Driving on parkway, 9/13/14, noted a humming noise from rear-end, when checked found to be leaking around pinion seal behind drive-shaft yolk. When changing seal noted pinion nut to be extremely loose when going to remove it. Replaced seal, tightened pinion nut back without any locking pin noted and noted rear-end still humming but not as bad, and no leak remaining at this time. Feel possibility that pinion nut being loose could have further damaged bearings and pinion, and feel this could be a safety issue. No crash has been involved or further damage noted to this point. End- web

- Nancy, KY, USA

My wife and child was driving my truck and the nut on the yoke on the rear end fell off. Which caused the read end to lock up and about cause a wreck. After talking to a few mechanics about fixing the problem. I found out this happens all the time with Dodge trucks. After searching about the problem online, I found out they are right. A replacement rear end was very high priced due to the high demand for them. I searched for a recall and only found recalls for 2007 and newer trucks with this problem. How can they not fix this when it's obviously a problem and very possibly deadly?

- Elk City, KS, USA

I was driving my 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 at 30 mph when I just heard a bang and my truck came to a complete holt. I got out of my truck to see what it was and found out that my drive shaft had fallen not for my uv joint but from the rear axel pinion nut. I did some research and found out that my year make and model vehicle is common but is not a recall. But there is a recall on the 2009 thru 2012 for the same exact thing. I also found that there are several other vehicles with the same year, make, and model that had the same incident.

- Riviera Beach, FL, USA

Whining and whirring sound coming from rear end of truck. Took truck to garage and they felt the rear end was shot. I can't get truck into my Dodge dealer until 9/7/2014. Disappointed a truck with so little mileage would have this major of a problem.

- Mckees Rocks, PA, USA

Was driving on highway when rear differential locked up. Truck skid and back wheels locked up. Pinion gear cracked causing damage to the drive shaft to drop and become damaged. Had to call aaa to tow truck to private mechanic shop (I was out of state at the time of the incident and had to be towed from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.)

- Clementon , NJ, USA

I was driving at approximately 65 mph on I-95, and when crossing a small overpass, I heard a high pitched whine. I thought it sounded similar to the noise tires make when on a bridge grate, but it was louder and higher pitched. Approximately 15 seconds after the first occurrence, there was another quick whine and all of a sudden the truck began to shake violently. There was a very loud and fast banging noise coming from under the truck. It felt like the truck was coming apart around us. I was in the fast lane, so I was able to pull over and hit the brakes immediately. I looked under the truck and saw that the drive shaft had become detached from the differential housing. I had it towed to a shop. The mechanic told me that the spline nut had completely backed off allowing the drive shaft to come free. He mentioned that there didn't appear to be any evidence of thread lock compound on the spline. Fortunately, I was able to stop before the bearings jammed up the gears and froze the rear differential. I have had it in a total of three shops for assessment. The consensus is that the rear is damaged beyond repair and needs to be replaced.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

I own a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 and I was traveling on the local highway at approximately 45mph when with no warning or strange sound my drive shaft dislocated from my rear end and my back tires began to lock up. I manage to pull over to the shoulder of the road with out losing control to bad. The experience was like the whole front end of my truck nose dived and there was terrible banging and vibrations coming from the rear of my truck. My friend that came with a roll back to tow my truck home is also a mechanic told me the pinion failed and that I was going to just have to replace the rear end. I tried to just remove my rear drive shaft and place the truck in 4X4 to have the front wheels pull the truck home but the rear tires would not turn. I take care of my vehicles and I have never had a issue out of my truck until now. For there to be no warning signs what so ever leads me to believe that there is a manufacturer flaw. While looking for replacement parts on edmuns.com I discovered an article dated 06/30/2014 titled feds probe 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 after complaints of rear differential failures that describes exactly what happened to me.

- Greenwood, MS, USA

While driving on the interstate out of the blue I started to hear a rattling and shaking noise coming from the rear end of my 2005 Dodge Ram. I immediately took it to the dealership in which I was informed that the drive shaft on the truck started to come apart. Dealer would not cover the cost. The damages for this repair was over $1000.

- Shorewood, IL, USA

At about 3:30 pm on 2-27-14 headed S on 360 just South of I20 while traveling at 60mph drive shaft failed and came off striking another vehicle. Successfully pulled off onto shoulder when rear end locked up about last 15-20 feet. Rear end was locked at that point. Tires had flat spots due to drag and towing. Had to replace rear end completely and drive shaft as well as insurance claim on other vehicle. Mechanic stated nut in differential had come off completely.

