National back order on drive shaft with no foreseeable delivery date!!!

[jclark5810]

My 04 qclb with the NV5600 needed to be shortened an inch and 3/4.

 

[seafish]

not true... depends on the wheel base... . have done it more than once. think the auto longbeds are too long and it wont work but does for others. the last one i put in was an 03 nv5600 longbed qc. could go through records and get part #.

Didn't realize that... AKAIK the one piece aluminum DS started with the 6. 7, but could be retrofitted back to trucks of the same wheelbase with either the G56 manual transmission or 48RE auto. Thought that the NV5600 had a different tailshaft length that precluded a plug n' play swap without cutting it down, but I have no direct expereince with that, only from what I have read on forums. If you DO have a part# for a one piece aluminum driveshaft that would be plug n play for at least certain NV5600 applications, it would be GREAT info to have posted somewhere, along with which truck configurations that it fits.

 

[Prairie Dog]

There is no ready to use aluminum shaft that will work with the NV5600. There is indeed a difference in length between the NV and the G56.

Maybe there's a direct replacement with the auto but not with the 6 speeds.

 

[seafish]

There is no ready to use aluminum shaft that will work with the NV5600. There is indeed a difference in length between the NV and the G56.
Maybe there's a direct replacement with the auto but not with the 6 speeds.

That's what I thought too, but LNaugle is saying that he has DONE it... . "the last one i put in was an 03 nv5600 longbed qc. could go through records and get part #. "

 

[Prairie Dog]

I have read of guys putting one in a NV only to find it had no spline left for suspension compression - it did go in though. The closest thing dodge has for that application is the one from a 2006 Mega with G56 and that one will need to be shortened 1. 5".

 

[LNaugle]

did have to swaap out the slip on one of the trucks... nbd.

 

[fkovalski]

The driveshaft FINALLY arrived and was installed today. What a difference in it now without the vibration. It was such a comedy of errors on the part of 3 dealerships that lasted for over a year! I am so disgusted with the way that I have been treated because this vibration issue which should have been resolved in such a simple fashion.

Misdiagnosed originally, then a middle carrier bearing improperly installed with the dealer essentially washing their hands of it stating it was normal. Second dealer resolved the bad install by the first, then said it was normal. 3rd dealer properly diagnosed a bad harmonic balancer to which I waited until today to get installed.

All this was in the midst of me trying to tell the dealer that there were 2 vibrations: one in the drive train and another in the engine (another thread. ) Time and miles went by to resolve the shaft vibration when it should have been resolved to focus on the engine.

The engine knock/ vibration is most likely the fuel injectors of which I have been complaining about for over a year for some 20,000+ miles. CAIR has closed the file on this stating that the injectors are not the issue, ergo- not covered. They furthermore went on to state that if it were the injectors back when I brought it to the dealer's attention, then over the time period of which I mention the injectors would have cause catastrophic damage if they were in fact faulty.

But I digress... New driveshaft, no more vibration.

 

[HBarlow]

Most TDR members are more knowledgeable about their trucks, better able to recognize and diagnose their own problems, than the service department employees of most dealerships who try to work as mechanics. It's not all the fault of the dealer mechanics. Most of them have grown up driving automatic transmissions and the new cars and trucks are very complex now requiring very expensive computers and OEM software to diagnose computer-controlled issues. Dealerships are often unwilling to send their mechanics to OEM training. The mechanics rarely own and drive a Cummins-powered Dodge so they simply don't have the ability to fully understand them or recognize problems. They learn to repair cars and trucks by using computers to diagnose and direct them or worse, they guess, and they are best as parts replacers.

There are several older, more experienced, and better trained Dodge-Cummins mechanics who are also TDR members who participate here. I have taken my truck all the way across the state of Texas to see TDR member Mike Mullenax to have him run a reflash on my truck. I would do it again if I have a problem I can't figure out. I am also very fortunate to have a friend who can repair my truck. If my truck should ever have a problem he is unfamiliar with or can't diagnose without a Dodge computer I hope to be able to diagnose it with the help of TDR members.

 

[Bob4x4]

Guys there are many driveshafts that are not repairable. The oems are more than a tube and ends with u joints

 

[HBarlow]

Bob,

I don't understand how that could be true. Can you explain why a Ram driveshaft is more than steel tubes, flex yolks, and universal joints?

 

[Bob4x4]

there are damping pieces inside between tubes and sometime yokes and of course the external dampers you can see

 

[Wayne M.]

I know another manufacturer (F) when they brought out aluminum driveshafts, stuffed them with cardboard to squelch NVH. if you knock one with a wrench, it sounded like a lead pipe but was feather light. I learned this when I worked for a dealer.

 

[HBarlow]

Okay, thanks for the explanation.