RECALL Ram recalls 2018-2019 due to driveshaft possibly falling off

[BoostN]

The driveshaft could fall off the 2018 Ram 1500 and 2019 Ram 1500 Classic - Autoblog

This covers 2018 and 2019 versions of the previous-generation truck.

www.autoblog.com

Ram is recalling 10,160 pickups built for the 2018 and 2019 model years, because the driveshaft may fall off. That would be bad. The recall involves the previous-generation truck. Specifically, some units of the normal 2018 Ram 1500 and some of the 2019 Ram 1500 Classic. In Ram-speak, "Classic" means the previous-generation truck that's sold alongside the all-new version for 2019.

The trucks involved were built in a month-long time period in 2018, and Ram has identified the problematic driveshafts by part number. Apparently, the rear driveshaft may "have an incomplete weld fusion between the tube and tube yoke, which may lead to weld cracking or the driveshaft fracturing," according to the recall documents. This could cause the driveshaft to drop off the vehicle, and cause you to lose drive power (among other hazards involved with a driveshaft falling off a truck). At this point, FCA says it's not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem. However, it has seen eight occurrences of the driveshafts breaking, prompting this voluntary safety recall. Ram says that an extra noise or vibration could signal that the driveshaft is on the way out.

FCA is going to start notifying owners about the recall in mid-June. When you take your truck in, the dealer will replace your driveshaft with one verified to have complete weld fusion. It will, of course, be free of charge to the owners of the affected vehicles.

 

[Georgek]

The issue only affects 4x4s made from March 16, 2018 through April 20, 2018, based on research into the part number and part build dates. That means just 10,160 vehicles sold in the United States are affected, along with a few thousand trucks sold elsewhere. The NHTSA campaign number is 19V-324 and the FCA recall is V48.
The driveshaft was made by Dana, under contract. FCA first discovered the issue in August 2018, when six warranty claims for broken driveshafts came in; all were for vehicles with low mileage and built in the same month. The driveshafts were analyzed by the supplier, and the problem discovered. For the next few months, there were no more issues; but two more occurred in January, and in February, the supplier analyzed one of the driveshafts and found the same problem, but in a higher mileage truck.
So far, FCA has found ten warranty claims and 3 CAIRs related to the issue; there do not appear to have been any crashes as a result. The part number is 52123638AA, and the recall involves dealer inspection of the driveshaft followed by replacement, if needed.