Driver's door window molding removal
From : steve lusardi
Q: on fri 14 sep 2007 145422 -0400 goingballistic@webtv.net d o a wrote im thinking of buying an 02 4x4 ram slt with the sport package & was wondering if theres anything i should look out for. it has 120000 miles one owner & it looks mint. thanks for any info. up until 03 dodge used a front axle tube that was notched near pumpkin on passanger side for a axle disconnector. this weakened the axle and made them prone to sag or bend a bit if you lifted them or installed bigger tires and played hard. i have seen many 1/2 ton didge so equipped with bent/warped front axles you want to check this real good. if truck is stock with stock tires it should still be straight. ----------------- thesnoman.com .
Replies:
From : tom lawrence
tom lawrence wrote up until 03 dodge used a front axle tube that was notched near pumpkin on passanger side for a axle disconnector. the 1500s changed to the cad-less front axle in 02. the 2500/3500s followed in 03. wow all this time i just thought you guys were picking on him but the snowman really is a dumb ass. the 1500 got a brand new independent front end in 2002. the only problem with the new torsion bar front end was it rode kind of soft. in 2006 they redid it with coil over springs and made it a little stiffer and a little stronger. i have a 2002 1500 slt 4x4 sb reg cab its been a great truck i love it and yes the 360 5.9l gas get 11 city and 16-18 hwy. the 46re is not a bad trany either. just change the fluid every 10000 to 15000 miles and adjust the bands every 20000-30000 miles and it should last forever good luck .
From : fmb
be prepared for of the rear end. i suspect the pinion nut has not backed off - rather it is the bearing gone bad and the pinion is loose as a result. let us know. on sep 14 717 pm abby.normal back....@nospam.net wrote i agree with you both had my truck been a newer one. however with 90k miles on it i only wanted a few more miles from it - not have the rear end out last the rest of the truck. i also failed to mention that the dealership failed to put the drive shaft back on correctly and in a very short time 2-3 days ended up doing the work again because the new pinion bearing and drive shaft both failed from the vibration. that was dangerous. in response to mike s post. i thought everyone should know most likely it is in tat area. i know of several differential rebuilds from myself and friends. the pinion bearing has gone out in each case. you dont need the entire rear end rebuilt as we did we didnt know. i told the dealership that if they didnt save all the parts for me i was not going to pay. the parts are all fine except the pinion bearing - shot. that cost me $1300 for being stupid and in a hurry. i know now that i could have 1. done it myself; or 2. had another reputable place do the work for much less. i talked to this place after the fact and he said it was common for dealerships to do this - lots of hours = lots of $$$ its common for dearlerships to do that because they have to stand behind their work. if the failed pinion bearing allows the pinion to move around in relation to the ring gear it can cause an abnormal wear pattern. in some cases you actually hear the ring and pinion howling because of poor gear tooth contact not the bad bearing. if you just replace the bearings and re-use the ring and pinion it will be noisy. now you have to take everything apart again to replace the ring and pinion. when any bearing in a differential fails it usually sends metal particles through the entire axle housing. if you look closely at the bearing surfaces you will see the metal particles embedded in the bearing races and rollers. it is not uncommon to see particles of the failed bearing embedded in the ring and pinion gear teeth also. that is the reason why most reputable shops will replace everything. at the very least you must replace all the bearings and flush out the axle housing if you want the job done right. in complete agreement here. -- chris- hide quoted text - - show quoted text - thanks for all the info the truck goes into a shop on monday i will try some of the suggestions and i will let you know the outcome of the shop and my tests!! my ram 1500 95 4x4 is going in tomorrow because i found the rear u-joint was bad and i also found that the pinion nut had backed off. i have no leakage of any fluid from the housing so i will just hope i caught it early enough. it is old but paid for......-. it is newly painted and in great shape even with over 170000 tough miles so i will fix it and keep it going. it just had its first tranny rebuild and all but the now bad u-joint were replaced then..... i had thought they had done them all. i had no noise except the clank going into reverse from drive and vice-versa that pointed me to the u-joint. one little tidbit of info that some have had problems with brake and abs lights staying on............. i had replaced the rear wheel speed sensor and it corrected my problem for a couple of weeks and then the lights came back on. the problem turned out to be the brake light switch of all things. i didnt even know that my brake lights were intermittingly going out and it would send a code and keep the dash lights on constantly until power was reset. a simple fix for a strange issue. ed .
From : steve lusardi
mpberti mpberi@ec.rr.com blubbered & whined & cried threw a tantrum then wrote nothing of any importance in a message //snip// mpberti is starting to sound as feeble-brained as t-bone. .