Noticed a "clunk" in my rear end the other day, checked under it while my son rocked it back and forth from drive to reverse and seemed like quite a lot of travel before engaging and clunking.
Took it to my mecanic (works for Dodge service in daytime) out of his shop evenings and weekends. Called me this morning and said that the clutches (i think) that go into play when engaing the posi were showing signs of wear. 118,000 miles
i had just bought some Royal purple 85-140 for the rear and 70-85 or ? for the front . He questioned whether or not he should add the additive chrysler recommends they put in the posi when we use the royal purple. said he would read the bottle and see if it mentioned anything.
anyone using royal purple who has added this additive dodge recommends with it ?

 

 

Well the clunk and a lot of rotation of the driveshaft before the clunk and taking the load points more towards a carrier bearing or a bad contact pattern on ring and pinion. That should be checked out first IMHO. (Changing the worn clutches id definitely OK)
Life of hte clutches depends on the usage of them- many tight corners will wear them down, as will using the truck with one wheel on a slippery surface a lot. Different tire pressures or unevenly worn tires are also wearing them.
Can't comment on the oil and additive

AlpineRAM

 

I had the same problem on my truck, the clutches were basically gone. What happens when the clutches wear out is the side gears get farther apart, which moves them out of mesh with the spider gears. Mine ran like that for a while so the spiders and side gears were trashed. You can see in the pic where they were meshing. Makes for a lot of slop in the system. New clutches, spiders, and side gears made it like new.






As far as the additive is concerned - see how it runs. If it makes clunking noises on full lock low speed turns, add the LSD additive. You don't have to get it from Dodge, all the chain auto parts stores carry it, and some gear oils already have it in there.

 

i think i caught mine early on. doesn't appear to have done any damage to anything. most of the miles on this truck are interstate towing miles with a gooseneck trailer. kind of surprised to have this problem but my mecanic says it is not uncommon

 

Good deal. The clutch kit is way cheaper than replacing all the guts.

 

wannadiesel: ouchie! With that contact pattern I wonder why they didn't shear off.

 

I had less power then. It was pretty scary to look at when I pulled it apart.

There are more pics of the mess in my gallery.