My 2018 Ram 2500 CTD is headed for the repair shop AGAIN!!!! We were in the middle of 6 week trip and when heading to Tims Ford State Park in Tennessee from Paducah Kentucky and my ABS warning lights lit up and I lost cruise control. My scanner picked up code C0020 ABS Pump Electrical Failure. This is the second time we've had this issue. My brakes seemed to work fine, so we continued on, with bells going on and off as we drove. When we got to Tims Ford I called the local Ram dealer and was told they couldn't fit my tuck in for a week or two. Since we couldn't stay that long, we moved on. The next day we got in the truck and everything worked fine, then the day after that more alarms. It was intermittent like that for the rest of the trip. I called a few more dealers along the way and none would fit us in. Even though it only has 36,000 miles on it we've decided to trade it in. It is just not reliable enough and I'm DONE WITH IT!!! It has literally been in the repair short more than all of my other trucks combined.
Anyway..... I saw a nice new 2023 F250 Lariat Diesel in a local dealership. My only issue or concern is that it has a 3.31 ELECTRONIC-LOCKING AXLE. I was hoping for a 3.55 or higher. Is 3.31 enough?
Unfortunately, my truck won't be looked at until next week and I can't sell it with all the alarms, so the 2023 may be gone by the time my POS RAM is fixed.
From my reading, it's somewhat of a common problem with the Ram from about 2018 on. And there doesn't appear to be a real fix that lasts. Some have had the ABS system gone through and parts replaced, but it has come back after some of the repairs. Do a Google search for "Ram ABS problems". It comes and goes on my 2018 Ram, but doesn't affect the performance of the brakes except for the lack of ABS. The worst side affect is it disables the cruise control. The dash lights on mine will come on sometimes after hitting a big bump, which leads me to think it may be a loose ABS sensor. But it hasn't been enough of a hassle to try and track it down. The dinging of the alert is annoying though. Sometimes it will do it on cool, high humidity mornings, and sometimes in the rain. It usually goes away after a while and may not have another issue for weeks.
I go onto the Ram forums and see if anyone has made any progress on a real fix, but nothing the last time I checked. I imagine if it comes on and stays on I will address the issue, but for now it's not enough to make me get rid of the truck.
People on the Ram forums have reported the same thing, with the problem recurring after a year, or even just a few months, or not having any more issues at all. Seems to be just a crap shoot.I replaced the ABS hydraulic unit on my 2018 RAM 2500 CTD in December 2021 and the problem has not returned. Got the part from Rock Auto and did the work myself. I thought I could just live without ABS until I locked up a couple of tires sliding down a hill toward the rear of a car. That convinced me to fix it. I initially thought it might be wheel sensors because it would flash the ABS light when hitting a pot hole, but it was the ABS Hydraulic unit. Probably just a bad design or poorly manufactured. Not a big deal to replace and flush with new brake fluid. Shouldn't need a dealer. I didn't have to have any programming or computer work done to make the new unit work.
A fried has an F350, 7.3 with 3.55 gears. He wishes he got the 3.73 gears. On even a flat terrain trip (think FL, GA) he drops out of 10th gear into 8th when going up an over pass. So he tows in 8th or 9th (chooses it manually). He figures if he had the 3.55s or even the 3.73s he could tow in the higher gear. It probably doesn't matter except in terms of RPM (or fuel mileage). His rig probably weighs between 14k and 15k.
From my reading, it's somewhat of a common problem with the Ram from about 2018 on. And there doesn't appear to be a real fix that lasts. Some have had the ABS system gone through and parts replaced, but it has come back after some of the repairs. Do a Google search for "Ram ABS problems". It comes and goes on my 2018 Ram, but doesn't affect the performance of the brakes except for the lack of ABS. The worst side affect is it disables the cruise control. The dash lights on mine will come on sometimes after hitting a big bump, which leads me to think it may be a loose ABS sensor. But it hasn't been enough of a hassle to try and track it down. The dinging of the alert is annoying though. Sometimes it will do it on cool, high humidity mornings, and sometimes in the rain. It usually goes away after a while and may not have another issue for weeks.
I go onto the Ram forums and see if anyone has made any progress on a real fix, but nothing the last time I checked. I imagine if it comes on and stays on I will address the issue, but for now it's not enough to make me get rid of the truck.
I thought an update was in order. The dealer had my truck all of last week and the "issue" is finally fixed for now. The ABS hydraulic unit went bad again and had to be replaced. This is second time we've gone thru this repair. Apparently this is a very common problem with 2017 and 2018 RAM 2500s and apparently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the propblem. So I called them up to see where their investigation is at and I spoke to someone there who told me they are still investigating the matter! So I said the the person, "these trucks are between 6 and 8 years old. Are you waiting untill these vehicles are all off the road before you conclude your investigation?"
