaking loudly they called me in 3 hours saying nothing is wrong come and get your truck to which I replyed you got to be kidding . I go in drive the truck around the block turn down the radio and roll down the window and the mechanic says that sounds like a universal . I go in and talk to the service manager who tells the mechanic we will change all three . I think great and ask if they could put in the one's with grease fittings on them . He say's no way , I then offer to pay for them and to deliver them in fifteen minutes , he then agrees to this but not until the next week . Great another day with out my truck but it should be fixed and all will be well , ya right . Next week I pick up the truck and it has a bad vibration in the drive train after they gave it a test drive and give it a clean bill of health . I take it in the next day and they say bring it in next week , great another week . The truck is vibrating so bad I can't drive it so I take it home put it up on the lift and find one clip missing and a loose universal cap . I call the dealer they say bring it in but they have no one to fix it this week so I get a clip and re seat the cup and this takes care of a lot of the vibration but not all . I looked at the drive shaft for any signs that it was marked and put back the same way it came apart and find nothing so I call the dealer and ask . They reply yes it was but I have serious doubts but look it over real good and find that the carrier bearing rubber has several tears and call and tell them so they order one for the next week . The next week I drop the truck off and they call about 4 hours later and say nothing wrong with the carrier bearing and ask if I could come in and show them what I mean . I go in and they put the truck up on the lift and I have all these alignment lines on my drive shaft that were not there when I dropped it off which makes me think someone is covering his back side . I ask for a light and show them the rips in the rubber and they say we will need to order one and yes you guessed it bring it in next week . None of this will fix the vibration I now have and now my question what do I do now ? The truck has been trouble free till this and I did try another dealer no one will even look at it with another dealer involved . When this started I had 35000 on the truck a month ago and now have gone over the 36000 so I don't know what that means . If I could back up time I would just have put them in myself after finding out what a Dodge warranty is worth . How do I fix this ? Who do I complain to , I really need to vent ? I have some heavy towing to do and feel it would be a real bad idea the way things are now and need this fixed now , HELP

T398

Well I feel your pain some, it seems like these stories are getting pretty common with dodge/DC. There is many different roads you can take as far as venting but most of the time you just as well go kick the dog for all the hastle you go threw dealling with DC.

One thing I did notice is that if these problems your having are with your 04.5 it has a 70,000 mile warranty so don't give up on that just yet.

My truck went in for rear u joints at 37,000 and fronts at 42,000 and yes I was back there the next day with a leaking rear trans case seal but they did take care of it. Latest adventure has been a slight misfire or hesitation at 2000 rpms, I suspect it has something to do with injectors but has not thrown any codes so the dealership told me to drive it until it broke, threw a code or idiot light and then bring it in which is retarded so I have a date at another dealership in the morning to see what they say.

My truck has been similar to yours in reliabilty I think, trouble free miles until the first time it went to the dealer. Prior to that I would have jumped it at a moments notice and drove it to heck and back but now I am starting to second guess a little.

T398

John Halter

Instead of kicking the dog I think I would do better to just introduce him to the service manager and have him chase him around the service department . They had me so upset I was nervous about going in today when they called , and I did lose it a little which does no good . They had it two days this time and did nothing but mark the drive shaft and park it outside . After 36000 don't we pay $100 deductable our am I wrong .

realsquash

And that's the exact reason I didn't take mine to the dealer for my u-joints when they went out at 40,000 miles. You have a lift at home and you should change your own u-joints. Your truck uses 1350 joints which are as common as tree huggers in California and are cheap. You would be in for less than $100 and some time doing it yourself.

Andy

John Halter

When your right your right , I had them , I bought them why didn't I just put them in . I have been kicking myself for not putting them in , I told myself this is simple how can they screw this up , wrong , wrong , wrong . But that was yesterday what do I do today , how do I get rid of this vibration with out pulling it apart and trying all the different combinations until it's gone .

TonyB

The vibration is probably caused by a balance problem....yes, even the zerk fittings themselves can throw out the balance of the driveline.

