Official Driveline Clunk Service Repair

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I got between 6 and 7000 before the clunk returned

That would get me to 30,000 miles on the truck. It’s something to shoot for.

 

[Suprj1619]

The clunk returned 2 weeks after the new boot and lub job.

 

[Jb359]

I got between 6 and 7000 before the clunk returned

Just had the tsb service - 3 days with no clunk. Almost forgot what that felt like - lol

 

[RamCares]

Lex with @RamCares I appreciate the response. My local dealer has been fantastic. We’ve already replaced the drive shaft once, but 6,000 ish miles it’s back. I want this to be very clear, this is not an issue with my local service department. What the driveline/driveshaft clunk is, is a known issue with the TRX. The fear I have is that 2024 is the last year for the TRX, so Ram has no real interest or motivation to fix the issue.

I plan on visiting my local dealership again when time allows, and I’m guessing we will either do the TSB with the Voodoo lube job, or maybe an updated rear drive shaft. Hell, we may even try both.

What I’d like to see is Ram fix this issue before the current TRX goes away and we are faced with more EV options we never wanted or asked for.

Hello! We appreciate you sharing your perspective. Know we are actively looking into these concerns. For our team to better research and understand this matter, we would greatly appreciate it if you would share your VIN with us via private message. Thank you in advance!

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[RamCares]

Ditto. I had the TSB done and its exactly 0% better than before the work performed

Greetings!

We regret to hear this! Our team would like to look into this a bit further. Please send our team a private message with your mileage and VIN for further assistance.

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[RamCares]

My clunk case has been ongoing for awhile during which both my dealer and RamCares has been responsive and good to work with. A star case was opened and my truck went back to the dealer for further evaluation. After the dealer communicated with Ram, the advice they got from Ram was replace the driveshaft ( on back order with unknown availability date) and reprogram the transmission.

The reprogramming of the transmission due to "apparent aggressive driving" of the vehicle, You have got to be kidding me! This statement is beyond absurd and Ram just lost all credibility with me if this is their engineering advice to my dealer. My truck has never been off road and most on this forum would flame me as driving like a grandma. I have done a few 0-60 pulls but isn't that kind of the point of this truck? The area I live in is primarily stop and go traffic so not even a lot of opportunity to drive aggressively anyway. By the way my truck only has 5200 miles on it. The transmission works and shifts perfectly, it seems to me, so this Ram engineering advice which implies that I bear some responsibility for this clunk does not sit well with me. Ram is well aware of this issue,as we all know, and I am amazed that this would be Ram engineerings perspective on this.

I love the truck and the clunk is minor in the overall scheme of things but Ram should just bite the bullet and make this right. I find it hard to believe they don't know the true cause of this issue and what the solution would be. I expected more once Ram engineering got involved but this is going a bit sideways for me when they start making false accusations to displace responsibility. And this is coming from Ram, not from my dealer. The dealer has been good and RamCares has been good, the let down is Ram engineering at this point.

Hello!

If you are still experiencing the above our team is making an effort to look into this specific concern. Please send us a private message so we can better document this and assist you!

Hannah
Ram Cares

 

[wac45]

Hello!

If you are still experiencing the above our team is making an effort to look into this specific concern. Please send us a private message so we can better document this and assist you!

Hannah
Ram Cares

Thank you, PM sent

 

[Informal]

Hello!

If you are still experiencing the above our team is making an effort to look into this specific concern. Please send us a private message so we can better document this and assist you!

Hannah
Ram Cares

EVERYONE has this issue.

I appreciate what you guys try to do, but it’s not an isolated incident…..The only people who don’t have this issue… are just too dense to notice it, or they had a custom driveline installed already.

It’s a huge waste of your guys time, to ask people for VIN number etc…..

The service managers know about this….corporate knows about it….. What are they going to do about a long-term solution?
Wait for the class action suit?

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Hello! We appreciate you sharing your perspective. Know we are actively looking into these concerns. For our team to better research and understand this matter, we would greatly appreciate it if you would share your VIN with us via private message. Thank you in advance!

Hannah
Ram Cares

Hannah with @RamCares I’m more than happy to send you my VIN if it will help. The “Clunk” is a known issue that all TRX’s will eventually have. I just want to be clear again though, that my concern/issue is not with my local service department. They have been fantastic to work with on not only my TRX, but my old 2012 Power Wagon and 2004 HD Ram Hemi.

 

[bigdaddyspank]

So, I have read about this at several different threads.
LOL, and the clunk you are going to here is built in Back Lash for the driveline as the gears in the driveline have to have room to expand and contract due to temperatures; all the greasing that dealers are doing Justs fills in the spaces temporarily.... THERE is nothing wrong with the truck.....

