Rambox Panel Warping

[Chromolykid]

My 2016 has been flawless except for one issue, the passenger side Rambox panel (the painted one) started peeling off on the front corner a few days after picking up the truck. Upon showing this to the dealer, they decided it was warped and ordered a new one. These panels are simply held on with a few strips of double-sided tape, very poor design. The new panel came without paint, and the service manager at my dealership recommended we "blend" the paint to match. Meaning they had to scuff off the original factory paint on part of the bedside to make the new panel appear as close to original as possible. I was reluctant to do this on a brand new truck, but let them proceed. They matched the Maximum Steel color perfectly, but the new panel was already peeling up in the rear corner. I showed this to their paint guy and he put another piece of the double-sided tape on, looked great and seemed sturdy so I was on my way... This whole process took 2 weeks from the time I showed them the problem, 6 days of it with the truck in their hands.

It is now one week later, and I am once again in a rental because the front passenger side panel peeled off once again... Even worse this time.

Has anybody else experienced this issue? Very upsetting considering I've owned the truck a month, and roughly 1/4 of that time it has been at the dealership for a factory defect. I'm not sure if this is a quality control issue or just my bad luck striking again. I care for this truck the way a person who saved every penny for 3 years to buy it would, the boxes are certainly not abused or misused. I've attached a picture to show exactly what the issue is.

A word of advice to buyers picking up a truck with Ramboxes, carefully inspect those lids by pushing on the upper corners to see how much they separate from the actual box. I will keep this thread updated with what happens in case another owner has the same issue.

[yooper68]

I have not heard of this issue on Rambox's but have seen and read about similar issues on the Body Color Fender Flares on Laramie trucks (held on with double-sided tape). Similar issue; I would suggest searching on other forums to see if anyone has seen these issues with the Rambox's... There are many other forums related to RAM trucks; maybe some others have experienced your issues on non-PW trucks?

[Low_Sky]

Do you think your tape-peeling, panel-warping condition is exacerbated by living somewhere hot? Mine are still where they belong, but I don't have the hot sun beating down on them.

[coder]

Yup looks like the plastic molding is warped this will only get worse with time especially in the summer (or winter) when it's hot. Every drop in bedliner I have ever owned has done this it's more an inherent issue with the plastic material then with Ram so I would not sweat it.

[Limamikemike]

I had the same issue with my passenger side rear fender flare. It ended up getting repainted but still doesn't sit perfectly flat, I'm not in a warm climate though.

[Chromolykid]

I have searched forums all over the internet and found only 1 or 2 people with the same issue, but they unfortunately did not follow up with a solution. I'm assuming that means it was fixed by the dealer and never became an issue again, I hope.

The heat could certainly be warping it, but this truck hasn't even seen weather above 85 degrees yet... And I intend to make some trips to Death Valley this summer.

Funny you guys mentioned the fender flares, mine stick off the truck a little bit and I had them replaced with new ones under warranty. The new ones do the same thing, but it's far less noticeable than the Rambox panel and the flares will be replaced down the road anyways.

[Chromolykid]

Update:

Out of the 2 months I have owned the truck, it has now spent about a month of that time at the dealership getting the Ramboxes and fender flares "fixed". The good news is the fender flares are acceptable, nowhere near great but I can tolerate them for now. The bad news is the Rambox panels are still coming off. I spent 3 weeks in a loaner car, had a case open with Chrysler, spoke to every manager at the dealership and expressed my frustration respectfully... And I'm still paying for a defective truck. They replaced the entire Rambox door/lid and adhered the panels with "stronger tape" only to last 2 days of me driving it in 80 degree weather. The passenger side is lifting as the tape lets go. Not to mention the driver's side box sits about 1/2" higher than the passenger side and the body shop guys said they can't adjust it any more. I've now complained enough to Customer Service that they are opening a buyback case for the truck. I'm incredibly bummed, worked very hard to achieve my dream truck, waited to have it custom built, and now Chrysler's solution is to buy it back? Somebody started a thread on Ramforumz having the same issue, but no solution yet.

[olyelr]

How frustrating. Very much a letdown.

Are they replacing the warping rambox cover with a complete new one? Or just trying to repair the original?

[FirerescuePW]

What panel is peeling off? It's difficult to tell from the one photo you posted. Can you post a few more shots from other angles?

