horsehelper

Hi there folks
Just got the new 2014 ram 3500 and have 1000 miles on it. Hooked up the dump trailer to get a load of gravel and when leaving the gravel yard with 15000 lbs in tow the poor truck would shudder something terrible at take off. . . Then when I got to a hill in town were I would have to go 25. The truck almost died as it would not shift to a lower gear. . . This is in tow mode. . Anyone with any thoughts as to what's going on. I am surprised as I thought this new tranny was the one to buy

jadocs

Wow no idea, but I do know that's not normal. Let us know what the dealer says.

horsehelper

I have a appt for Friday. the dealer wants me to bring the truck with a load to duplicate as there is no error codes. Cannot find anyone that has had any issues with this tranny but it would be great to hear from folks that have towed with this tranny to hear what it is like. I have not owned a auto for along time and my current 2004 does not shudder at all. It has the nv5600 6 speed. almost 400,000 and still running strong.

Don329

I had the same Issue, when towing. When the truck is loaded and sets low on the springs the drive shaft gets put in a bind. Put a set of airbags on and it will go away.

4x4 Roundup

I have been looking at ordering a 2015 3500 single wheel, crew, 4x4, 6'4" box, H.O./Aisin, std. leaf spring rear. Specs. indicate a 3,950# payload and 17,080 towing capacity.

I would be using it to tow a 12,000# gooseneck with about 2,000#'s of hitch weight...wanted to stay away from the factory air suspension and really would rather not have aftermarket either. In your opinion should I pass?
Sounds like the driveshaft is too long...

palomino

If I had to guess it has too much tongue weight, and improper driveshaft angles, had a similar low speed shudder if overloaded hitch wise on my 07 2500 ssb crew 4wd. they should be able to figure it out if they have good techs...

horsehelper

Hi there
Took the truck into the dealership. . They are telling me it's most likely the tracright rear end but not sure. . No error codes. . The tech confirmed the sever shutter. They have a truck with the same build as mine so I am going to take a load in with my trailer and pull with there truck to see if it acts the same. . . Let ya know what happens.
The tongue weight issue and driveline angle should not be a issue as I have air bags and lift the truck back up to stock height

CoastalDav

I don't know if the shutter your talking about is the same seen in earlier models with 3:73 and 3:48 gears. I had the shutter when starting off with about the same weight your talking about with 3:73's. I went to 4:10s and it went away. Also, oversize tires will cause it.

Now, all the late model fords that tow trailers and heavy stuff are doing the same thing. It appears that Ford softened up the rear suspension which is obvious when you see one a 3500 dually towing a fifth wheel. I have many friends with 2011 to 2014 Ford 3500's Duallys. They all chatter bad when starting off. The only fix seems to be for them, to get the rear of the truck up in the air when hooked up. Ford knowns about it but will not do anything about it. Shaft angle is causing the pinion gear to chatter when starting off under load.

Most I know went to air bags for the rear of the truck. That solved the problem for them. They had to change everthing in the bed for allignment with the Fifth Wheel.

Dave

Dogdave

I have a 2011 auto. My truck does the same thing when my dump trailer is loaded and I pump the air bags up. I was told it's the air bags closing axle wrap by my dealer.mi went through the same drill as you are going through. Load my trailer and pull with a lot truck . They all shake! Mine is worse with the bags pumped up. 120,000 mile and nothing has broke yet. The truck that shook the leased had an open diff rear end and mine has a Detroit true trac so that got blamed also

RAMRODD

Ok I'm pulling 40K with my 14 ram dually the truck itself is around 12,700 no air bags ( yet) and they is no abnormal noises but I have a manual.
My 2012 ram dually with the max tow package ,that pulled the same trailer would shudder. I put air bags on and it did the same thing. I think it's just a auto transmission thing. First gear isn't low enough in my opinion

shilpert

2013 Ram 3500 AISIN SRW. I have the same issue. Tow more than 6000 lbs and haul more than 1500 and the truck shudders between the 1-2 shift. In my particular instance the dealer verified the issue and then Chrysler took over and put me in Enhanced Customer Service Hell. My dealer's hands are tied. Chrysler has had the truck in several times and updated software, replaced the drive line, etc. but I still have a shudder. It's not throwing codes so they refuse to let the dealer crack open or replace the Aisin. Now I'm at "we're having our engineers working on an update to the software, hopefully that'll solve your concern, oh and Don't worry about that shudder in the mean time, it shouldn't be a problem." (Translated: at least until the truck is out of warranty and no longer our problem).

Always towing

Now this sounds like my 2014 .... two valve bodies, one torque converter, drive shaft, pressure switch,then some super tech from back east said it just needs a fuel system cleaning and that would solve the shuttering and jumping out of gear.I refused the $875 cleaning and now have my truck back not fixed after the dealership had it for three months.
Chrysler offered me 4000 to go away but I would still have a broken truck that Chrysler has black flagged and won't let the dealership to work on it might be awhile but I will get it replaced

Scarlet HO

I had a similar issue on my truck but mine usually happened when starting off on a hill when loaded. It was worse when turning. They scratched their heads for a time when one of the mechanics wanted to "try something". If I remember correctly he drained the diff and added some friction modifier to the fluid. Hasn't happened since.

Now I still have issues with the truck not wanting to move after it sits for a week or two. The truck is a 2013 3500 DRW with the Aisian trans.

johnny5.9

Sounds to me like these issues could be axle wrap. My 07 duramax 2500 did it too with airbags that I needed because they are sprung pathetic from the factory. An annoying little shudder just when taking off with a load. And if you ever spun the tires in loose terrain (even snow), it'd shudder and shake the whole truck violently. It's the price you pay for a comfortable ride unladen. Manufacturers know they need a good ride now to compete and sell units because the core buyer has changed and is not tolerant of traditional truck characteristics so they lessen spring rates (or at least make them too progressive) knowing most of the trucks are just mall crawlers now anyways and figure they'll take their chances with the smaller percentage of guys that actually use them not being happy. For those guys they option airbags, which may not actually help since you're taking tension off the leaf springs and placing it directly over the axle allowing the axle to rotate more. Now with my 01 3500 camper package with three stages of springs all stiff as all get out and no bags, it'll take off smooth as glass every time. But it never rides smooth haha. This problem would be easily solved with a 4-link set up like bigger trucks. But the big three use suspension that is archaic because it's cheap and allows them to add heated steering wheels, colour matched seat piping and lane departure warning systems while still remaining sort of affordable for their target market. Just my $.02. Take it for what it is.

shilpert

Well that's the most intelligent response I've had to my problem. I'm not the most knowledgeable but it makes sense to me. If this is indeed what the issue was I wish someone at the dealer or Chrysler would have come forth with that explanation. As it is I took a settlement from Chrysler (not a buyback) and ditched the truck with a non-Ram dealer. Funny thing is I couldn't find a Ram dealer who would take the **** thing in on trade. I suspect it had to do with the 20 + pages of service issues I'd racked up in the 3 years I owned the truck. This isn't a recrimination of all Ram's but the one I owned was a one doozey of a lemon. Bygones.