1997 Ram differential question/problem HELP!

[200MPH]

Hey guys got a question on my 97 Ram 2WD 1/2.

My rearend has been making some noise for some time now i just  thought it was low on fluid.
I got underneath and checked it out and it was, so i filled it .... well flash forward to this morning i was driving down the road and i hit the RR tracks by my house (smallones) and when i got ready to accelerate nothing!! so i coasted over to a Parking lot and got on the ground to look at it ,and discovered the drive shaft spinning and the rear end making clicking sounds. (I had the Ebrake on )   

I put it in park and when i did it still rolls nothing so i had it Towed to my house

Help mayday sos thanks guys 

[Cooter]

Something turned loose in the rear end Bro...Won't know for sure till you pull that cover and look at the Carnage....Sounds like maybe spider gears, or the center pin came loose...Either way, you need a rear diff...

[200MPH]

yeah thats what im afraid of 

[John_Kunkel]

The pinion nut on those trucks is well known for coming loose, I check mine at every oil change.

[200MPH]

could a guy tighten it back up ha ha

[John_Kunkel]

Just tightening the nut is risky, there's a crush sleeve between the pinion bearings that needs to be a certain length to maintain the proper bearing preload. Besides, it it won't move there is probably further damage that was originally caused by the loose nut.

[200MPH]

Well update i got a rear end today from another truck 98,but first my old rear end i pulled the cover off and WOW......... it was trashed broke the pin in half spider gears were in chunks  so we chucked it....

well i installed the new rearend and it works perfectly only one thing  Tranny appears to be stuck in first gear and will not come out  manually or otherwise all other gears work fine  it never had this problem before so............

[200MPH]

Update tranny is Done  busted case broken sprag etc etc thanks to all for replies

[John_Kunkel]

Sprag failure after a rear end failure is fairly common but only when the rear end failure is at WOT, kinda strange to see RR tracks trigger the failure. 

[200MPH]

there was loud sound when the rearend let loose , it trashed the spider gears and jarred the truck pretty hard when  i coasted to a stop. The wheel bearing was trashed on the passenger side... when we jacked it up i just pulled the wheel off axle and all

[200MPH]

Something turned loose in the rear end Bro...Won't know for sure till you pull that cover and look at the Carnage....Sounds like maybe spider gears, or the center pin came loose...Either way, you need a rear diff...

yep i think thats what happended too  the center pin was busted in 1/2

[Cooter]

The only question now is.....Who won the race? Just messin' with ya...

[200MPH]

ha!! no racing was involved  thats the crazy thing  it just went !

[84shelby]

 Help

I have an 84 power ram 318 ,   9.25 rear

I also have part throttle clicking, very noticable at about 25mph

after reading this post I'm very concerned about this.         what do I check ?!

BTW   the truck has about  215,000 miles

[flyinlow]

My sons 2003 Ram had the pinion bearings fail. We found the pinion nut was not tight enough as we took it apart. I heard the problem mentioned by several posts.

[84shelby]

  Thanks  !       flyinlow

[200MPH]

@ Shelby yeah you better check it out    it took my brand new (2 month old) trans out when the rear end let go  and thats exactly what happened no racing or anything else involved just normal driving condition, i just happened to be crossing the tracks

good luck!

[Cooter]

This is why I do NOT like the 9 1/4 rearends. I guess one could find something wrong with every rearend concieved, but these seem to be the ones I have seeen this with the most in the newer Dodge Ram trucks...That, and the fact that NOBODY takes care of the Diff. these days. When the little desk jockey at Jiffy Monkey asks you "Sir, would you like to change out your Diff. fluid today? It's looking pretty nasty"..The first thing you say is "Nah, just change the oil".........

[84shelby]

 Well       took the rear diff cover off today   and ..


       I jacked the driver's side up off the ground and rotated the wheel back and forth ,  found a huge amount of play

       in the  spider gears / pin assembly.

      Significant wear on the spider gear teeth.



     New ones are on the way .


     Thanks everybody

[70sixpkrt]

If you have a 9.25 rear, the clutch pack retainer clicks fall out and float around and tear things up. This happened to my 2000 Dodge Ram and 2002 Dodge Durango within 10 days of each other. Do an internet search and you will find lots of posts about it. Ma Mopar is aware of the problem since day one.