RAM JAM
THE WAY THE DEALER WANTED TO FIX THESE TRUCKS WAS HALF NUTS.
At Dorman, we love technical servicebulletins. Although we often know about the issues they address from our own field research before they’re even released, we still mine them for potential OE FIX ideas. Recalls, a much more serious communique from an OEM, offer much less potential for developing aftermarket solutions. They’re usually safety-critical, time-sensitive, and free at the dealership, so it’s not often you’ll see a recall spur a new product from Dorman.
Our AS810002PR is a notable exception to that. On about 800,000 RAM trucks from 2013–2018 (the big ones, 3/4-ton and up), the manufacturer suffered a little problem on the line. The drag link adjusting sleeves were of an unconventional design, using jam nuts to lock adjustments in place. Later, it was discovered that the jam nuts could loosen, which would obviously allow the adjuster to rotate and potentially cause a loss of steering control.
That’s a pretty heavy proposition.
We’re pretty proud of this part because we can make these vehicles safer without making them difficult to service.
From a safety and initial labor-savingperspective, the official RAM recall, V06/NHTSA 19V-021, was pretty good. They recommended checking a vehicle with a feeler gauge to ensure the jam nuts had not moved, and then cranking the adjuster with a wrench to be certain they still wouldn’t budge. After all that, the nuts were welded in place against the adjuster and painted. Easy-peasy!
Except in the name of safety, the welds were to be 17mm long on each nut. Now, a little tack weld? That would probably be OK for most of us, but we live in a litigious world. They weren’t taking chances. A longer weld is safer. However, the very thing that makes it safer also makes it a real bear to deal with down the line.
Imagine, if you will, future service on one of these adjusters that’s had its locknuts welded to it. A tech performing an alignment would need to take out the cutoff wheel and zip through both welds. Assuming the original welds had the appropriate penetration, one would have to remove the adjuster to clean and dress the ends where the jam nuts butt up against it, since the filler and parent metals would have fused. After that, the pieces could be reinstalled and the vehicle aligned were they fit to be reused. The nuts would be rewelded and the area repainted.
That adds of a lot of time to a simple toe adjustment or centering up a steering wheel. Even on notoriously-skimpy warranty time, Fiat Chrysler allowed for about 1.5 hours for the original procedure— and that doesn’t count grinding the old welds out. Remember, these trucks are often in use as fleet vehicles; downtime is expensive. It really came as no surprise to us when owners began refusing to allow dealers to perform the recall. (Editor’s note: the author was one such RAM customer.) While this fix is convenient, reasonably affordable, and safe, it really leaves the owner holding the bag later for the increased difficulty in service.
Although we certainly have the chops to do what the OEM did in this case and simply redesign the part, the cost required to do so can quickly make a repair unattractive to customers. Dorman engineers considered a few fixes for these trucks, but the one we settled on is a tried-and-true play in our playbook: try a conventional design. It’s not always the sexiest finished product, but many automotive designs like a conventional collar-lock adjuster have been in use for decades because they are strong, simple, and cost-effective.
STEERING TIE ROD ADJUSTING SLEEVE
AS810002PR: Ram 2500 2018-14, Ram 3500 2018-13, Ram 4000 2018-14
Our collar-lock adjusting sleeve replaces the factory adjuster and jam nuts. Unlike the dealer solution, which is an entirely new drag link and tie rod ends that use completely different, more robust construction than their original attempt, we simply developed a fitment-specific solution that echoes more traditional iterations of steering adjustment.
We’re pretty proud of this part because we can make these vehicles safer without making them difficult to service. Customers who refuse safety-critical recalls due to subpar solution quality speak volumes to us. We were happy to be able to step in and give owners another option that features sane pricing and rational future service procedures. The next time a RAM with the first-design steering linkage shows up in your shop, swap one of our sleeves in, because welding adjuster locking devices is nuts. 