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The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:07 am
by FordyceCreekTrail
Now over 2 years and 58K miles into my first American vehicle. My last, a 2005 Nissan Titan saw only a poorly designed gas cap holder and bad front brake design ( too small a rotor warping) fixed under warranty, and tires not meant for the vehicle. While the Ram is so much more advanced, you expect a few more issues. But the reasons for the poor reliability ratings are obvious, if we are honest with our selves. So far;
1. Front locker rarely worked, needed to be modified to work aftermarket.
2. Sway bar disconnect worked only one time, never re-connected though. Connector is junk. Gave up on it for now.
3. Transmission gets stuck in park all the time on hills. Sometimes will not detect in park.
4. Detects Key fob out of vehicle when its not
5. Seat Belt does not retract like a 150K+ vehicle. ( dealer said nothing wrong)
6. Garage door opener very flaky
7. Occasional odd transmission shifts, including 100% limp mode one day on way to work. Been fine as of lately.
8. Odd issues with switching too and from defrost. Still trying to figure out what is wrong.
9. Bad Tail gate trim design
10. Random front parking sensor glitch, others have experienced.
11. Tires not meant for the vehicle.
12. Lots of valve ticking at start up. Normal I guess, but scary given reputation of valves on these.
Now some of these, ok its a more complex vehicle, I get it. But lockers have been broken forever and Ram just refused to fix them, so that sort of thing IS on them. Why continue adding to the reputation? Sure I may think of more and add it later. But making a list sure puts it in perspective.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:02 am
by 04Ram2500Hemi
I can't really argue with your list. I'll be honest, the lockers are the biggest reason I haven't looked at a new Power Wagon. My 2012 has been a pretty damn good truck, but when it comes time for a new truck I'll be looking real hard at everything on the market. When my wife's ZR2 lockers engage within a second of pushing the button, there's no reason why Ram can't get their shit together.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:24 pm
by waldo
I think they really made some huge gains in the 19s. I say that having owned nothing but these trucks since 05. Going from the 16 to the 19 was a huge jump in every aspect. As for the lockers ,,I don't use the front locker much but the rear locks as soon as you push the button. The 8 speed ZF is a dream compared to the 66rfe. (rotary shift knob aside)
And I still drive my 07 every day, The only stuff I did to it was the normal 3G steering fixes and axle joints. That's kind of why I kept it, never had much trouble.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:42 pm
by KevinABQ
Other than the duratrash, I’ve had none of those. But i probably have not driven 20% of what ylu have. My inherent cheapness has me taking the 30mpg car over the 10mpg truck most of the time when its a choice.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:44 pm
by Oilbrnr
I just rolled 67k on my '16. One failure, an EVAP solenoid that was covered. The upper intermediate shaft bushing is also wearing out.
Your use of reliability means, at least to me, failure to be operated which of items listed would be transmission in limp mode. A cable operated parking pawl binding under load (yeah, that's how they work) and a garage door opener failure (is that the transmitter or receiver) hardly rises to the level of 'reliability' issues. Tires? Please. Mfg's put the cheapest rubber they can to roll them off the dealers lots. Duratrashes are used cause they look aggressive and Goodyear probably gives them away.
