Drive line shop NC AREA

[bcbender]

I have a drive line vibration and the stealership said they wont fix it. I have read the posts and will pull the front shaft to rule it out, does any one know of a good driveline shop in the Greesboro / Raleigh ( NC ) area, I think I may just ahve the rear shaft rebuilt ( and balanced)

 

[HBarlow]

The term "stealership" is very insulting to those here who work for Ram or a dealership and won't help you much in getting assistance with your problem. Nobody says you have to love Ram dealers but to label all of them and everyone who works for one as a thief is not acceptable.

 

[bcbender]

Well, I appologize if that upsets you, ( I read that term on the TDR from another post and it made me laugh ) but that is what I feel has happend.



I took my truck in to the dealership in April for a TM yoke leak ( ATF ) and a vibration, they took my deductible and it took them this long to get the replacement part and replace the front yoke ( they re-used the U Joint! as they said is was not bad enought to replace. ) I took the truck out and it still vibrates, and shakes ( clutch in / out no difference ) the answer I received is that ALL long wheel base trucks do this and there is nothing they can / will do. I asked if they checked the balance on the shaft... ... ..... No, woudl they... ... ... ... . No, So for what I have paid them... ... ... I could have taken the shaft to a Driveline specialist and had all the joints replaced and the final assy. balanced, so in short... .



I feel as I have been stolen from and taken for a ride.



This tech and service manager also said the the vibration willl have no ill effects to the axle or transfer case if I continue to operate it in this condition... ... . and we all know how that ends.



Once again, I appolgize if you are offended, I just want to move on and repair my truck so I can use it.

 

[HBarlow]

Thanks for the apology. You wouldn't know this but several years ago when I joined TDR use of that word would get you an immediate response from moderators. I'd hate to see it showing up again.

You may very well have been abused. Many dealerships don't have mechanics in their service departments now. What they have are guessers and parts changers. I think you're on the right track looking for a driveline shop.

I hope you find a good one and are successful.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Ignore hb - he rarely has anything useful to add and blocking him makes the TDR a better experience.
It would behoove you to remove the DS yourself (easy) and take it to a DS shop. I had mine balanced a few months ago and it was only $75.

 

[HBarlow]

Yeah, if I catch you in a long term and often repeated lie about how Cummins/Jacobs deceived you over the Jacobs Exhaust Brake application compatibility with a 48RE and expose you here on TDR it's embarrassing so block my posts like bs prairie dog suggests. That's what happened to him and now he has a serious dislike for me.

No problem, I get along fine whether people like bs pd read my posts or not.

 

[Bob4x4]

Well, I appologize if that upsets you, ( I read that term on the TDR from another post and it made me laugh ) but that is what I feel has happend.

I took my truck in to the dealership in April for a TM yoke leak ( ATF ) and a vibration, they took my deductible and it took them this long to get the replacement part and replace the front yoke ( they re-used the U Joint! as they said is was not bad enought to replace. ) I took the truck out and it still vibrates, and shakes ( clutch in / out no difference ) the answer I received is that ALL long wheel base trucks do this and there is nothing they can / will do. I asked if they checked the balance on the shaft... ... ..... No, woudl they... ... ... ... . No, So for what I have paid them... ... ... I could have taken the shaft to a Driveline specialist and had all the joints replaced and the final assy. balanced, so in short... .

I feel as I have been stolen from and taken for a ride.

This tech and service manager also said the the vibration willl have no ill effects to the axle or transfer case if I continue to operate it in this condition... ... . and we all know how that ends.

Once again, I appolgize if you are offended, I just want to move on and repair my truck so I can use it.

Sounds like you had a service contract... ... . with out knowing more details and timeline it is hard to help come up with a solution.

 

[Bob4x4]

Btw my long wheelbase does not vibrate,but if it did I would fix it regardless of what a service manager told me... ... ... . sorry had to throw that out there.

 

[Prairie Dog]

LOL, yup makes the forum a whole lot better :-laf

 

[bcbender]

Sounds like you had a service contract... ... . with out knowing more details and timeline it is hard to help come up with a solution.

Yes, been in several times for a vibration, they never could reproduce so I took them out, they only put down a leak on the last time and now the warranty is expired soooooo I guess I am left holding the bag on this one.



I will be calling Ram group to let them know although it took them 8 months to get me a replacement yoke for the driveline and who know if that will fix the "leak" as for the vibration, I guess i will be taking it apart this weekend.

 

[jelag]

There are times that I will disagree with Harvey but I think his slant still needs to be here... I owned a business for almost 20 years and developed a long term relationship/friendship with a drive shaft shop in Indiana... I'm in WA state... . I often called him for advice... What I've learned from him is that often with these trucks, its more often than not one of the Ujoints that's starting to go... and when I owned a group of these trucks we'd pull the drive shaft and couldn't feel a bad joint... upon pressing them apart we'd always find the bad joint and replace it... actually we'd replace all of them... He always suggested putting marriage marks on the shaft and using those marks to re-assemble it... over all those years and many miles we never had one balanced...

but if you think it might be damaged I'd surly pull it and have it checked and balanced. . His suggestion was to find the drive shaft shop that had been around 20 years, with at one tech with 10 to 15 years in the business. . after that long they've seen it all...

