2011 Power Wagon Purchase

[TommyG]

Twinstick's advice is spot on. If you buy a 2015 you will be doing front end upgrades on it in a few years too.

We are a year into buying a used 2012 Power Wagon and are loving the truck. No death wobble yet but we bought it fully realizing that we will need to redo the front with better parts on our dime at some point. That does not offset the huge amount of enjoyment we have gotten out of the truck. It is a great family wheeler/expo/back country platform.

Good luck with making your decision. Let us know what you go with.

 

[TwinStick]

Yup, no regrets here. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. LOVE my G-56 Power Wagon.

 

[hidesertwheelin]

I'm looking at purchasing a new 2015 Power Wagon. Anyone know the cost to rebuild the front end?

 

[drewactual]

I didn't see panhard rod on that list... I don't have as much experience with Ram's as I do the Super Duties, but every encounter I've ever had or followed was cured by replacing either the panhard rod (track bar) with an adjustable equipped with a heim joint, or, simply replacing the ball joint... sure other factors contribute, and sure replacing those will hide it better, but the argument is a good one that the panhard rod allowing play is what leads to those items wearing as fast as they do. The panhard ought to be parallel to the drag link, and there should be zero play.

check that... I see the track bar on there now... I just looked past it.

 

[TwinStick]

The "panhard rod" is not the issue, it is the cheap *** tie rod ends that are on the ends of it that are the issue. As are the factory "rubber isolated' bushings in the track bar & control arms. Cheap ball joints as well. It is this conglomeration of shoddy parts that cause front end issues. It seems to me this HAD to be done on purpose, for future revenue, but i don't trust anyone, LOL

It is sad really. That a company would do this. I work with 400 people, & we ALL have truck horror stories, REGARDLESS of what brand they drive, even Toyota. I know people that were loyal Dodge owners who jumped brands because of the front end issues. I know at least 7 GM owners who have jumped brands because of driveshaft, t-case & engine oil usage issues (1 qt every 1000 miles-they said that was normal), I know Ford owners who have jumped brands because of 6.0 Powerstroke issues. Toyota owners who have had engine electrical issues that jumped brands. What did they all have in common ???

Crappy customer service & the dealers inability to fix the problem right the first time. Repeated trips to dealer for same issues over & over just suck. They think their time is worth more than my time. Well it is not. Everyones time & money is just as valuable as everyone elses, at least to me it is.

I am going through this right now with my dealer. 2 1/2 months & still no parts. I stopped by today & they had NOTHING. No parts, no explanation, no record of my last visit. When i was there last time, i was towing my camper & rear locker light was flashing red on our 2008 Power Wagon. When truck was shut off, light would stay off when restarted, until i was towing our camper at least 100 miles. They hooked it up to the code reader & 13 codes came up, one was the "powertrain control module". They had no record & said they would have to "re-diagnose it". I told them it ONLY does it when towing over 100 miles w/camper hooked up. My money says their response will be :"unable to duplicate customers complaint", because that part is $500 & i have the "Lifetime Power Train Warranty". Fun WOW. I had to give my dealer the part #'s for the Power train control module & the Transfer case position sensor, they could'nt even find them. We only have one dealer by us.

 

[ljkup]

Hey all. Thanks to everyone for the responses and helping me with the decision to buy a power wagon. Drove this beaut home today...2008 pw with 22k miles.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[p nut]

Nice looking truck. Pretty low miles for the year. Looks like a great truck.

 

[js9234]

Very nice. And don't worry too much about the front ends. They're not near as bad as people are saying.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Very nice. And don't worry too much about the front ends. They're not near as bad as people are saying.

True. I have about 55M on mine and have never had any steering or death wobble issues. But I also pulled off the stock BFGs when I bought the truck new and replaced them with 35" Toyo M/Ts. I installed those new BFGs on my old GMC and when those tires hit about 30M the GMC developed death wobble (with IFS, no less). Rebuilt most of the rather tired GMC front end chasing the death wobble, and finally solved the problem by replacing the BFGs. My PW is by far the best truck I have ever owned, and I am amazed how pleasant it is to drive. Unless yours develops a problem or some symptoms, just plan to replace factory parts with better stuff as the originals wear out or get tired. The only thing I would recommend as a preemptive move would be to install a steering brace. It's a couple hundred bucks, bolts on, and will preserve your steering box. I used the one from DT ProFab. And use only Load Range E tires. The smart money seems to be on Toyos and Nittos, some like Yokos or Hankooks. I have 35" Toyos on the PW and 33" Nittos on the GMC, like them both.