Cactus Red's Build - 2009 Power Wagon

[EasyDoesIt]

Decided MPG's were more important than traction. The AT2"s are much more efficient than the knobby's.

Let us know how you like the CRE system and shocks! Did you go with the wet bolt setup as well?

So far the cre3000 kit has worked very well (no shocks yet). All my cabinets and drawers stayed closed, usually I'd have to strap each cabinet shut. I didn't splurge for the shackles/wet bolts but may when I get back from Moab. Will likely get new spring bushings while I'm at it.

[Cactus Red]

Glad to hear that it made an improvement!

[Cactus Red]

Well, I guess towing heavy has bit me in the butt.

The old PW has been wheeled hard over the years - probably have tapped the pinion flange once or twice along the way. Over the last few week we started to get a little whine on decel at 35/45 MPH. Due to odd circumstances, I couldn't get it in until Monday this week, and got the word yesterday they are going to get $4500.00 authorized in repairs on Cactus Red. That seems crazy high to me - makes me wonder if they are just going to replace the whole axle (P5155088AB is the Mopar PN for a 10.5" PW axle) at about $3500.00 from the dealer. I'll fill ya'll in once I get it back.

It's only been two months (mid March when I added an AFE diff cover) since I'd serviced the diff - everything I could see looked OK. The magnets were typically black, but I saw no glitter in the oil or shavings on the magnets.

Mark

[Cactus Red]

Wow...

I stopped in to look at the warranty info - they have over $3600.00 in parts alone to rebuild a diff. That's nuts. $990.00 for gears, a new Track Rite E-Locker and Limited Slip $2200.00, all new bearing from the flanges in, and gasket sets. So in essence, it will be a new rear diff from flange to flange.

[Low_Sky]

Wow...

I stopped in to look at the warranty info - they have over $3600.00 in parts alone to rebuild a diff. That's nuts. $990.00 for gears, a new Track Rite E-Locker and Limited Slip $2200.00, all new bearing from the flanges in, and gasket sets. So in essence, it will be a new rear diff from flange to flange.

Dang, good thing that's all covered.

[olyelr]

Yea thats nice! At least they didnt look at the rear diff cover and call off the warranty like some dealers would probably try to do. Or use the prior bigger tires as an excuse.

[Cactus Red]

$4600.00 and change later, it's done. I thought it was pinion bearings from the noise, ended up the LDS had started to fail. That's why it needed an all new carrier and LSD.

[TwinStick]

When I towed heavy (max weight), I changed the diff fluid every year. Compared to your bill, (if you would have had to pay it) fluid is cheap. My rear diff oil only lasted 11-12k, no matter what kind i used. You could actually hear it when the oil had sheered. I would change the oil the same day i heard the noise. 2004 Ram 2500 did the same thing. Then i started using 1 qt of Lucas Lube 140 gear oil with whatever diff fluid i used, problem gone. Would last up to 24k or 1 year with no noises then. I still dumped it every year, just to be safe. My dealer would use whatever excuse they could not to cover it. I now have a 6 qt Mag-Hytech rear diff cover on it & stay around 65 mph when towing, which keeps the fluid right at 170-175*F. Now I change it every 2 years with the much lighter 3500 lb camper. I also overfilled the diff when i had the stock cover on, as most failures were pinion bearings, which i could never understand & no one has ever given a logical reason for the thousands of pinion bearing failures "due to lack of lubrication." If the vehicle was bought new, never serviced by anyone but the dealer & there were zero leaks & diff fluid was at proper level, how is that possible ? Supposed to fling the fluid up to the pinion bearing. Logic tells me the fluid level is too low if there is not enough to fling onto pinion bearing. No need to now that it holds double the factory 3 qt capacity. Mine is a 3rd Gen.

[Cactus Red]

Thanks for the info on the Lucas product.

I'd done a full service in March when I installed the AFE cover. It looked fine, no metal or sparkles. I suspect it was making noise prior to that, but I'm more than a little deaf - been working in a machine shop for 30 years, and used to shoot 10 to 12 thousand rounds of ammo a year. The AFE cover has both internal/external fins, and holds 5qts. Mine is raw aluminum so it should transfer heat better than a painted one. Today it showed 128 degs after a 20 mile highway drive in upper 80 temps. Won't get to tow for another 400 miles or so...

[TwinStick]

128* is a GREAT temp. Mine has NEVER ran that cool, even when not towing. Hell, mine gets to 170* empty, on a 20 mile trip on a 70* day.

[Cactus Red]

So, I got my 500 miles of break in done yesterday. I'd been checking temps since it was done, and yesterday's drive from Chino Valley to Flagstaff was the first long trip on the interstate. Temps were great - never saw it over 134 degrees.

Then...

Decided to go ahead with changing the fluid, and pulled the bottom plug. Oil sprayed all over - something was weird the way it was draining. Stuck my finger up thru the hole, and saw something fall out into the pan. WTF...

Pulled a ring gear bolt outta the hot oil. Yeah, a F'n ring gear bolt. Now I'm hotter than the oil....

Put the plug back in, reused the old oil, and will drop it off AGAIN today.