I also agree with bob4x4 in that the dealer should be able to care for your needs... but often they don't have the skill level or knowledge base to help... I used to buy a new truck, drive it off the lot and keep it for 450-500K miles... I would never take it back to the dealer unless it was something that I felt we couldn't handle. . It's also my personal opinion that most of the extended warranty programs weren't worth much to me... my out of pocket costs in the first 150K miles never justified the cost of the warranty... .

However when I was offered a 4 year, unlimited mileage extended warranty on a Honda Goldwing I saw the huge value in that... . ($325) but low and behold after those 4 years it never needed service...

Just my thoughts...

 

[Wayne M.]

( they re-used the U Joint! as they said is was not bad enought to replace. ).

That right there tells me something is wrong in that service department. If there's even a hint that something is not right with a U joint- out it goes! If for some reason "it's not covered" I would have picked up the ball and ran with it. It is your vehicle, and it's going to run as good as you want it to.

The FRONT drive line had nothing to do with the wheelbase arrangement of the vehicle. Personally, I did away with full time problems in my front driveline by self installing a Spyntec kit, but that's a whole nother story.

I couple years ago I started feeling a buzz in my seat at 70 MPH. This was one of the first issues to ever show on my truck, and I was in denial that it was beginning to age- completely trouble free till then. Anyway, at that time- where I worked, I had to back in along a long wall, real close. One day while doing that, I had a window cracked open, I heard the squeak, squeak that's a dead giveaway of a dry U joint. Sure enough one cup on the rear of the rear joint was absolutely welded to the cross. I couldn't believe it. I put the greasable precision joints in. Problem solved.

This is a job that a dealer dosent have time for. Since they're squeezed against the clock, they just can't give the TLC needed handle a problem like that. They'd much rather handle a pre diagnosed pattern failure, or campaign that takes 0. 6 hours to do, but pays 1. 6.

My truck had only been to a dealer once. For the leaky CP3 campaign. Original owners of 04's should remember that. I've done it all since

 

[realfine409]

I know this is a very late reply to your question and most likely resolved your issue. I would however appreciate you telling me how you resolved it as I bought a used 3500 (88k miles) in Kernersville last March. Noticed a 70 mph 1600-1700 vibration on the smooth section of I85 around your area. I took th eDS out and found a small driveline shop in Oxford NC. They are called Carolina Driveline. I spent some quality time with th eowner (Bill). He said he always suspects a drive shaft that had as many wieghts on it as mine did. Put it on the lathe and spun it. The Ujoints were epoxied in at least 1/8" off center and the tube had a bow in it. New tube and new ujoints ($400) and it true with a couple of thousandths now. Now for the front shaft!!!

 

[bcbender]

To finalize this, first, thank you to all who replied. The issue was a broken spring in the CV joint centering joint. FleetPride in Greensboro replaced all three u joints (with grease able ones) and fixed the centering joint, no mor vibration... And it was fifty bucks cheaper than the deductible on my service contract. As for the dealership, they still say that it is not fixable and I am glad I dint wait for them any longer..... When the unit bearings let go, I will be converting to a disconnect system, I did notice (I think) that it drove better, and seemed like my fuel Econ was better with the front shaft out, or it just may be in my head, anyway, once again thank you TDR!

 

[Tractorat]

Ive never referred to a dealership as a "stealership". But, except for warranty service, Ive never had good luck with a dealers "service" dept".



I only took my truck to the dealer I bought it from for some initial warranty service. But I took my car there several times before I learned my lesson. They charged me for changing a water pump and timing belt without doing the work. They broke my windshield wiper motor. They punched a hole in the middle of the front bumper and wouldnt own up to it (they said the hole was already there, but it wasnt, And I couldnt prove it). I had a hard start problem once and they wanted to charge me $1400 to clean the injectors (I didnt buy their diagnosis. It turned out the spark plugs were almost eaten thru. They didnt even look at them) I had another guy replace the plugs.



So, I went to the other dealer in Lynnwood for my truck. They charged my $100 to diagnose a noise in the rear end. They said the oil looked milky (bs, it wanst not even close to needing service). They took the plate off to look at it. All it really needed was to have the additive for hte ls diff. When I got home, I noticed that the radiator cap was just sitting on the side of the radiator. Lucky I had a premonition to look at it. They lost the crank case overflow bottle and didnt tell me. ( I just happened to check and made them give me a new one). I could go on and on and on.



Both of these dealerships are out of business now. Are they crooks ? I dont know. But they were certainly incompetent. I did go to one other dodge dealer in bellevue and ran in to the same result. I think they are just prone (at least in this area) to hire less than adequate techs. I have never had any real issues with GM, and I have owned quite a few Buicks in my time.



Oh, I did stop into the dodge deaerl in Anchorage once for an oil change. I told them I needed to get on the road, and they said they would get me right in. Well, four hours later, I saw my truck still sitting in the service bay and it had not yet been touched. So I made them pull it around (even that took almost a half an hour) and I took it to a Jiffy Lube. Those guys actually were pretty good. I was surprised.