Two sided tape can be quite strong. It sounds like they didn"t use the correct tape to make the repair, especially if he could just pull the panel up and add one more piece. The tape takes a while to set up, just like epoxy or glue. It should be about 24 hours. If he broke the bond on the existing to add another piece, he trashed the existing. All the tape should have been replaced with the correct stuff.

I don't think this warrants a buy back. This is something a competent body shop should be able to accomplish. I wouldn't let them off the hook. It's a cosmetic panel.

[Chromolykid]

What panel is peeling off? It's difficult to tell from the one photo you posted. Can you post a few more shots from other angles?

Two sided tape can be quite strong. It sounds like they didn"t use the correct tape to make the repair, especially if he could just pull the panel up and add one more piece. The tape takes a while to set up, just like epoxy or glue. It should be about 24 hours. If he broke the bond on the existing to add another piece, he trashed the existing. All the tape should have been replaced with the correct stuff.

I don't think this warrants a buy back. This is something a competent body shop should be able to accomplish. I wouldn't let them off the hook. It's a cosmetic panel.

This is an earlier photo of the panels I'm referring to, I had a feeling this would become a corporate problem so I've been documenting the process with photos. The problem gets much more severe than pictured, once the tape lets loose the panel actually begins to hang off the Rambox lid. It will even flap going down the freeway.

This time around both lids (the actual hinged part) were replaced due to warpage, and the painted panels adhered with all new tape by a professional body shop paid for by the dealer.

I absolutely agree with you, I do not want my truck to be bought back over a cosmetic issue that is, in my opinion, easily fixed with the proper parts. It's like pulling teeth to make any progress with customer service and I currently have an appointment with a more reputable dealership on Friday. Either my original Rambox lid AND the replacement lids had manufacturer defects (4 lids in total), or something else is going on. I feel Chrysler owes me for the frustration and time spent without my truck. I've expressed this multiple times to no avail.

People who don't know the story ask what I paid for the Dart (loaner car I've been driving) and the look on their face is priceless when I say $58,000.

[Chromolykid]

Here is a better photo of the root of the problem, and where Chrysler's design or manufacturing flaw lies. I now know I'm not the only one experiencing this issue on a new truck, hopefully someone at corporate will wake up soon and look into what is going on. Disappointing would be a huge understatement when describing Chrysler customer service. Doing everything I can to get this fixed and keep the truck, I went out camping for 3 days and loved everything else about it. No other truck on the market comes close, but I know I'm preaching to the choir here.

[FirerescuePW]

Ok, I get it now. The painted portion that hangs down the side, if you will, is affixed to a framework with tape. Interesting. There must be an issue with expansion/contraction of the material shearing the bond. I hope they come up with a resolution before a buyback is necessary.

[olyelr]

Ok, I get it now. The painted portion that hangs down the side, if you will, is affixed to a framework with tape. Interesting. There must be an issue with expansion/contraction of the material shearing the bond. I hope they come up with a resolution before a buyback is necessary.

Or is it the black "step" type product on the top of the door that is giving him fits? Guess i am confused on what is warping.

[FirerescuePW]

He said it had to be painted, so I assume it is the lower panel.

[Chromolykid]

The Rambox lid is composed of two pieces. A black plastic door/lid piece that includes the hinge, top bedrail, and lock. The second piece is a painted plastic panel that simply adheres to the door or lid. When the black plastic door/lid warps, the painted panel begins to come off in the corners, a little more each day until it is hanging a 1/2" off the door/lid piece. My guess is they are being made with poor quality plastic, Chrysler probably switched suppliers to save a penny.

The dealership originally thought the painted panel was warping. We've come to the conclusion that the problem lies in the lid... You can take a picture of it one day, and within a couple days see the deformation as the black plastic bows and buckles along the length of the box. The painted panel wouldn't stay on even if it was bolted or epoxied, the lid needs to be made out of better material to resist warping.

[yooper68]

You must have gotten a part that should have been rejected; you should stand firm and tell them to replace the entire box (truck bed) including the Ram Boxes if that is what it takes.
It sounds like you have already been checking on some of the other Ram (non - Power Wagon) forums; I don't know if your warping issue is rare (and maybe compounded by the always warm weather where you live)???
I have not been on other Ram forums for quite some time; I like this one the best (and haven't had time). There are a significant amount of Ram Boxes out there; probably most are on non-PW trucks so if issue is more common I would expect it would show up on the other forums as well.

Hope you have better luck moving forward to get issues resolved like they should.