Guess my level is, does it get me hundreds of miles off-road and back without mechanical failure, reliably, time after time. To that, to date, I can say yes.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:05 pm
by OffroadTreks
Knock on wood, 94k none of those problems.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:41 pm
by cb1987
umm geez i dont even know where to start. 7200lb on the trans locking pawl, on a hill, might just make it hard to get out of park. try using the parking brake to keep the full weight of the truck off the trans.works great for me. why the front locker is slow is hard to say , probly some stupid safety feature. , fca likely feels obligated to protect morons from themselves. otherwise, customers would go 70mph with lockers on, thats why they were functional in 4lo only, theres no other explanation. never had a single problem with my key fob. only have rear park sensors on mine but theyve worked perfect so far. never had a problem with the sway bar disconnect or seat belts. no problems with heater controls so far. in 7k mi ive experienced ticking only on three occasions. i suspect maybe it has something to do with to much oil draing out of the top end. maybe try a different brand oil filter is all i can say
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:03 am
by cb1987
just go buy new ford and deal with death wobble and worn out front end joints at 20k mi. go to ford-trucks and see on any given day theres usualy one to three death wobble threads on the first page. youll have to keep it paked inside though. as plenty of them get frozen door latches and water leaking cabs. chevy might be ok if you dont get high centered on a curb pulling into the grocery store
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:55 am
by FordyceCreekTrail
First, I would not drive a Chevy, it would not survive me and that Limited Slip locker is an insult to 4x4 kind, and reliability is the first reason I did not buy a Raptor. And yes, I am sure the 19 is better. I actually sat back and watched disastrous design flaws like front suspension components, transmissions, engine issues, steering for years on these, and would never have bought one. I could watch the reports of improvements and that helped sell me. Wish I could have waited one more year for further improvements. My list is just being honest. If my garage door opened barely works, and sometimes I get out to manually open the garage door and my wifes 4 Runner works perfect every day...that's a problem with reliability. Its not dropping an engine and transmission, but its 2019 and those items should not have major failures for 100s of thousands of miles. My Titan also survived ridiculous off-road abuse, not that it could handle things the way the Power Wagon can obviously, even with my sway bar disconnect never working. I do expect more from the Power Wagon, given it is a heavy duty. Key Fob was a new one. Getting the Brother in Laws Frontier unstuck required several winch resets due to angle and lack of room. Every time my passenger jumped out to re-hook the cable the FOB is out of vehicle warning went off. If I opened and closed my door it went off.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:14 pm
by cb1987
most of whats on your list, your the first person ive heard mention anything about that stuff. tranny getting stuck i feel is operator error. keyfob ive never heard that before. tires are a bit small but just change them if you dont like it. tailgate trim ive never seen any complaints about. seatbelts never any complaint of. front locker is a bit delayed but i think it may be by design for some stupid reason. get a bypass then use lockers however you want. startup tick ive heard about but only experienced three times so ive never lost a wink of sleep over it. i think it may be oil draining from the top end and lifter deflate. my dakota would startup tick for a couple seconds if it sat for a week or more, still ran like new at 178k. why not get rid of the vehicle if your not happy. complaining on a forum wont fix the situation
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 9:26 am
by FordyceCreekTrail
Of my list I have seen on this forum before,
1. Duh, everyone buys a locker bi-pass, and Ram watched all the embarrassing off road reviews for years
2. Nearly everyone fights this connector, attempting to grease it to keep water and debris out
6. And dealer tells everyone its light bulbs
7. Many people here, most have worst shifts then I have had
8. Not sure, but very common Ram problem for all of eternity
10. Current string here on parking sensors
11. Everyone replaces them after 10 to 30 flat tires, and uneven wear in 10K or so
12. Really common complaint on valves and ticking.
So the majority on this list in this small microcosm
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:45 pm
by Oilbrnr
Go to any other vehicle model specific forum, and you'd be able to generate an equal list of complaints.
I find #2 of particular interest, as you bring it up frequently over the past year of your posts, yet you didn't until today even know where the connector is until I told you.
And complaining about OEM tires, that bean counters consider a nuisance item to get the vehicle off the dealer lot, is like pissing in the wind.
Again, until I read a number of reports of the PW failing to get the owner back to civilization from a difficult off-road excursion because of re-occuring major mechanical failure, I'll consider the 4th gen a reliable platform.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:31 pm
by Bill2014
Oilbrnr wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:45 pm
...
And complaining about OEM tires, that bean counters consider a nuisance item to get the vehicle off the dealer lot, is like pissing in the wind.
...
If someone gets "10 to 30 flat tires" on a set, then maybe its not just the tires that are at issue - there's obviously more going on...
I'll be sure to bitch and post up here when I get my
first flat
And Ford hasn't been paying attention to our Forum either - they're putting those crappy Duratracs on their new $50k -$70k tremors
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 10:16 pm
by cb1987
am i the only one thats hearing about most of those complaints for the first time ? seroisly i go on the major ram forums usually couple times a week and i never heard of most of what hes complaining about. even if there was a handful of threads about his complaints, seems insignificant to the hundreds of thousands of trucks that dont have thos problems. btw, the ticking is the lifters not valves
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 4:48 am
by KevinABQ
Bill2014 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:31 pm
If someone gets "10 to 30 flat tires" on a set, then maybe its not just the tires that are at issue - there's obviously more going on...
I'll be sure to bitch and post up here when I get my
first flat
And Ford hasn't been paying attention to our Forum either - they're putting those crappy Duratracs on their new $50k -$70k tremors
It took me exactly two to decide to replace them. It took a while to actually do it, bit after one destroyed tire and another flat on the same trail eveyone else (with aftermarket tires) drove on with no issues I was a believer.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:18 pm
by PWJouster
25k miles and it’s junk.