That's pure incompetence. Unbelievable incompetence.

[Reloaderguy]

The universal reality of incompetence.

[Retired BLM Rig]

I’ll just go ahead and assume that there’s no evidence of Loctite on the threads.

[Cactus Red]

Got the truck back yesterday. Spent 15 minutes with the service manager. The tech reinstall the bolt without loctite... He claims it's not needed. I asked that they order a new set of bolts. If they they have loctite on them from the factory, they will swap them out. I'll know on Monday if its going back in. Got another 75 miles of break in while towing (15 miles at a time with an hour cool down between each trip) and temps got to 154 on the last trip with the outside temp at 94. That's OK by me.

[TwinStick]

Well I'd be heated as well. So glad you found it before it grenaded & left you stranded in the middle of BFNW. Yeah, thats just more proof positive that our species is de-evolving. Maybe it's all the pesticides & plastics LOL




On a side note: I was just looking at MOPAR ring gear bolts on a MOPAR website & yes, the pic showed blue thread locker on them.

[coder]

Got the truck back yesterday. Spent 15 minutes with the service manager. The tech reinstall the bolt without loctite... He claims it's not needed. I asked that they order a new set of bolts. If they they have loctite on them from the factory, they will swap them out. I'll know on Monday if its going back in. Got another 75 miles of break in while towing (15 miles at a time with an hour cool down between each trip) and temps got to 154 on the last trip with the outside temp at 94. That's OK by me.

Here's the instructions out of the 3 Gen Service Manual for replacing the rear ring gear looks like new bolts (with factory loctite) are required.

16. Position ring gear (2) on differential case (4) and
start two new ring gear bolts.
17. Install the rest of the new ring gear bolts and
tighten them alternately to seat the ring gear.

[Cactus Red]

Never heard back from the service manager. Guess I will have to stop by in person...

On another note, we decided to install a rear camera on the trailer. Didn't want to run wires, so after reading up on wireless units, bought an RVS Simple Sight 155W model. The 5" monitor isn't too obtrusive, plugs into the cigarette lighter, and mounts via suction cup so it's easy to remove. Pulled power for the camera at the center running light so it comes on with that. Easy install all the way around.

[Cactus Red]

The new trailer is just a bit more that the PW likes to pull. After a 4000 mile trip thru UT, CO, WY, MT, OR,ID and the local towing here in the mountains, we see MPG's consistently below 6. The lowest was 4.0 (32 miles on a 1/4 tank in northern CO), highest was 7.8 (from the top of Lolo Pass, MT to Lewiston, ID via Hwy 12). It also struggles up long grades with the big parachute back there. Any grade above 5% gets us down around 45 to 50 MPH in second gear @ 4000 RPM or more. Flat ground at 65MPH requires third gear @ 3500 RPM with occasional drops into 4th for short periods.

So, it may be time to move on to a 6.7L Cummins. If we do decide to go that route I'll be posting up the old dog here first as it sits complete with a good chunk of recovery gear (Yaesu 2M radio and ARB fridge will be optional), and with a transferable B to B Lifetime warranty.

[DamageWagon]

How heavy is your camper?? What gas are you using? I didn’t feel like my truck was that bad when I was on 34’s.

[Cactus Red]

Trailer dry weight is 6680 lbs, a full load of water (80.gallons), adds 660, batteries and propane are another 220, so with our other stuff loaded, we are over 8K.

[Cactus Red]

We used premium on most of the trip - the 85 octane regular didn't work so well...

[olyelr]

Yea, its all about how you use the truck. If you off road it heavily, then you will probably want to suffer through the poor towing experiences. If its mainly a tow rig now, then a cummins would certainly be a warm welcome.

[Cactus Red]

We have a JKUR for the off-road stuff - it's better at that than the PW for that. So, yeah, its time to move on.

[Cactus Red]

Our Outdoors RV 24 KTS was tow-able with the PW, but getting under 6 MPG doing so just isn't practical. We have purchased a 4x4 2017 Cummins 2500 MegaCab to replace Cactus Red. So, my time here, even as limited as it has been for the last few years, is over. I will be posting the truck in the For Sale section, and once it's sold, my days as Cactus Red will be done.

Lief, I greatly appreciate what you did for the PW community when you set this forum up. It's been a pleasure to have been a part of the group.

Good luck and best wished to all of you that keep it going!

Mark

[RustyPW]

Our Outdoors RV 24 KTS was tow-able with the PW, but getting under 6 MPG doing so just isn't practical. We have purchased a 4x4 2017 Cummins 2500 MegaCab to replace Cactus Red. So, my time here, even as limited as it has been for the last few years, is over. I will be posting the truck in the For Sale section, and once it's sold, my days as Cactus Red will be done.

Lief, I greatly appreciate what you did for the PW community when you set this forum up. It's been a pleasure to have been a part of the group.

Good luck and best wished to all of you that keep it going!

Mark

Sorry to see you go. I always enjoyed your posts. You're one of the OG's here. I know. Times change, needs change. Life moves on. Good luck with the new beast. Happy travels. You are still welcome here. Please keep us posted on your outings.