They way I see it, you have 2 options:
1) Have the dealer try re-phasing the u-joints to see if they can find a majic combination that balances.
2) Have them send the truck to a local driveline shop that can balance the driveline!

HTH

Tony

cja

As TonyB stated...take it to a driveline shop.

John Halter

I have been waiting for them to blame it on the universals I bought for them , the only thing I got going for me is they ok"ed them first . They did put both fittings on the same side which is what I usually do also , it makes it easer to grease . It goes back in Tues. and they said it would be fixed this time , but I am losing faith . The service manual says to put hose clamps on the shaft and rotate until vibration is gone but I do not think it would do much good until they fix the carrier bearing but I could be wrong . I will try and push them in the drive line shop direction Tues. but I may just need to take it there myself and spend my dime .

John Halter

The dealer just had truck for two days and called and said it was fixed come and get it . They changed the rear universal again said he must of damage it putting it in and all was well . But when doing this the carrier bearing was damage and it is back ordered and they will need to be address it next week . I crawl under truck in the parking lot and the rubber bot is only attach on one end and I grab the mechanic and request he finish his job and ask him to go for a ride to make sure vibration is gone . We didn't even get out of the parking lot and I feel the same vibration as before and I am thinking can I take this guy for a long one way ride . With the mechanic in the truck I ask him just between him and me are you 100 percent sure that you put it back together the way it came apart and he reply's I am pretty sure . I drop him off talk to the service manager about the carrier bearing and get told probably next week and we will fix it for you . Guess what , I have had enough and go home drop the shaft and pull the center universal out and find a peace of bearing in the bottom of the cap and go out and buy another universal and install it . Now I mark the drive shaft so I know how it came apart and have a hard time deciding should I put it back the same way our give it a 180 . After much mental debate I decide this guy has done very little right and give it a 180 after which I start it up and run it on the lift and it is as smooth as silk . Moral of the story if you want it done right do it your self the first time . Today was the ninth trip to the dealer which started as a very simple universal change and my wife saying after what you paid for that truck let them fix it that is what a warranty is for .

Tiny

John,
I am going to assume this is not a 5 star dealer. If it is, call DC and complain loudly that their service department is not capable of changing u-joints, and have them check other service claims as well. This will not fix your dilemma, but it may help others. 9 trips for any issues is 7 too many.

John Halter

I did call DC and complain and received a called back two days later and was told that the service manager had hung up on them but they would try again . There has been no further reply from them and so far they have not made a great impression on me either . I find it hard to believe that they would drop it there but that looks like what has happen . This whole experience has me really feeling for the guys that have got a difficult problem to be solved .

Grit Dog

That's ridiculous. I was about 14 yrs old when I learned how to change U joints and the 2 main rules I learned were.
1. keep the driveshaft oriented the same as it was when it came out. Mark both yokes and the shaft for position.
2. Make sure all the needle bearings stay where they are supposed to when installing the new U joint.

donhov

Not trying toi hijack your thread but when my truck quit and I had it towed to a 5 Star dealer to have the CP3 changed picked it up 2 days later and left for Flordia towing my 5er. Pulled into the campground and shut down. Heard a clunk and opened hood, fan and electric hub laying in lower corner of radiator housing, cut wiring and other damage and I almost forgot, cracked timing cover plug leaking oil from Mi to Flordia. Total damage $1600 that Flordia dealer wanted me to pay up front due to (their words) "Poor Workmanship caused this". Told them to contact district manager and keep me out of their "pissing contest" as truck was still under 3/36 warranty. Took them a week but Mi dealer sent a check and paid repairs under protest and also paid my rental car for the week and a half.

Just goes to show you a 5 star is no better then any other dealer.

JMHO....Don

ruquik

Alift to change u joints on a big dodge? Just shimmy on under there. I do mine out in the street, so it can't be that didfficult.

BTH if you must use Ghettozone, get the chespest brand of u[joint they carry. It will be half as much and will be greasable.

Toto

Some of us are fatter and older than others....