n2dfire: Holy crap dude!!! I am really sorry to hear about all the troubles you are having!!!! Good God that's a gorgeous looking truck you have there though! (even if it is apparently wanting to turn itself into a static driveway decoration!) I am glad for you that your dealer is cool with working on modded trucks! That is VERY helpful!!!!
If it makes you feel better:
On tuesday, I brought my truck into the dealer due to a drivetrain clunk- they kept my truck for 3 hours and were unable to find the cause and sent me on my way! They said they'd try to look up if other trucks have had the problem and what other dealers have done to deal with it. (I hit 1000 miles on the odometer on my way up to the dealer to get them to look at it.
Then..... at 30 days and 1200 miles...as of today (it is past midnight here), I have had my Power Wagon for a month. As soon as I wake up I will either try to limp it to the dealer or get it towed there. (still debating which) On tuesday of this week, I hit 1000 miles on the odo as I was driving it up to the dealer to get the clunk in the driveline that made itself known that day diagnosed. They recreated the clunk but couldn't find the cause and returned the truck to me. I the days after they returned it to me, I noticed two odd new things:
1) the t-case shifter handle seemed to move a lot as I gave the truck gas and let off
2) the steering seemed to feel odd
I dismissed both of these as being paranoia, figuring that I was just looking for faults where there were none since my faith in the truck had been shaken.
The t-case shifter moves a LOT when I get on/let off the gas (can actually watch it move as I shift)- under hard throttle, it will move back to the point where it sits when shifted into 4wd! I can see some movement being normal but I am concerned because a)I don't recall seeing it move before and b)although I would expect some movement since it is mechanically connected, this seems excessive. I would guess a bad mount that lets the t-case shift when torque is applied so the handle moves up, then the resistance of the boot translates the upward movement into a rearward movement???
Prior to the visit to the dealer, the steering felt fine, after- The steering felt oddly VERY dead on center, with subtle corrections- me moving the wheel VERY easily but seemingly not actually turning the tires (a friend also verified the same feeling tonight but, more on that in a minute), and actually finding myself driving with the wheel at an angle to drive straight. Accompanying this was a feeling of bump steer- road irregularities yielding direction changes. At first I dismissed these as a combo of road crown, bad roads, and paranoia, UNTIL I went to pull into the row of parking at my favorite mexican restaurant- I suddenly lost power steering boost (or the ability to fully steer, IDK which since once I felt a lot of resistance, I didn't push the issue) and made a wider turn than I had anticipated. But, then I tried again and steering felt fine (???), all throughout dinner I debated getting a tow truck or limping the truck home. Finally decided to limp the truck home but let my buddy drive to see if I was just paranoid or if it felt to him like the truck was having more than just that one momentary problem. He verified that it felt quite odd to drive, and he found himself having to overcorrect to compensate for vagueness and had to keep the wheel angled to go straight. (so it's not just me then)
SO... into the dealer it goes... AGAIN!!!
I am debating as to whether I should try and limp it there, or get it towed. I am also trying to figure out something in the way of an explanation as to ****** is going on with my truck, any thoughts? Anybody had all this go on?
I am seriously wishing that Ram did the same as some other brands do and had the you can return it if you've had it for 30 days or less and didn't like it rule- this truck (much as I love it when it is doing good) would be getting turned back in!!!!!!!!!!!!
So... yeah... it's going in for service tomorrow morning, for the second time in a month!!!! AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!
