Blew my driveshaft in half

[sbarron]

The regular cab trucks don't get abused any harder then any other QC or CC truck that's being Most break at 5350 rpms on the driveshaft which is 130 mph on 32" street tires or 110 mph on 28" drag tires. Some have broken at 115ish & quite a few have broken right at 80 mph. The QC and CC trucks don't throw their driveshafts,and there's as many if not more of them being raced as the regular cab trucks.The regular cab shortbox trucks are a very small minority in FCA's 1500 sales,but they are the only ones that chuck their driveshafts .How much planer can we make it,the regular cab trucks use a flawed driveshaft design.Go find yourself a shortbox regular cab 2 wheel drive 8 speed truck and actually look at the driveshaft,it's slip yoke is in the middle of the shaft,with no support.The shaft bolts to a flange on the transmission and to the yoke on the diff,if they'd designed the slip yoke to have a steady bearing mount,it would be a decent driveshaft,but no the slip yoke is a joint in the middle of the driveshaft that will start to flex when driveshaft harmonics start to come into play.The driveshaft basically turns into a skipping rope,is the easiest way to describe it.Before you keep on flapping your lips,go find one of the damn trucks and actually get under it and look at the shaft.You're arguing about something you have "no" idea about.

I understand from an engineering point why it fails. I also understand what you mean when you say that it's not the best design for your use.

Let me ask the question from another angle...

Assume you are FCA. You sell only a small number of RCSB trucks. You have driveshaft "A" that costs you $1 to manufacture vs. Driveshaft "B" which costs you $2 to manufacture. You aren't selling a truck to be "raced or drove hard", after-all, these aren't Demon or Scat-Pack packages.... You are trying to maintain as much margin as possible on a very small product volume (almost niche in the case of 2WD RCSB) in a very competitive industry. Do you dilute your margin by using the more expensive part? Do you use the more expensive part, raise the vehicle price and risk losing sales? Or do you use the cheapest part that will do the intended job for the highest % of your customers - the most bang-for-the-buck?

The business model says you do option #3. If the market then dictates, you can possibly then offer the performance models or different trim levels with the upgraded parts (though much less likely on such a small sales volume).

The part isn't a "bad" part or even a faulty design... within certain parameters. When you exceed those parameters, yes, it fails. As to your point about the QC's and CC's not throwing their driveshafts... apples and oranges.... QC's and CC's are marketed as family haulers, work vehicles, to be used for towing, hauling, etc... as would the 2WD long beds - if such even exists... the 2WD SCSB is marketed as the most basic of trucks, hence it gets the most basic design, it's really not designed to DO anything... it's an assembly of compromises made to qualify as a pickup and be sold at the cheapest price point.

 

[Pull Ya]

This is why after market designers, manufactures and vendors make money.
Jay

 

[sbarron]

This is why after market designers, manufactures and vendors make money.
Jay

exactly.

 

[Wild one]

I understand from an engineering point why it fails. I also understand what you mean when you say that it's not the best design for your use.

Let me ask the question from another angle...

Assume you are FCA. You sell only a small number of RCSB trucks. You have driveshaft "A" that costs you $1 to manufacture vs. Driveshaft "B" which costs you $2 to manufacture. You aren't selling a truck to be "raced or drove hard", after-all, these aren't Demon or Scat-Pack packages.... You are trying to maintain as much margin as possible on a very small product volume (almost niche in the case of 2WD RCSB) in a very competitive industry. Do you dilute your margin by using the more expensive part? Do you use the more expensive part, raise the vehicle price and risk losing sales? Or do you use the cheapest part that will do the intended job for the highest % of your customers - the most bang-for-the-buck?

The business model says you do option #3. If the market then dictates, you can possibly then offer the performance models or different trim levels with the upgraded parts (though much less likely on such a small sales volume).