Blown trans and they won’t just replace it, just keep replacing its guts.
Already has a new valve body.
And already got lost between reverse and drive and had no torque lockup and no throttle. Can’t understand what’s going on here, but I need it to be fixed. I have NO faith, and I live for reliability.
BUT I LOVE MY PW
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 7:47 pm
by Oilbrnr
PWJouster wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 12:03 pm
worked great for over a week.
better MPG, and definitely added power....but yesterday!
HOLD UP!
some funky stuff happened just now.
pulled up onto a curb and parked level on some grass next to the road.
inflated FRONT tires from 40PSI warm to 48PSI....cold they were at 38PSI. (wanted to test out some higher pressures for handling and fuel economy)
Pulled off the curb, and the shifter was limiting the gears in 2nd, so AS i was accelerating(Moderately) I hit the + until it was set at 6th.
about 3500RPM in 2nd, with the gear select now on 6th, going over 25MPH....THE TRUCK LOCKED THE FRONT TIRES AND BROUGHT ME TO A STANDSTILL! IN THE MIDDLE OF ACTIVE DIXIE HIGHWAY!
released the gas pedal, and truck reverted to a higher gear and i carried on. now wet. and now flooring it so traffic didnt pile up on me.
Cant say why this happened. Maybe because after filling the tires, it was only 25 seconds or so until i was back in the truck slowly dropping one tire off the curb at a time.
Maybe the diameter and revolutions of the tires are measured constantly. New tire height messed with the ABS or PULSAR. It always takes a few minutes for TPMS to update.
Maybe the Pulsar couldnt translate the new data fast enough to the PCM, and the Pulsar corrupted some data.
Maybe the ABS or traction control thought something was out of line, with tire pressures changing drastically(like always)
i have filled my tires like this many times, and i have floored it in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lockout to redline, and other then power being pulled, it never applied brakes UNTIL THE TRUCK WAS STOPPED completely.
in the moment, it felt like nothing was going to get the truck rolling again.
it felt like a very strong emergency stop, not ABS taking its time.
I heard alot of Gear/Transmission noises. Its driving fine now, and no other issues persist.
Not Fun
PWJouster wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:11 pm
This is my 2018 powerwagon build.
Daily Driver Flat South Florida.
Minimal Towing
Aggressive driver and The Trailwhale will be beat on.
PWJouster wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:09 pm
this truck is not full party nor is it really bolt on budget.
just looking for an extremely capable and comfortable daily driver and weekend warrior. the caveat is
i am an aggressive driver and beat on my daily's way more then most.
Perhaps you 'junked' it yourself with the Pulsar and
'gear and transmission noises'. Maybe it was all the beating. Who knows, but It doesn't take much to toast a clutch pack if the wrong one is selected at the wrong time and it receives full power especially with stock gearing and 37's. I learned that the hard way back in '99 with my then new CTD and 47RE that I turned the wick up on. Being young and stupid has a price.
OffroadTreks wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2018 11:16 am
Sounds like you bought the wrong vehicle.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 7:54 pm
by cb1987
fordycecreek and pwjouster should meet up for coffee and pw war stories
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:59 pm
by OffroadTreks
Like I said before
OffroadTreks wrote: ↑Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:05 pm
I often wonder if the issues people have are more user-related than they'd like to admit.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 9:32 pm
by TommyDuncan
I have an 18' that JUST hit 13,000 miles. These are my similar experiences
FordyceCreekTrail wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:07 am
1. Front locker rarely worked, needed to be modified to work aftermarket.
Mine isn't very consistent either. I bought a control box but haven't installed or looked at the connector. Reverse seems to help at times. I used it a lot this weekend and was hoping it needed to "break in". My Rubicon was WAY more consistent so I know it isn't a legal thing.
. Sway bar disconnect worked only one time, never re-connected though. Connector is junk. Gave up on it for now.
Mine works fine, but sometimes takes up to 30 seconds. I like this feature a lot more on this vehicle than my Rubicon.
. Transmission gets stuck in park all the time on hills. Sometimes will not detect in park.
I park on a hill every night and I have to pull on the shifter harder than I would like. In my experience this is a column shift thing more than a PW issue. Only an issue parked uphill, not downhill. Not a problem on flat ground. I don't use the parking brake much, but I should.
