As to the "ticking" - my 300's have ALL experienced this when cold, but the ticking goes away after the engine warms up - typically 4-5 miles of driving. Is this not normal?

My Hemi Rams have all done this when cold. My current Ram (2017 Hemi) does this when cold also, plus there was one time this year where the engine was knocking on a cold start. Never did it again however. Hell, it sounded like a rod knock & it lasted for a good 5 minutes. I've got 10 years, 100k on that drivetrain. (I don't even have 20,000 miles on it yet.)