This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
This has been an ongoing situation since about 35000 miles. Under extended warranty the dealer replaced all most all of the front end parts on my 99 Ram 1500 4WD. Most recently this truck failed the new your state inspection for wobble in the steering box output shaft. This steering box was replaced by the dealer about 9600 miles before. The truck had a lot of play in the steering and the wheel was at about 1:30 instead of 12:00. Three mechanics and myself saw the play. This garage told me to take it back to the dealer as it would be under warranty. I did this and had to leave the truck for them to check.I was told by the service manager that there was no play and no repairs were needed.the truck wheel was now AT12: 00 and it was hard to steer with no return to center. I talked to the service manager and he said that there were no adjustments to the steering box and that the only adjustment to the allignment was toe in so he said that my truck had derveloped memory steering and that the steering was really tight and that I should not complain. Not satisfied as I had seen the play myself I replaced the steering box and lo and behold the steering was like new. Easy returns to center and the steering wheel is centered. What I found out about the deffective steering box was that the over center adjustment was 1 turn too tight and that the worm shaft preload was too tight and the pitman arm seals were replaced with new seals and they used chassis lube which was new and clean.all this while saying that there were no repairs needed or done. The pitman shaft bearing was worn between.045 and.057 the new seals took up the play. My question would be if nemer Dodge service does this kind of repair and says that they did nothing to keep from having to pay for warranty work what else are they doing. It should be noted that my son, an inexperienced driver as he is just now getting his liscence, could not keep this truck on the road. He needed to use two lanes to drive.
I recently took my 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 pick up to my alignment shop and had to put a new tracker bar on it. Which I replaced about 8 months ago at about 40 thousand miles.. and now I have to replace my steering box and my truck has just over 54,100 miles on it and I think that is a little ridiculous. Ever since I bought my truck new in 1999 I have had to have the front end aligned in the first year, the second year, in the year 2002 and now on March 3 rd 2003 I had to have it again for the reasons I stated in the beginning. I had some electrical problems under the dash and in the steering column. My alignment shop says they have replaced a lot of steering boxes and the tracker bar even at 18,000 miles. I have called Chrysler themselves and they won't do anything about it and I think they should because I believe that it is a result from a bad part from the factory. I have documented everything I have done to my truck. I have looked into the price of a new steering box and I have found that Dodge wants over $600 and a parts house in my town can get the same Dodge steering box for $205. I believe that I should not have to pay for the box what ever the price, because I believe it is new enough that they should be willing to have it fixed, to at least make a customer some what happy. I have never heard of a steering box going out at less then 100,000 miles. My father had a 1999 Ram 1500 pick up and with less than 25,000 miles the motor lost 4 quarts of oil on our way to a old car show in Montana but it never happened again so he did not worry about it and sold it and got a new 2002 Ram pick up and he likes it so far, but a friend of mine has a 2002 Ram and he is having a problem with his front end alignment. So I am wondering if there are other people having similar problems with their front ends on Dodge vehicles.
While traveling approximately 20 to 25 mph consumer lost control. A dealership examined the vehicle, and determined that a seal inside steering gear box blewout, causing the problem. Parts were available for inspection. Please provide any additional information / attachments.
- Ypsilanti, MI, USA
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When brakes were applied to deactivate cruise control brake pedal went to the floor, resulting in extended stopping distance. Dealer has been notified. Transmission grabs hard into second when it shifts, also when stopped it feels like it is getting tapped in the back end. Steering gear and steering shaft replaced, rattling noise while driving over bumps. Driver's door lock will not lock when using switch, dealer replaced.
Gear box broke and power steering locked up while leaving parking lot which could have caused loss of control. Dealer replaced gear box and power steering pump.
Consumer has to continuously fight to keep vehicle on road. Took vehicle to dealer, and they replaced steering box. But problem reoccurred, and vehicle has been at dealers 6 times since then.
While driving at any speed vehicle wanders to the left or right. Driver is constantly fighting with the steering wheel to keep the truck on the road. Truck was taken to four or five dealerships, and dealers were not able to correct this problem. Also, steering box was changed, a chime was put in the right front wheel, and some wheel aliginment was done. But none of this corrected the problem.
There is approximately 4 inches of slack within the steering gear box which causes the vehicle not to maneuver properly. Dealer replaced the gear box three times which did not correct the problem.
Steering gear is very loose, causing vehicle to wander to left to right. Dealer replaced steering gear and pitman arm, but defect kept occurring. The trac bar has also been replaced twice. Independent mechanic told consumer that possibly the wrong gear was put into gear box.
While driving vehicle at 65 mph, consumer had to make a sudden / emergency stop. The brakes failed to grab. Stopping distance was extended. Took vehicle to dealer & the mechanic had the rear shoes/ rotors and pads replaced. The pads were glazed over. Brakes had faded out at 35 mph. The vehicle would drift from left to right. Had steering gear box replaced & wheels realigned. The computer systems failed to register correct gas mileage per gallon. Brakes still do not function properly.
While driving vehicle it would drift. Speed not a factor. Would turn steering wheel a little & vehicle would jerk. Steering wheel not controllable. Been to dealership at least 3-4 times for problem. Had it adjusted & had the gear box replaced. Problem still exists.
The truck is hard to keep going straight. If the road is uneven the truck will shoot to one side or the other. Chrysler said they were sending a file to the dealer. The dealer said they cannot get a replacement steering gear from Chrysler.the mechanic said he has several other trucks with the same problem.this truck is dangerous to drive. Please help.
The steering box was defective on the new vehicle as evidenced by constant correction being required while driving. The amount of correction becomes greater as road conditions become bumpier. The steering box was replaced with a new box with a 10% improvement. The dealer has acknowledged that this has happened to other 99 Dodge trucks. They are unable to decide what to do while waiting for word from the factory. I consider this a big safety issue as you could easily lose control if you had to swerve to avoid another vehicle or pedestrian.
The steering has excessive play, and feels uncontrolable.I took it in to the dealer & they said there was nothing wrong. I then drove it for a short time & felt there was still a problem. I took it in again, & they replaced the steering gear box. Upon picking up the truck, I found it to be no better than it was prior to the gear box replacement. I contacted the dealer the next day, & they came to my residence & picked up the truck. The service manager told me that they checked it out, & it was ok. He also stated that he called the Chrysler "star" line for tech support, & they advised him that all the trucks handled this way. I was not satisfied with that reply, & contacted Chrysler's customer service dept on 4-12-99 & filed a complaint( # 5680042). I did not get any response after 2 weeks, and I again called Chrysler on 4-26-99. At that time arrangements were made to have the district service rep look at the truck. On 5-5-99 the district service rep(reggie sanders ) drove my truck & advised me that it handled "normal" for that vehicle. I find this unacceptable, and feel that the handling of this vehicle is unsafe, & could cause loss of control. This truck was purchased for the purpose of towing a trailer, (it has a factory installed tow package) and I feel I can not safley do this.this condition is present with & without a trailer. At this point I am contacting you for help with this matter.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hadley, NY, USA