Has anyone been able to get RAM to preemptively replace the problem - or is everyone just sitting on a potential disaster. I just purchased my 2022, upgraded from a 2019 2500 because I purchased a new and larger RV and was up against and over payload. Now I feel like I am supposed to travel this summer with a truck that is less safe than the one I just traded in. Sorry for venting, but are there options?
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From my understanding of the situation I believe your dealer should have checked your trucks VIN against the DealerCONNECT database to see if RSU #23-065 applies
prior to selling it to you.
RSU is “rapid service update” which, from what I gather, is basically the same as a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) only it applies primarily to unsold inventory. It would basically outline immediate action items that need to be addressed prior to selling a vehicle.
From what I’ve gathered, Ram started to upload unsold inventory VIN numbers to their DealerCONNECT software as early as March 2023. The VIN numbers they uploaded were supposed to highlight unsold trucks that had the potential for the K1 snap ring failure. Supposedly dealers were urged to check their unsold 2022 inventory against the numbers uploaded in the dealer network and identify if they had trucks on the lot with the flawed parts. Ram wanted them to apply TSB 21-002-23 (the one responsible for instructing technicians how to diagnose and repair an Aisin with the defective snap ring failure) to these trucks preemptively in an effort to have them reliable for a new customer.
I’ve given this advice to three recent potential customers, all of whom were looking at 2022 3500’s with Aisin transmissions. Two out of the three had success in getting the dealer to identify the VIN as effected by the RSU and the dealer subsequently ordered the parts to replace the defective ones prior to selling. Ive also seen a few recent advertisements from ram dealers selling leftover 2022’s that publicized in their advertisements: “Service required for snap ring issue has been completed”. So dealers, or at least some of them, are aware that this repair campaign exists and are effectively carrying out the repairs.
I would recommend having a conversation with your dealer. Hopefully they did this and the truck either was repaired before it was sold to you (if the VIN number was identified as applicable), or the trucks VIN didn’t register as being one of the ones affected.
What I can’t speak to is the totality of Ram’s information regarding this issue. I have no idea how accurate their VIN number assessment is. I can’t say for certain whether or not they have been able to identify every single affected unsold truck by VIN, or if they’re using “build windows” as a basis for which VINs get flagged for having this issue. It’s probably best to start by discussing this with your selling dealer and see if they did indeed follow TSB 21-002-23 and RSU 23-065. Hopefully they checked it, identified whether or not it had the potential for failure, and handled it accordingly prior to selling it to you.
I’ve had several people try to have their VIN’s scanned through the database for this issue and have only had one or two successful “hits”. It seems like for the vast majority, they come back as not applicable. This may be due to the fact the RSU is primarily targeting unsold trucks.
In terms of “sitting on a potential disaster”…..that’s pretty much how it has been since I started following and documenting this issue five months ago. “Fix as they fail” has been the moto from the start, with no sign of a recall campaign in sight. The RSU has been as close as we’ve gotten to any sort of proactive repair approach and it would seem it’s primarily targeting unsold inventory. The rest of us who already signed on the dotted line are stuck wondering and waiting. I can’t even give you specifics on what percentage of the total number of trucks are failing. All I have is the data on the ones I’ve collected on the spreadsheet. At the very least it helps.
Out of curiosity do you happen to know the date of manufacture for your 2022 truck? You can find it on the white sticker applied to the edge of your drivers door.