Finally got me a REAL Truck

[LD1]

No more half-ton for me.

I traded in the silverado and got me a 2005 dodge 3500 Quad cab 4x4.

Only got 69,xxx miles on her.:thumbsup:

I do have to take it back to the dealer though cause the rear u-join is BAD But at least I caught it while it is still under the 3 month/3000mile warrenty.

So I have to ask, why does dodge seem to have an Issue with u-joints??

This truck only has 69xxx miles??? My parents have an '05 2500 and the rear joint went out @ 42000 miles. And just last week at ~90000miles we replaced a front axle u-joint. And since she drives it as a "car", that front joint has almost NEVER seen "load". Just freewheeling.

Anyway, here's a pic:thumbsup: Any other things to look out for on these??

 

[RoyJackson]

Nice looking truck...which engine did you get?

I've read the automatic transmissions aren't as tough as the rest of the truck. Did a fair amount of research looking for a Ram with the Cummins engine (I wanted a 5 or 6 speed manual though) and found some generic issues with the Dodges.
In my case, I ended up sticking with my Nissan Frontier as it's enough truck to handle 99% of my tasks.
Anyway, good luck with your Dodge!

 

[LD1]

Nice looking truck...which engine did you get?

Anyway, good luck with your Dodge!

5.9L cummins

 

[Dmace]

Certainly a REAL truck, no matter what DiamondPilot says.

Anyways, I'm not sure about your u-joint problems as I have not heard of them as a "common" problem. I use my truck like a truck and have 105k miles with no u-joint problems. I have replaced a front wheel bearing and heard that wheel bearings and ball joints are common problems. Ball joints are still good though. Although, I hear rear u-joints are a common fix on any dually especially a diesel with tons of low torque.

The auto in those diesel trucks is plenty tough as long as you keep the power stock or "mildly" tuned. People hear about a lot of tranny problems but don't realize 99% of them are on trucks with tuners pushing 600 hp and over 800 lb ft of torque in a tranny rated for 600 lb ft.

Stay on top of the oil/fuel filter changes and that truck will outlast you!

 

[dodge man]

Very nice truck, but as you can tell by my name, I'm more than a little biased.:thumbsup:

 

[arrow]

No more half-ton for me.

I traded in the silverado and got me a 2005 dodge 3500 Quad cab 4x4.

Only got 69,xxx miles on her.:thumbsup:

I do have to take it back to the dealer though cause the rear u-join is BAD But at least I caught it while it is still under the 3 month/3000mile warrenty.

So I have to ask, why does dodge seem to have an Issue with u-joints??

This truck only has 69xxx miles??? My parents have an '05 2500 and the rear joint went out @ 42000 miles. And just last week at ~90000miles we replaced a front axle u-joint. And since she drives it as a "car", that front joint has almost NEVER seen "load". Just freewheeling.

Anyway, here's a pic:thumbsup: Any other things to look out for on these??

LD , I sold Dodge trucks for almost 20 years after I retired from logging. U joint failures occured for several reasons. One was operator error when an owner would over weight the truck and attempt to pull or carry anyway after the truck was over loaded (the Cummins is a very eager performer and the torque is incredible). The second seemed to be where Chrysler was buying its u joints from for a run of trucks. What I never could understand was their continuance of buying from jobbers that had inferior product because it was cheaper. Stupid decisions such as these led to Mopars down fall but that's another story. Lack of grease was a major culprit for greaseble joints Some times people would grease the joits but the holes would be plugged so no lube was getting to them. Seal failure was another main culprit when pressures would build within the joint and seals would just blow. Other problems had to do with limited slip or "Sure Grip" axles. Sometimes they would lock up and cause extra torsion on the joint leading to premature failure. Pinion angle was another reason when people would put lift kits on their vehicles.. As you can see, joint failure could be a symptom of something else down the line so nothing was ever simple. If it happens again , I'd go with the Dana Spicer joints. They seem to hold up better than factory.

The second part of your question refers to a couple of recalls for 2005 for the 3500. One may or may not apply to you and one does not apply unless you have an installed lift kit on your truck which does not appear to be the case. One recall had to do with an installed alarm when in "park" that unless you were in park, it would go off. People would think they were in park but they were in reverse so the truck would roll out when they exited. The truck appeared to be in park but the pawl had not engaged so there would be no lock out. Of course recalls happened in only certain runs so not every recall applied to every truck even though it was the same year.

 

[MFRED]

And if your truck needs the recall for not being in park, don't install it. Put the stinkin thing in park, and make sure it's in park.

That horn will blow whenever it's in gear with the door open or part way open or just kinda latched but you're just driving into the shop for an oil change. It is the single, most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with on a vehicle.

My factory u-joint went at 70,000. The Mopar replacement is still in there & tight at 220,000.

 

[jake98]

Nice looking truck, good luck with it! :thumbsup:

 

[arrow]

And if your truck needs the recall for not being in park, don't install it. Put the stinkin thing in park, and make sure it's in park.

That horn will blow whenever it's in gear with the door open or part way open or just kinda latched but you're just driving into the shop for an oil change. It is the single, most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with on a vehicle.

My factory u-joint went at 70,000. The Mopar replacement is still in there & tight at 220,000.

There was a mentality at Chrysler that if a ujoint lasted 50 to 70k that was good enough as most consumers would be satisfied with that. They applied years instead of mileage and that if something had to be replaced between 4 to 7 years, people wouldn't put up a fuss as most would think it standard maintenance. If they could save a buck in the process, then that was the smart thing to do and people such as myself who thought oyherwise were just dumb and did not fit the modern corporate thought process. Your replacement joint came from a different jobber. If they are buying 500,000 of these and could save $3 or $4 bucks per unit, they always went with the low bid.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Nice truck...

I got me a real truck 6 years ago...
03 F350 4x4 dually...
It replaced another real truck...
A 92 F250 ext. cab 4x4...

You're gonna like your truck a lot...

I had to replace a u-joint on my 03 right after I got it with only 42K miles on it...
The previous owner was in construction and ran the truck on a lot of dirt roads...
Of all the trucks I've owned in my life, this was the first one that had a u-joint replaced...
It can happen to the best of them...