3 transmissions and two rear diff in 2 months = me in the poor house :(

[ACCLUDE91]

So After I'm done with this Durango I am never buying another american vehicle again. After I got into imports, I swore I never would and I bought this Durango anyways to tow the Integra around and for a good daily driver/snow vehicle. It was fine for the first 5 months and recently started acting up bad.

First, the rear end blew out while on the interstate doing 80. That also took out the transmission. Trans was replaced and dif was rebuilt with all new parts.

That transmission never worked right and didn't like shifting past 2nd gear. Was replaced AGAIN a few days later.

Picked up the vehicle and the rear end started grinding like a bastard after approx. 200 miles with ALL NEW internals. Case was filled with metal shavings That was also repaired AGAIN.

It is now approx. 1300 miles later and now the transmission pump is going out. Back in the shop AGAIN.

Hopefully trans #3 works like it should. If not, I'm calling a scrap yard and telling them to come get this POS.

This has been apporx. $6500 out of pocket for repairs and rental cars over the past 2 months. I was hoping to put that money into the teggy and get that project started but this is setting me back drastically.

I will never buy another Dodge truck after this. These are common issues and Dodge will not accept that they are poorly designed and issue a recall.

Just wanted to get that rant over with. It's been bugging me lately.

[JunyAccord]

Story of my life dud. As much as they are luxurious they are money traps. I feel your pain. Good luck.

[ACCLUDE91]

I bought it to tow, not for luxury. If a vehicle comes witha tow package from the factory, it should be solid enough to actually tow. All the times the drivetrain has gone out so far was WITHOUT towing the teggy. I've only put about 1k miles on it with the vehicle in tow. Sad thing is that I have so much invested into this thing that I don't think I could take the hit and sell it. I'm gonna run it into the ground and then junk it like it should be junked

[excalibur02]

that sucks Pat!

I sure as hell dont want to own a domestic unless its under warranty.

my cbs will do fine.

[ACCLUDE91]

Damn Maury, that CB in your sig is looking dead sexxi

[wed3k]

isnt the trans and diff repair under warranty at the shop? someone aint setting something right in the rear end or overlooking a problem that would cause both to fail.

[TypeG]

yeah, where's your warranty? later.

[Lil' Whitie]

dang! i'd junk her so fast ti ain't funny.

you should just get an old school ford or chevy and just use it as a beater and daily drive a cb.

as far as cb ti takes them thousands of miles for a part fully fail. i hear a knocking and like 10k later it acually falls off. plenty of time to repair it lol. i drove 75k more miles when my old white cb 3rd gear started rattling.

[h22sparkle]

Did you go to the dealership or some other shop to do the work because if thats the case. The shop probably sent it in to get rebuilt and pocketed the money. You should have went to a more qualified mechanic to do the work.

Its not the car thats unreliable its the maintenance done by the mechanic who put in the workmanship that will determine on how long it will last along with the parts used. You get what you pay for.

Thats what happens when you dont do the work yourself or take it to someone who knows what they are doing. If not you will be taken for a ride.

[HondaFan81]

Did you go to the dealership or some other shop to do the work because if thats the case. The shop probably sent it in to get rebuilt and pocketed the money. You should have went to a more qualified mechanic to do the work.

Its not the car thats unreliable its the maintenance done by the mechanic who put in the workmanship that will determine on how long it will last along with the parts used. You get what you pay for.

Thats what happens when you dont do the work yourself or take it to someone who knows what they are doing. If not you will be taken for a ride.

I agree with you, but fact is that there are places where you pay good money for what you think is good work and it is not. It really does not come down to the amount, but the knowledge of the mechanics. One shop could simply charge less than the other.

Anyhow, I can almost guarantee that if your semi-float Salisbury rear axle assembly failed 200 miles after new internals installed, that it was due to lack of cleaning the metal debris left behind from the first failure. More than likely, metal contaminants made their way to the pinion bearings causing failure. I also wonder if they reused the gear set and it had secondary damage. They also could have applied excessive torque onto the pinion nut, resulting in excessive pinion bearing preload.

[h22sparkle]

I agree with you, but fact is that there are places where you pay good money for what you think is good work and it is not. It really does not come down to the amount, but the knowledge of the mechanics. One shop could simply charge less than the other.

Anyhow, I can almost guarantee that if your semi-float Salisbury rear axle assembly failed 200 miles after new internals installed, that it was due to lack of cleaning the metal debris left behind from the first failure. More than likely, metal contaminants made their way to the pinion bearings causing failure. I also wonder if they reused the gear set and it had secondary damage. They also could have applied excessive torque onto the pinion nut, resulting in excessive pinion bearing preload.

I honestly think they did use the same shit most shops well that do transmission work....good quality work clean everything out put new seals and bearings in. If they are good quality control mechanics aint no way in hell that could have happened again.

Somethings not right I honestly think they are doin shotty work and milking him . Whos to say that even the driver is driving the car nice and easy for the break in period or just beating ont he car running it into the ground. Then blaming it later like why oh its just this car lol.

