2012 Off road rattle

[Fireemt1101]

Last weekend while out hunting I noticed some rattling going on underneath, but only when the suspension was working, and traction control was engaging and disengaging. It happened at slow speeds, and only did it while off road, quiet as a mouse while on pavement. Sounded like it was coming from the front end, but who knows.... Any ideas?

[Retired BLM Rig]

Last weekend while out hunting I noticed some rattling going on underneath, but only when the suspension was working, and traction control was engaging and disengaging. It happened at slow speeds, and only did it while off road, quiet as a mouse while on pavement. Sounded like it was coming from the front end, but who knows.... Any ideas?

Under what circumstances did you notice the traction control engaging and disengaging, level driving, climbing. descending, tires spinning, 2WD, 4HI, 4LO?
Part of traction control is ABS function which can make some normal noise. Did you try turning traction control off?

[Low_Sky]

Last weekend while out hunting I noticed some rattling going on underneath, but only when the suspension was working, and traction control was engaging and disengaging. It happened at slow speeds, and only did it while off road, quiet as a mouse while on pavement. Sounded like it was coming from the front end, but who knows.... Any ideas?

Can you be more specific about the scenarios where you were hearing these noises? Were you in 2HI or 4HI? Swaybar locked or unlocked? What was the driving surface? Uphill, downhill, level ground? Any more details about the rattle; was it occasional or persistent, sharp or dull sound, could you feel it through the steering wheel or in your feet?

I see you're a new member. What's your level of off-road driving experience?

The group here is normally pretty good about helping to diagnose stuff like this, but you have to give as much detail as you can for us to work with.

[Bill2014]

Probably the anti-lock brakes chattering if you saw your traction control light coming on... That's common

[Fireemt1101]

Yeah I was in 2wd, on dirt roads, nothing to crazy, lol. but I did take the traction control off and it did subside, so thats cool.

HOWEVER... lol yeah the bigger problem. I though I posted it before but it never showed up. When I engaged the 4wd and accelerated it sounded like the whole drivetrain was coming apart. Allot of slipping and sounded like a chain slipping on a sprocket, happened in 4H, 4L and locked out. but went away as soon as it was put back in 2WD. was getting ready for a complete fluid changes in radiator, transfer case, diff's, trans, and motor. I pulled the diff cover and things look good there, even went as far as pulling the planetary and satellite gears and checked the splines and all, and everything looks really good, put all together and went to transfer case, looked like motor oil, and was burnt. (was supposed to have been done around 26, 27k ago, Hendrick automotive...) anyway, digging around, the chain was extremely sloppy, took a screwdriver and about pulled the chain back and it cleared the sprocket. so now question is replacing the chain is no big deal but which one is the right one? no one around here can order the right parts for my truck.

Off road driving experience... nothing crazy, present truck pretty much stock, went on a few runs with the local jeep club had no issues, nothing to technical, used 4L and disconnected the sway bar used the winch maybe 18-20 times, only 2 on myself lol. Love the pulling power. most of my serious off roading was done on 2 wheels. now its hunting club trails and pulling the camper.

[coder]

Mopar PN # 5086328AA

Rock Auto has it.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ram ... chain,8360

This is for a NP271 Transfer case.

[13powerwagon]

Ram changed the transfer case to a Borg-Warner 44-47 sometime in 2012 so be sure to look at your case before you order a new chain.

[Fireemt1101]

I do have the BW

[DamageWagon]

I found all the parts on TorqKing 4x4, including full kits or just the chain or single parts. I ended up finding the bearing kit on Amazon for a good deal. How many miles in your case? There’s no clutches in the case and the fluid usually goes a pretty long time without problem. The chains usually last a long time too. My chain and sprockets were healthy when I rebuilt mine a few months ago.

[coder]

It's the same chain for both:

https://torqueking.com/product/50255/qu ... d-gmc-ram/

[TwinStick]

OK, not for nothing, but what am i missing here ? I have had 5 trucks & an old 84 subaru wagon, all with transfer cases. One truck had 325,000 miles on it. Never, ever had a t-case issue or problem. Yes, i maintained them by just changing the oil. My current 08' PW has going on 50k miles. And the majority of those miles were winter, shifting into & out of 4wd, on the fly. I would regularly drive 55-65 mph in the snow, in 4wd going to & from work. My co-workers hated me in the winter, cause i would be passing everybody, regardless of weather. What could cause a t-case to go out so quickly on a 2012 ?

[DamageWagon]

A better question is, how do you have 50k miles on an 08???

[RustyPW]

A better question is, how do you have 50k miles on an 08???

I just turned over 80,000 on my '08.

[coder]

A better question is, how do you have 50k miles on an 08???

I just turned over 80,000 on my '08.

I just turned 170k on my 07 guess I drive it a lot