. Detects Key fob out of vehicle when its not
Mine did it on the test drive! It doesn't do it anymore, but if I get out and put it back in the vehicle(through the rolled down window)it doesn't reset unless I open/close the door. Wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't "dinging"... this is usually during "airing up" so my wife is in the running vehicle. I am learning a routine so shouldn't be a problem once I remember to leave it in the truck.
5.Seat Belt does not retract like a 150K+ vehicle. ( dealer said nothing wrong)
mine works fine.
6.Garage door opener very flaky
I've had a couple instances but no consistent problems. My other car is worse! Shutting it off and restarting fixed it the one time it wouldn't work at all. Not sure this was the trucks fault...?
7. Occasional odd transmission shifts, including 100% limp mode one day on way to work. Been fine as of lately.
Every modern trans shifts weird on occasion for me. No limp mode though. Occasionally hard downshifts also, but not too bad.
8. Odd issues with switching too and from defrost. Still trying to figure out what is wrong.
No issues, but I live in the desert and used it for the first time this weekend.
9. Bad Tail gate trim design
If you mean the top plastic piece it doesn't seem to me like it will take much abuse. Hopefully cheap/easy to replace in a few years.
10. Random front parking sensor glitch, others have experienced.
Mine have been great, which is saying something because I didn't want them and planned to delete them. I did get a warning in the snow today that they were dirty.
11. Tires not meant for the vehicle.
True, but not unique to this vehicle. I'm just glad there is room for more and better tires. I would have replaced them anyways for something bigger, which I did the first week a had it.
12. Lots of valve ticking at start up. Normal I guess, but scary given reputation of valves on these.
I have the startup tick at times, and my Jeep did too. Mine has a tick all the time since the day I got it. They assure me it isn't a problem. Time will tell...
I get to drive a few different vehicles at work and they all have their issues. Nothing directly compares to a Powerwagon/Rubicon so I chose to deal with this set of imperfections and I'm pretty happy with it.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 8:40 am
by FordyceCreekTrail
Should I have replaced the tires sooner? Sure. But you never expect them to be THAT bad. And I am cheap, I hate replacing the tires on a new vehicle. Remember most of the flats were commuting to and from work, not off-road. Wife drove my truck one day and came home with 2 flats. The final straw was 6 flats on an easy off road trip that we were forced to come home early from. Yes, I get OEMs save money on tires. But that should not be the case on the Power Wagon Flag Ship. The Raptor gets BFGs.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 3:11 pm
by OffroadTreks
FordyceCreekTrail wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 8:40 am
But that should not be the case on the Power Wagon Flag Ship. The Raptor gets BFGs.
Those tires are fucking terrible. I don't know why they are on these trucks. But they're bad.
The problem is, they don't treat the PW as a flagship. If they did, it'd have better tires and better shocks than the trash they shove on these trucks. This is a big problem with the PW in my mind. Two areas that they need to RESOLVE. BFG 35's like the Raptor and Fox Shocks like the Gladiator.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2019 3:00 pm
by aheiser
I was worried a bit at first going from a Toyota to a Ram, but my 2012 has really impressed me. ~50k miles and has been 100% trouble free. As others have pointed out, every make/model will have a couple things that are inconvenient, a little flaky, etc. But your post (and a similar complaint thread I believe you made a while back) definitely sounds like you're simply dead-set on disliking the vehicle.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:13 pm
by LagunaH1
Sorry to hear about all the stuff you've had to deal with.
My '16 has been *very* reliable so far, but I'm also only at 33500 miles. The single biggest source of frustration for me, is the transmission. It's been perfectly reliable for me, but it's so damn clunky and crude.The shifts are smooth in, maybe, 10% of all cases. I'm also pretty tired of how the engine sounds when it's cold. But, other than that, it's been a great truck for me.
Re: The "Real Reliability"
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:28 pm
by olyelr
LagunaH1 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:13 pm
Sorry to hear about all the stuff you've had to deal with.
My '16 has been *very* reliable so far, but I'm also only at 33500 miles. The single biggest source of frustration for me, is the transmission. It's been perfectly reliable for me, but it's so damn clunky and crude.The shifts are smooth in, maybe, 10% of all cases. I'm also pretty tired of how the engine sounds when it's cold. But, other than that, it's been a great truck for me.
Pretty much spot on with my experience with my ‘16 (36,000 miles).
Its almost embarrassing how loud the motor knocking is when its first started up.