ALSO, just to caveat another post, I have read about this at several different threads. If you guys were "old school" you would understand that is the same chirping sound that V8s make when they have aftermarket Headers. You used to be able to walk up to a running Muscle Car and say, " it's got Headers"...

Having said that, The HEMI engines have a similar sound as the Exhaust Manifolds are made similar to Headers, if not exactly the same. The thinner wall metal tube vs a cast iron exhaust manifold lets more cylinder sound out.

Sorry, I just couldn't take it anymore.....

 

[wac45]

So, I have read about this at several different threads.
LOL, and the clunk you are going to here is built in Back Lash for the driveline as the gears in the driveline have to have room to expand and contract due to temperatures; all the greasing that dealers are doing Justs fills in the spaces temporarily.... THERE is nothing wrong with the truck.....

ALSO, just to caveat another post, I have read about this at several different threads. If you guys were "old school" you would understand that is the same chirping sound that V8s make when they have aftermarket Headers. You used to be able to walk up to a running Muscle Car and say, " it's got Headers"...

Having said that, The HEMI engines have a similar sound as the Exhaust Manifolds are made similar to Headers, if not exactly the same. The thinner wall metal tube vs a cast iron exhaust manifold lets more cylinder sound out.

Sorry, I just couldn't take it anymore.....

I have zero technical knowledge about this issue as I am not a mechanic or an engineer. My dealer tells me this is "normal" for these trucks and Ram (through RamCares) says it is not normal. Ram recommends that I replace the driveshaft and will cover that under warranty even though it seems that does not rectify the issue long term. The vast majority of my driving is stop and go so this clunk is quite noticeable for me.

I can live with this clunk if it is just part of the package for this truck, not a big deal. However if this is not "normal" operation it should be fixed. If Ram put out a bulletin, like they did pertaining to the chirping/rattle sound, advising that this is part of normal vehicle operation that would put the issue to bed for me. It would also document Rams responsibility if there is a future driveline failure caused by the persistent clunk. If Ram is telling me my driveshaft needs to be replaced I will follow their advice, if I don't and there is a future failure attributable to this issue, I can see a warranty rejection since I did not follow their recommended resolution.

Clunk or no clunk, I love the truck. A definitive resolution directly from Ram would be helpful, even if they issue a bulletin stating the clunk meets their design criteria, but they are saying just the opposite via RamCares.

 

[AZDinoPwr]

So, I have read about this at several different threads.
LOL, and the clunk you are going to here is built in Back Lash for the driveline as the gears in the driveline have to have room to expand and contract due to temperatures; all the greasing that dealers are doing Justs fills in the spaces temporarily.... THERE is nothing wrong with the truck.....

ALSO, just to caveat another post, I have read about this at several different threads. If you guys were "old school" you would understand that is the same chirping sound that V8s make when they have aftermarket Headers. You used to be able to walk up to a running Muscle Car and say, " it's got Headers"...

Having said that, The HEMI engines have a similar sound as the Exhaust Manifolds are made similar to Headers, if not exactly the same. The thinner wall metal tube vs a cast iron exhaust manifold lets more cylinder sound out.

Sorry, I just couldn't take it anymore.....

Assuming that by gears in the driveline you actually mean splines on the slip yoke. In which case while temperature has an impact on occurrence, the fix is properly mated materials for the male and female components. Same as Ford did in the raptor. Ram just has a shit design and doesn’t want to fork out the millions for warranty repairs.

The 30-60 second chirp (which is very different from the Hemi tick) in the TRX comes from the cats. As others have shown it can be eliminated by pulling the cats. It’s not an artifact of the headers. The hemi tick amplified by the thin log style headers is a different story.

 

[bigdaddyspank]

I have zero technical knowledge about this issue as I am not a mechanic or an engineer. My dealer tells me this is "normal" for these trucks and Ram (through RamCares) says it is not normal. Ram recommends that I replace the driveshaft and will cover that under warranty even though it seems that does not rectify the issue long term. The vast majority of my driving is stop and go so this clunk is quite noticeable for me.

I can live with this clunk if it is just part of the package for this truck, not a big deal. However if this is not "normal" operation it should be fixed. If Ram put out a bulletin, like they did pertaining to the chirping/rattle sound, advising that this is part of normal vehicle operation that would put the issue to bed for me. It would also document Rams responsibility if there is a future driveline failure caused by the persistent clunk. If Ram is telling me my driveshaft needs to be replaced I will follow their advice, if I don't and there is a future failure attributable to this issue, I can see a warranty rejection since I did not follow their recommended resolution.

Clunk or no clunk, I love the truck. A definitive resolution directly from Ram would be helpful, even if they issue a bulletin stating the clunk meets their design criteria, but they are saying just the opposite via RamCares.