The part isn't a "bad" part or even a faulty design... within certain parameters. When you exceed those parameters, yes, it fails. As to your point about the QC's and CC's not throwing their driveshafts... apples and oranges.... QC's and CC's are marketed as family haulers, work vehicles, to be used for towing, hauling, etc... as would the 2WD long beds - if such even exists... the 2WD SCSB is marketed as the most basic of trucks, hence it gets the most basic design, it's really not designed to DO anything... it's an assembly of compromises made to qualify as a pickup and be sold at the cheapest price point.

The R/T is marketed as Rams performance truck,and they are the ones losing their driveshafts,although any regular cab shortbox truck with 3.92 gears and the 8 speed will also lose their driveshafts.The majority of 8 speed/3.92 trucks are R/T's,but the combination is still available in the Tradesmen/ST and Express versions of the trucks.I said that awhile ago,this is a prime example of where the accountants over ruled the engineers.I doubt the engineering department wanted this style of driveshaft,but we all know the engineering department doesn't have the same pull at the top as the accounting department has,lol. When you factor in the amount of driveshafts lost,plus a few transmissions and rearends also lost when the driveshaft does break,it does make you question the logic of the decision,as the warrenty claims are starting to add up on these trucks.Just for the record there has been a few totally stock trucks that have never been raced that have lost the driveshaft ,and these trucks are not exceeding the design parameters of the truck,you seem to be hung up on parameters,so how do you explain the daily driven stock trucks that have lost their driveshafts,they haven't exceded the design parameters.I know of one older lady owned R/T that has never been abused,and her truck lost the driveshaft at 70 mph.

 

[sbarron]

Lol... We agree on everything except intended use.

 

[Ramnewbie]

If the plain Jane sbrc was really being marketed as a work truck why would it be offered with a 400 hp motor? If it was really a work truck it would have the old slant 6 or 4 banger. In reality it's being offered as a sleeper.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Wild one]

Lol... We agree on everything except intended use.

Except you're not accepting the fact these trucks don't need to be used outside the design parameters to lose the driveshaft.FCA has replaced enough of the driveshafts now under warrenty that there's now none available in Canada or the US. Out of the thousands of 8 speed regular cab 8 speed trucks built,there's probably less then a hundred of them being raced in North America,the rest are daily driver trucks. The daily driver trucks are also losing the driveshafts,lol

 

[chrisp2493]

I Bleed Ram Trucks

 

[sbarron]

Probably a combination of market desires, higher profit margin on the HEMI (economics of scale), and probably even the likelihood that far more HEMI's are available at any given point than the other engines. Think of it as the old Dodge Dart. Wasn't marketed as a sleeper, it just turned out to be one. By definition, you can't market a sleeper.

 

[sbarron]

II know you were refering to me. Liked it anyway..... lol

I Bleed Ram Trucks

 

[Pull Ya]

Y'all need to go grab a beer out in the snow somewhere up north where y'all are at. LOL
Jay

 

[sbarron]

I lived/worked in Canada for about 2 years... not great drinkers, compared to Alaskans.

 

[Wild one]

I missed that one by an hour, was really curious how it went lol


I Bleed Ram Trucks

Matt must of unfriended me and blocked me over it,lol.I'm waiting for the 3rd installment of the test to see if he's right or i'm right,lol

 

[Pull Ya]

That surprises me????????
Jay

 

[tomb]

If I'm driving on the highway with my kids and a driveshaft or any other metal part wipes out my truck and causes me to hit other vehicles or otherwise have a crash that destroys my truck and or my family or some other innocent driver -then you don't have a right to drive -period!! We all love to modify our trucks, but if you want to test how fast you can go-then take it to the track- I am sure most of the members on this site agree

 

[tomb]

I guess I took all the fun out of that thread!!

 

[chrisp2493]

I guess I took all the fun out of that thread!!

Lol the thread has been dead for 2 months buddy...


I Bleed Ram Trucks

 

[Triumphx]

I guess I took all the fun out of that thread!!

Way to go reviving and killing a thread all in one post haha

 

[Gary's Hemi]

Way to go reviving and killing a thread all in one post haha

Hahahaha. Never seen that done til now.

 

[tomb]

It takes a while for the radio waves to get to my commodore 64 --cant wait to see the new 2018 RAMS!!!