I'm very interested to see what the outcome is, since the Ram Boxes are a very significant reason for me wanting to sell my current truck and get a PW.

[Will]

Not trying to hurt your feelings but just tell them to put a real truck bed on it and get away from that rambox bullshit all together. I personally thought, what a great idea, until the first time I opened one and felt it function. They're junk in my opinion to begin with. If they fixed it now, it'll still be a problem years later if the lock and hinges dont wear out first. I definitely wouldn't leave anything of value in one. I bet there's thousands of them doing the same thing but the vast majority of society doesn't pay that close attention to anything.

[Low_Sky]

The lids on my ram boxes have warped a little bit, but not enough to cause problems in the almost-year I have had the truck. I'm keeping any eye on them, and if they get worse I may have to go down the same path you have started down. The ram boxes really work for how I use my truck, so I hope the warping doesn't get severe enough to cause issues for me.


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[MoparToYou]

I don't think I've ever seen a Ram Box that didn't look like it was warped, and didn't fit right. I always thought it was the funky complex curve shape of the side of the truck bed and Ram Box, and that you had to be looking at just the right angle to have it look "normal". Maybe all of those warped looking Ram Boxes really were warped.

[Will]

I found this and helps me see the design, I thought the rail on top was separate. Now I see it's the (body color vertical surface) that's coming loose.

[olyelr]

I found this and helps me see the design, I thought the rail on top was separate. Now I see it's the (body color vertical surface) that's coming loose.

Yeah that opens up my eyes on what the heck is going on here, thanks will.

[yooper68]

Will -

that exploded view sure does help to explain/understand how the RamBoxes are built and the potential issue some may be seeing with warping. That top ABS part that the body color metal is attached to would appear to not have much structural rigidity to resist warping (maybe compounded by the warm climate)?

I guess I'm going to do more reading & research on the RamBoxes; from my previous reading on other forums it seemed that it was maybe 50/50 for/against them but never read anyone quite as opposed to them as your prior post reply.
If RamBoxes are that bad then I have very little need to get a new truck. My research so far has indicated that RamBoxes would serve me very well in getting all the misc. tools, oil, axes, straps, etc. somewhat organized and stored so they are not cluttering the floor in the back seat or loose in the truck bed.

I like to keep my vehicles long enough & with the road salt that can't be avoided they will start rusting in 10 years or so; so if I do get a new truck with RamBoxes and the metal body color pulled away bad enough I could see putting some (several) stainless screw, nuts, & washers right through the metal & ABS to hold it together - but this would most likely (hopefully never) be years down the road.

thanks for the Exploded View & hope the OP gets his issue resolved quickly to his satisfaction

[Low_Sky]

Will -

that exploded view sure does help to explain/understand how the RamBoxes are built and the potential issue some may be seeing with warping. That top ABS part that the body color metal is attached to would appear to not have much structural rigidity to resist warping (maybe compounded by the warm climate)?

I guess I'm going to do more reading & research on the RamBoxes; from my previous reading on other forums it seemed that it was maybe 50/50 for/against them but never read anyone quite as opposed to them as your prior post reply.
If RamBoxes are that bad then I have very little need to get a new truck. My research so far has indicated that RamBoxes would serve me very well in getting all the misc. tools, oil, axes, straps, etc. somewhat organized and stored so they are not cluttering the floor in the back seat or loose in the truck bed.

I like to keep my vehicles long enough & with the road salt that can't be avoided they will start rusting in 10 years or so; so if I do get a new truck with RamBoxes and the metal body color pulled away bad enough I could see putting some (several) stainless screw, nuts, & washers right through the metal & ABS to hold it together - but this would most likely (hopefully never) be years down the road.

thanks for the Exploded View & hope the OP gets his issue resolved quickly to his satisfaction

Both panels are plastic, so as much as they might warp, at least they won't rust!


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[Chromolykid]

An exploded diagram is worth a thousand words! Thanks Will.

The boxes are very useful and I keep all sorts of things in them, I would very much prefer to keep them if the lids can be fixed. Got a phone call from level 2 customer service today, my persistence may be paying off. If Chrysler can not fix them and keeps putting defective lids on it, I will propose having my fabricator make me one-piece lids out of aluminum and sending the bill to Ram.

On a side note, I'm sitting at the local hot rod shop while they build my custom exhaust, so I can at least sound good while my Ramboxes fall apart.

[Low_Sky]

Solid aluminum lids with spray-on bed liner on top would be pretty slick.


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