Not to drag this out even more, I'm in Aviation Engineering and Repairing, have a lot of technical expertise on drivetrains and we have the same "Back-lash" especially on the Apache Helicopter Drivetrain.

Just want to note, "Ram Cares" is nothing more than a Customer Service that is there to pass information to the Manufactures designated representatives. Not taking anything away from them, they are not technically trained whatsoever. They are merely the "first point of contact" which for the most part calms owners and gives them a sense that somebody does "care", no pun intended....

I have a late 22 with the new part numbered driveshaft. I so far do not have any clunking, other than normal " Back lash" as I described before... I have the same in my C8 Corvette and GT500, although a little fainter than the TRX. I believe they are more refined to a point than a brute truck. There are over 48,000 of these out there now and only a fraction of people have complained on this venue. Hec, if I didn't read these, I wouldn't go looking for issues on my truck lol...

Good Luck to you!

 

[AZDinoPwr]

Not to drag this out even more, I'm in Aviation Engineering and Repairing, have a lot of technical expertise on drivetrains and we have the same "Back-lash" especially on the Apache Helicopter Drivetrain.

Just want to note, "Ram Cares" is nothing more than a Customer Service that is there to pass information to the Manufactures designated representatives. Not taking anything away from them, they are not technically trained whatsoever. They are merely the "first point of contact" which for the most part calms owners and gives them a sense that somebody does "care", no pun intended....

I have a late 22 with the new part numbered driveshaft. I so far do not have any clunking, other than normal " Back lash" as I described before... I have the same in my C8 Corvette and GT500, although a little fainter than the TRX. I believe they are more refined to a point than a brute truck. There are over 48,000 of these out there now and only a fraction of people have complained on this venue. Hec, if I didn't read these, I wouldn't go looking for issues on my truck lol...

Good Luck to you!

According to my dealership every TRX owner they have with over 15k miles on their truck has the clunk.

 

[bigdaddyspank]

According to my dealership every TRX owner they have with over 15k miles on their truck has the clunk.

even more to the point that its normal?

 

[AZDinoPwr]

even more to the point that its normal?

Nope. All say it is not the intended function. If it was then they wouldn’t have active TSBs and be greasing for a bandaid.

 

[bigdaddyspank]

Nope. All say it is not the intended function. If it was then they wouldn’t have active TSBs and be greasing for a bandaid.

 

[wac45]

Not to drag this out even more, I'm in Aviation Engineering and Repairing, have a lot of technical expertise on drivetrains and we have the same "Back-lash" especially on the Apache Helicopter Drivetrain.

Just want to note, "Ram Cares" is nothing more than a Customer Service that is there to pass information to the Manufactures designated representatives. Not taking anything away from them, they are not technically trained whatsoever. They are merely the "first point of contact" which for the most part calms owners and gives them a sense that somebody does "care", no pun intended....

I have a late 22 with the new part numbered driveshaft. I so far do not have any clunking, other than normal " Back lash" as I described before... I have the same in my C8 Corvette and GT500, although a little fainter than the TRX. I believe they are more refined to a point than a brute truck. There are over 48,000 of these out there now and only a fraction of people have complained on this venue. Hec, if I didn't read these, I wouldn't go looking for issues on my truck lol...

Good Luck to you!

Not saying you aren't correct in your assessment. In fact that is quite interesting about your back-lash comment. I would just like a definitive response from Ram. Normal or not? If they are suggesting and authorizing warranty work it would lead me to believe they do not consider it normal. As I mentioned, if it is then ok.

I have had a number of contacts with RamCares and they have actually been proactive on the issue. According to them their guidance is given "after consulting with their engineering department" which leads me to believe they are not the ones directing the recommendations. According to them, "their engineering department says this is not normal".

There are several members on here that have an engineering background and I find their knowledgeable input to be interesting and valuable. I always look forward to their posts and I am glad that those of you with that background share your input. Certainly not looking for issues on my truck, but certainly not going to ignore an obvious one either. Especially when Ram says it is not normal.

Appreciate all perspectives on this subject.

 

[Two]

Backlash would be between the ring and pinion, and is easy enough to check by turning the pinion yoke back and forth.

Bind in the slip yoke on the driveshaft is another thing altogether, but since ours are free from that potential defect, so far, I have not looked for a way to fix it.

There's also the cumulative tolerances in the transmission, transfer case, driveshafts, and differentials, which could be perceived as a clunk, But again, I can't really troubleshoot an issue I don't have.

 

[HighHP]

I have owned three TRX's, none have had the drive line clunk. Over many years, I and others, have had cars/trucks of various makes and models that felt like a slip in the drive train just after first movement from a stop. We could never figure out what it was and it never did cause a problem. Now I know what it was, just like all the descriptions on this form. So this is not a new issue, it has been around for years.