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.
On my 2001 Dodge 1500, there is a ton of rust on the underside parts. The frame and body aren't bad, but the things that attach are failing. The brake lines went, and the emergency brake all went at the same time, almost resulting in a wreck. The straps that hold the gas tank in place rusted out. The sheet metal attachment for the front axle is the latest. I's almost rusted out, and would have caused the front axle to detach if not replaced. ($$$$) yes, the truck is 10 years old and I live in nw pa where we use salt. Critical parts need to be protected from rust or made from stainless. This truck could have killed someone, probably me!
I purchased a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 pickup in April, 2009. Approximately 6 months after ownership, I was driving North on interstate 95 near richmond va, at about 70 miles per hour when the vehicle began to shake violently. I came to a stop, and took a state route the remainder of the trip, after looking under the vehicle for some obvious defect. I could see nothing. A few days later, I took the vehicle to an ase certified repair shop. They noticed slight play in the left front U joint, so I had both replaced, knowing that could not have possibly caused what I experienced. I drove the vehicle about another 6 months and had the same incident occur. I took the vehicle back to the repair shop and asked them to inspect the suspension, explaining the violent shaking that occurred. They could find nothing wrong. Everything was fine until 2 weeks ago. Again, while driving on I95, at about 70, out of nowhere, without warning, the vehicle shook violently. It shook my body so hard it blurred my vision. The ac vent covers snapped out, my coffee up bounced out of a tightly squeezed holder, and my dash board top cracked into about 15 pieces. It was absolutely dangerous and violent. I came to a stop. Only then did the shaking stop. I looked under the vehicle and all round for something obviously wrong, but saw nothing. That evening, I googled Dodge truck violently shaking and learned about the "death wobble". if the authorities would read the internet, and reports on this issue, it would be overwhelming that there is a serious design flaw in this vehicle. There is no doubt in my mind that there has been a death from this problem, as all 3 times it happened to me, only luck allowed me to exit the travel lanes, get in the break down lane and come to a stop. A slight change in the traffic pattern would have caused a high speed accident, as it is nearly impossible to control the vehicle it is shaking so violently. Please investigate this problem.
From Aug 08 to present at speeds of 40 mph and up my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 when hitting a bump the front end develops the "death wobble" have had to two different Dodge dealers and have paid to have all ball joints, tie rod ends, steering box etc replaced and problem is still there now I start looking online and I see I am one of many out there with this problem. Something needs to be done to have Dodge come up with an actual fix for this it is very dangerous and I have personally had this happen on the pa turnpike and numerous other roads and been very close to some deadly accidents with it. I have actually bought another vehicle and truck is sitting in my yard. The answer I get from Dodge is trade it in if it is such a problem but I refuse to put another family in that position. So I sit here listening to my money in the yard waste away.
Inspected vehicle, found deep groove worn into cord level of sidewalls of both left-side tires. Found left front shock absorber support bright, shiny, polished. There is no, or misadjusted, stop so left front tire and shock support attempt to occupy same space during sharp left turns, gouging tire. Interference here existed for at least 10,000 miles given time of last tire rotation that put damaged tire on rear. Severe potential for blowout exists. Have seen other reports of similar problems through Dodge Ram 1500S. This is 6 cylinder model. Problem will immediately recur if tires replaced and turn sharp left parts are available for inspection as not yet replaced.
This problem is on a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 truck with only 48,435 miles on it. (ball joint failure) one lower ball joint had.25 inch of free play the other one had.10 inch of free play, one upper joint had.07 inch of free play. I replaced all 4 of the ball joints just for safety. Total cost was $780. If these ball joints had grease nipples this failure would not have happened. I contacted Dodge and they would only cover $110 of the replacement cost.
: the contact stated while driving at 65mph the front end of the suspension in the vehicle dropped down. This in turn caused the contact to loose control of the vehicle. It slid into a guard rail, there was no warnings prior to the crash. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop and then towed to the dealership. The manufacturer has been alerted, no repairs made.
The front wheel assembly, control arms, and wheel hubs had to be replaced by local dealer. I was told by a trained technician that the wheel's could have broken away from the vehicle while driving. The engine heater core and air conditioning main element stopped functioning and had to be replaced by local dealer. The rear differential, pinion bearings and cups stopped working at 77,400 miles and had to be replaced by local dealer. This was just 2,000 miles after the previous stated parts had malfunctioned. Old parts are only available from the rear differential, but invoices are available for all work performed.
