Two problems related to steering pinion shaft have been reported for the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Safety recall n08/NHTSA 13v-038 issued 2/13. Letter recieved that 'parts required to provide a permanent remedy for this condition are currently unavailable. Chrysler will contact you again by mail, witha follow up recall notice when remedy parts are available. ' continued to call dealer and continuously told parts have not been recieved yet. In may 2013, had dealer confirm rear axle pinion nut was tight (they still did not have parts to fix recall). Have in writing that nut was tight and all was fine. Aug. 16, 2013, the nut fails and driveshaft snaps free (gears sheared off). Lost complete control of vehicle due to rear wheels locking. Luckily had just exited rt 80 on to side road. Dealer confirmed all due to pinion nut failure. Dealer ordered all new parts to rebuild truck. When asked if this will render the recall 'fixed' he says no. We still have to get the recall pinion nut fixed on the new part. But there is no fix!! so they are basically placing my family in a death trap again. Who is going to stop the blatant negligence at this point? isn't this site for the protection of the people? help us! this isn't a hot spilled cup of coffee. This is not a frivolous request.
I was sitting at a red stop light. When the light turned green I released my foot from the brake and put my foot on the gas pedal. At that time I heard a loud boom and the truck shook as if we were hit from behind. We were not hit. The truck would run, but would not drive when it was in gear. My truck was towed to the local dealership and it was determine the rear pinion shaft snapped in half.