[ACCLUDE91]

Here's the story. I did not want to type all of this out, but here it goes.

I went down to FL for a few months for some training. On the drive down there, the rear end blew out on the interstate at 80mph about an hour north of Atlanta in a small town called Winder. Obviously, the vehicle stopped moving so I pulled over. I put the e-brake on and put it in drive and looked underneath and saw that the driveshaft moved, but there was nothing happening in the diff. Out of curiousity I put it in 4x4 and it moved! I drove it at super low speeds in the shoulder until I was off the interstate and at a safe place to wait for a tow.

I had 1 day left to get down to FL so I left it at the shop and got a rental car. 3 weeks and $1700 later the rear end was done with ALL NEW PARTS. The problem is that when the shop went to test drive it after that, it did not shift past 2nd gear. So bad news, the trans was shot too.

Since I had already spent that much and was also paying for a rental car the whole time, I went cheap as possible on the trans. $1500 installed for a used one with 6 month warranty.

The shop installed the trans and drove it. Worked for a little while and then that trans they put in went out! It was under warranty and I had not come to get the car so they went ahead and replaced it AGAIN at no cost to me.

By this time it was 6 weeks, $3200 in repairs, and $2000 in rental car fees later. I got the call to come get the Durango. I drove the 7 hours to go get it. Dropped the rental car off and drove back to FL. HOWEVER, about 3-4 hours into the trip, the rear end started grinding like a bastard. It was weird tho, it only made the grinding noise under partial throttle. If you let off the throttle completely it would go away and if you went to WOT it would go away. It only made that horrible noise under partial throttle like feathering the gas pedal to maintain a set speed. So I was already more than half-way and the sound didn't worry me too much since it went away under load so I just drove the rest of the way to FL.

I get to FL and pop the diff cover and see a mountain of metal shavings in the bottom . The local shop there wanted to charge an arm and a leg to fix, I didn't have the tools to do it, and it was still technically covered under warranty so I paid to have the freaking thing SHIPPED back up to GA to cover the rear end under warranty. I also got yet another rental car in the meantime. It ended up needing ANOTHER ring and pinyon (defective or possibly not alligned right).

So now it's amost 2 months, $3200 in repairs, and $2500 in rental car fees, and I get the call to come get the Durango again. By this time, my training is done so I just go back up to GA and drop the rental car off and drive the rest of the way up to MD in the Durango. It did great with no issues whatsoever.

So now I've been back in MD for about 3 weeks and now the transmission pump is gone! It's still covered under warranty, but the junkyard can't find a replacement right now. They're still looking. In order for it to be covered under warranty, it needs to be installed by a certified shop so I have to pay the labor for the install + the shipping of the new trans when they find one. I'm guessing about another $500 total. So at this point in time, it's about 3 months, $3700 in repairs, and $2500 in rental fees and I can't even drive the thing right now until the new trans goes in.

That's about $6200 total and yeah, that sucks, but the whole experience is the worst of it. Money comes and goes, but hassles like this can stick with you and make you a very bitter angry person. I was really hoping to put that money into the teggy project but obviously that's not going to happen now.



On a good note, I'm not exactly in the poor house, I just don't have the extra cash that I would like to and can't start on the teggy project like I wanted to. I had enough to go ahead and buy the JDM front end conversion for it and also picked up a 3-in-1 ARC/TIG Welder & Plasma Cutter today so I guess things aren't that bad. The whole experience has just really rubbed me the wrong way with american cars in general and ESPECIALLY dodge.

[owequitit]

I haven't known the axles to be an issue, but I do know that this particular trans is crap. Every Chrysler product so equipped has a high failure rate. Rams, Durangos, etc etc. They seem to benefit greatly from a large tranny cooler, but with the tow package, I would think your Durango would already have that.

On the axle, I am almost inclined to agree with Cisco though. It seems like their must be other issues, because even a faulty brand new tranny and rear diff shouldn't fail in 200 miles.

Plus, I have seen this tranny tow plenty, so it WILL tow, it might just not last as long as others.

[scudweiser]

only domestic ill buy is an old jeep

[ACCLUDE91]

Yeah, it is a common failure. I've done my research on it. I knew that when I bought it, but it drove so great and showed no signs of any issues.

As for the diff going out 200 miles later, I got to look at it after they pulled the ring/pinyon out and it was completely evenly worn all the way around. It just looked like a wore out gear set that had 300,000 miles on it.

The truck does have the trans cooler. I have looked into upgrading the trans pump because that is also a common cause of failure and the issue I'm dealing with now. I may go ahead and get an upgraded one and have that installed when this trans goes in.

At least it's the bulletproof 5.9L and not the other crappy sludge box motors that are known to fail commonly.

I've got so much dumped into this thing right now that I'd totally lose out selling it. I'd be better off getting the trans right and keeping it.

When I do tow the teggy, it hardly seems like I'm towing anything. The torque and towing power of this thing is what I do like. I'm not sure if I'll keep it or sell it yet, but I'm probably gonna end up keeping it.