Was pulling a trailer at 45 mph the vehicle started fish tailing. Without the trailer at 55 mph the vehicle will fish tail. Took the vehicle to Chrysler, and found that it was shaky. The tie rods ends, ball joints, and the check bar malfunctioned on the front of the vehicle. Almost had a wreck. This happened on 24, June 2205. The consumer stated the vehicle was poorly designed, the front of the vehicle was too light for the weight of the engine. There was no grease fitting for the ball joint. The rotors were replaced.
The steering wheel was hard to turn while driving at a low speed. The vehicle wandered across the road. The vehicle has been to the dealer on three separate occasions. The dealer replaced the steering box on two separate occasions and made some other repairs, however the problem continued. The consumer stated the brakes would grab, however the mechanic informed the consumer that was the way ABS worked.
Clunking noise under front end of truck really noisy when cold weather is out sounds like the front end is falling out quite after it has been run awhile or when it warms up.
While driving consumer heard a clunky noise coming from the front end. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, and dealer could not duplicate or correct the problem.
Truck wonders left to right, pulls hard right. Was told that all four ball joints and trac locator bar needs replacing.parts most be replaced by Dodge parts. Why replace parts with more bad parts. Truck has 50,000 miles. Never been off road. Front end should not have went out!!!! never buy a Dodge!!!
While driving on the highway at approx 60 mph, we hit a mild bump on the left side. The front end immediately started vibrating horribly, alternating left:right. It was very challenging for my husband to maintain control of the truck, but he managed to pull over to the shoulder. This has happened at least 3 times before, possibly more. I believe the first incident may have occurred late last year, with periodic similar episodes continuing through the early spring. We took the truck in to our local dealer, who replaced the "tie rod" and "bar track" on March 27, 2002, as a result of their analysis of the problem. However, we have had two more occurrences since then. It only happens at highway speeds (>50mph) and begins after taking a bump, which doesn't necessarily have to be a large bump or pothole.
Truck wanders all over the road with constant need for correction by moving steering wheel back and forth. Also steering wheel is not able to be moved when truck is at a standstill, power steering pump does not put out enough power to turn if truck is not moving.
Steering problem. Vehicle has a severe wander problem. Front end has been aligned and recently a new track bar installed, but vehicle still continues to demonstrate the wandering problem. This condition causes an unsafe handling problem although I have not had an accident.
The truck wanders left and right while going down the road. Since new, the steering has seemed "vague". the play in steering wheel can be 4" before turning the truck, this may vary. The steering seems "rubbery". I have had the front wheels aligned two times. The dealer can do no more; they have done a great job of bringing the truck into "specs". a square "linkage tube" was replaced, which provided little or no improvement. The problem persists, constant correction is required to maintain a semblance of a straight path. This problem must be repaired before one of the many complainants runs off the road.
Received notice #01V153000. Clock spring broke while making a turn. Contacted dealership. Urged to bring vehicle in for repairs. After arriving was informed to leave vehicle, and would get to it when time allowed. No appointment was made. Dealership did not accept or make appointments.
After many visits to the selling dealer, and a meeting with the Chrysler rep. My truck still exhibits problems such as sat.4/28/01 while driving I turned the truck right and noticed the steering was extremely tight, when the steering wheel was turned back to the straight position, something inside cracked, almost immediately the (air bag) light came on and remainred on, truck was brought to dealer and was set for an appointment for Monday, 4/30/01. The ownersmanual states ( warning ignoring the air bag light in your instrument panel could mean you won't have the air bags to protect you in a collision) the dealer failed in attempt after attempt to investigate my complaints, and now caused me to have to drive this defective truck. The brakes at times while comming to a stop shudder, or do you call it wheel hop, 3/15/01 dependable Dodge replaced the brake drums on the rear after the service director drove the truck on 3/9/01. The truck now three times is exhibiting front tire wear, first time they match mounted the tires as well as took one of the front tires off the rim and exchanged it with the spare tire under the truck, second time they aligned the frontend and rotated the tires, 200 miles later the tires showed signs of wear again, truck was taken to 2 different Michelin tire dealers and they informed me that the tires are wearing prematurely, to soon with only 1000 miles on them since the alignment. The truck ehibits what the service director says is a ping, I was informed to increase the octane from 87 to 89, which has done nothing. I am in the process of entering into the lemon law process and am very dissapointed with the response I have received from the dealer as well as the manufacturer. Thank you.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waterford, PA, USA