We've had so many camping trips negatively impacted because we ended up spending so much time sitting in repair shops waiting. My 2018 RAM 2500 CTD has literally spend more time in repairs shops than all of my other trucks combined. The other day I was parked on a slight incline in my driveway. I got into the truck, started it, put it into drive and the truck rolled backwards 3 to 4 feet before the transmission engaged. Frankly for us this was the absolute last straw for me. So today we traded in our RAM 2500 and bought a 2023 Ford F250 diesel. Hopefully, this truck will be more reliable.
My 2018 Ram 2500 CTD is headed for the repair shop AGAIN!!!! We were in the middle of 6 week trip and when heading to Tims Ford State Park in Tennessee from Paducah Kentucky and my ABS warning lights lit up and I lost cruise control. My scanner picked up code C0020 ABS Pump Electrical Failure. This is the second time we've had this issue. My brakes seemed to work fine, so we continued on, with bells going on and off as we drove. When we got to Tims Ford I called the local Ram dealer and was told they couldn't fit my tuck in for a week or two. Since we couldn't stay that long, we moved on. The next day we got in the truck and everything worked fine, then the day after that more alarms. It was intermittent like that for the rest of the trip. I called a few more dealers along the way and none would fit us in. Even though it only has 36,000 miles on it we've decided to trade it in. It is just not reliable enough and I'm DONE WITH IT!!! It has literally been in the repair short more than all of my other trucks combined.
Anyway..... I saw a nice new 2023 F250 Lariat Diesel in a local dealership. My only issue or concern is that it has a 3.31 ELECTRONIC-LOCKING AXLE. I was hoping for a 3.55 or higher. Is 3.31 enough?
Unfortunately, my truck won't be looked at until next week and I can't sell it with all the alarms, so the 2023 may be gone by the time my POS RAM is fixed.
Its been quiet hear. Lets wake it up.
Today, i learned something on srw vs drw. ( gasser not diesel )
This is not to wake the sleeping bear on diesel vs gas. I have had 2 HD diesels and am happy i have my new HD gasser.
I dont know on other brands, but this morning i looked up some specs for maybe going to a truck camper in about 18 or so months. That said, i currently have my 2020 reflections 273mk, and a 2024 chevy srw 3500 4x4 6.6 L8T gasser WT regular cab. I looked up/did a price and build on a 2024 chevy 3500 4x4 L8T gasser WT regular cab dually. On a gasser, as not everyone needs a diesel. Or wants one. Without splitting hairs and posting the chevy sight numbers, as one really needs the vehicle built and to look at the door sticker. For example, general gm sight sais my payload is 4,500lbs, my door sticker sais 4,311 lbs. A dually is over 7,600, so its made for payload in comparison.
The interesting part is,,,, my apples to apples pickup, build, swr vs drw sais the dually has around 300lbs ( less ) towing for goose and 5ver towing. But more for bumper pulling, of course. Mine bumper, srw is said to be 14,500lbs, a drw is said to be 16,700 i think.. ( obviously,,,, diesel is the opposite for towing comparisons ) But thats not the point
So those that are told that they are in need of a dually if towing over 12,000-14,000lbs is not true.
By no means am i posting this to argue, just posting what i stumbled across.
Its been quiet hear. Lets wake it up.
Today, i learned something on srw vs drw. ( gasser not diesel )
This is not to wake the sleeping bear on diesel vs gas. I have had 2 HD diesels and am happy i have my new HD gasser.
I dont know on other brands, but this morning i looked up some specs for maybe going to a truck camper in about 18 or so months. That said, i currently have my 2020 reflections 273mk, and a 2024 chevy srw 3500 4x4 6.6 L8T gasser WT regular cab. I looked up/did a price and build on a 2024 chevy 3500 4x4 L8T gasser WT regular cab dually. On a gasser, as not everyone needs a diesel. Or wants one. Without splitting hairs and posting the chevy sight numbers, as one really needs the vehicle built and to look at the door sticker. For example, general gm sight sais my payload is 4,500lbs, my door sticker sais 4,311 lbs. A dually is over 7,600, so its made for payload in comparison.
The interesting part is,,,, my apples to apples pickup, build, swr vs drw sais the dually has around 300lbs ( less ) towing for goose and 5ver towing. But more for bumper pulling, of course. Mine bumper, srw is said to be 14,500lbs, a drw is said to be 16,700 i think.. ( obviously,,,, diesel is the opposite for towing comparisons ) But thats not the point
So those that are told that they are in need of a dually if towing over 12,000-14,000lbs is not true.
By no means am i posting this to argue, just posting what i stumbled across.