Two problems related to driveshaft have been reported for the 2011 Dodge Ram 1500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 20 mph. The driveshaft failed and caused the rear tires to lock up. The contact was not able to merge over to the side of the road and stop in the middle of road. The vehicle was towed to dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear driveshaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 77,000.
Safety recall n08/NHTSA 13v-038 identifies a manufacturing deficiency that could result in the rear axle pinion nut coming loose causing either rear axle seizure or driveshaft separation. It states that "either situation could cause a crash without warning. " chysler states in the notice that parts required to fix the problem are currently not available. Phonecall to the chysler recall assistance center not only confirmed the nonavailability of the parts but could not furnish any timeframe as to when they might be available. A check with the local dealer indicates no part availability information either. . Chysler has identified a defect that could cause injury or even death to vehicle occupants or others but has failed to provide information to owners or dealers as to when it could be remedied. This indicates a lack of concern by the manufacturer to affect the timely correction of this life threatening problem. The attitude appears to be use the vehicle at your own risk until we can get around to making a replacement part available. We are not talking about a complicated system here but about a nut that apparently wasn't installed properly in the first place.