- Arlington, TX, USA

After having been stopped at a stop sign, I made a right turn and accelerated to proceed straight for approximately 300 feet or so where I was going to make a left hand turn into a store parking lot. All of a sudden there was a whining sound and it felt like the engine was straining, there was a loud bang and thud as if I had run something over. The truck started "jerking" violently and came to an abrupt stop. As soon as I put the car in park, the loud noise stopped and the engine was idling normally as if there was no problem. I exited the vehicle and, to my shock, saw the drive shaft detached from the rear differential (the truck is a rear wheel drive) and laying on the street. Later on, with the key in the on position but the engine off, I put the car in neutral and some road workers tried to push it off the road. It would not budge. The rear wheels were locked. Suffice it to say, had I been traveling on the highway at 55-60 mph the results of the malfunction could have been disastrous. A recall need to be issued immediately before someone gets seriously injured or killed.......updated 01/12/15 updated 6/11/2015

- Miami, FL, USA

At 35 mph truck made a thud noise and the rear axle locked up and the truck skid to a stop in the middle of the road. Got out and found the drive-line hanging down and fluid coming out of the pinion area. Tow truck was called and had to skate onto the truck as the rear axle would not move. After removing the truck to a safe location we noticed the drive line was still attached to the rear axle yoke and the pinion nut was missing. The threads on the pinion look fine and the yoke looks fine but pinion nut is missing. Went online to see about how to fix and found it was a common problem.......updated 01/12/15 updated 6/11/2015

- Tacoma, WA, USA

Rear end locked up without any noise or problems and driveshaft came out when that happen. Got it stopped before wrecking.....updated 01/12/15 updated 6/3/2015

- Waynesville, NC, USA

On June 7 2014 we we're driving to a landscape business to purchase some landscape stones and about 100 feet before the entrance of the business my driveshaft fell off my truck causing my rear wheels to completely lock up and nearly causing a catastrophic head on collision after the northbound vehicle had to swerve to miss my truck and almost hit a southbound vehicle head on. I had the truck towed to a nearby auto facility where it was looked at and confirmed that my complete rear differential was completely destroyed causing my vehicle to a complete stop once the driveshaft fell off. It cost me nearly $2000 to get it repaired. I also contacted Chrysler via email and explained to them what had happened and their response was that there was nothing they could do and I was out of warranty. The technician at the auto facility that repaired my truck told me that he remembered something about a recall for that on the Dodge trucks. I then did some research and discovered that on the newer models there was a recall but not on mine but exactly what happened to the trucks on recall (rear end differential lockup) is what happened to mine. It could have very easily killed somebody if the southbound vehicle hadn't reacted so quickly. My truck only has 66000 miles on it which is an average of only about 6000 miles a year.[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)....updated 01/07/15 updated 6/11/2015

- Bruce Township, MI, USA

While driving on the highway at 60 mph the back wheels suddenly and without warning locked up for an instant. I immediately braked to reduce speed and try to get to the side of the road. In order to avoid being hit in the rear by other vehicles, I needed to accelerate to 60 mph and the wheels locked again. I was able to get to the side of the road. I have called Dodge about this issue.

- Levittown, PA, USA

I was driving down the turnpike and I heard a whining sound as I was passing a semi truck. I thought it came from the semi. However I heard it again as I applied the brakes only it was louder. Then I heard a loud bang the rear wheels locked up and something was dragging on the ground as I managed to pulled over onto the shoulder of the road. I looked under the truck and the drive shaft had ripped away from the from the rear axle. It was a complete failure from the pinion gear. The yoke was still attached to the drive shaft.,,updated 01/07/15 updated 06/11/2015

- Hiram, OH, USA

I was getting off the highway I heard some loud noises and my drive shaft came apart from rear end and then my rear end locked up on me resulting in me being stranded on side of road we my son. Had to call for a tow truck.

- Oxford, MA, USA

Rear differential failed.

- Irving, TX, USA

Driving on the highway and the rear axle locked up which caused us to skid sideways off the road. Had to be towed. Also caused bald spots on both rear tires due to skidding several feet.

- Napoleon, OH, USA

On June 7 2014 we we're driving to a landscape business to buy some landscape stones. About 100 feet before the entrance to the business I heard a noise coming from the rear of my truck and as I was turning into the entrance approach of the business my driveshaft fell off truck completely locking up my rear wheels and completely stopping my vehicle which almost caused a catastrophic head on collision.my truck was blocking part of the road and the northbound vehicle had to at the last minute swerve into the southbound lane to prevent from hitting my truck at approximately 45 mph and just missed hitting a southbound vehicle head on. Somebody immediately stopped and threw my driveshaft into the bed of my truck and told me to engage the 4 wheel drive and hit the gas barely moving my truck because the rear wheels didn't turn. I then had to have the truck towed to a nearby auto facility. They called me the next day with a diagnosis of what happened and an estimate. They told me that rear end differential completely locked up preventing my rear tires from not turning at all. It ended up costing me almost $2000. The automotive technician told me to check and see if there are any recalls for this because he thought that he had read something about rear end differential lockups on Dodge Ram. So I did some research and did find that there were certain years that did have recalls but not for the 2005. I did at that time contact Chrysler via email and explained what had happened and their response was that I was out of warranty. My truck has only 66000 miles on it which is an average of about 6500 miles a year which is extremely low for a almost 10 year old vehicle.

- Bruce Township, MI, USA

Driving down highway got off the express way started down the road at 50 mph when we heard and felt a loud bang my trucks rear end slid back and forth like I had the rear brakes on. I slid off the road came to a stop got out to see what happened. My rear differential and the drive shaft separated. Not broken U joints. My rear differential locked up and my drive shaft ripped right out of it....updated 01/07/15 updated 06/2/2015

- Lockport, IL, USA