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.
The fabricated attachment points that hold the control arms, track bar, damper and springs to the front axle rust to the point of being unsafe. I have replaced my front axle once, and will have to do so again shortly. Fortunately this problem was detected before the axle fell out of the truck, and that is what would have happened! the manufacturer simply did not protect these critical parts from corrosion.
The contact owns a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving 55 mph, the rear pinion nut and driveshaft detached from the vehicle causing the rear wheels to lock. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and was inspected by an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the pinion, driveshaft, and rear of the vehicle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500. While driving at approximately 60 mph, the front of the vehicle shook. The contact stated that it was difficult to steer and control the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the upper and lower control locks and pull joints were rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000...updated 10-06-15
Just purchase my 2001 Dodge Ram the day before, took it for a drive to neighboring town. Was going 45 mph and the road was somewhat bumpy, the vehicle began to shake violently and very bouncy. The town was 10 miles away. Arrived, turned vehicle off and went into market for approximately 20 minutes. Drove back home with the same thing happening(violent shaking and very, very bouncy) all the way back. Very scary and definitely not right. Steering was difficult due to the bounce and shake. Interestingly my father drove this vehicle 300 miles to bring it to me the previous day with no incident of the shaking or bouncing. A friend told me about the "death wobble" and after looking it up on the internet, I cannot believe this issue has not been resolved, either by a recall or Dodge! not even a concrete fix for the problem? I am a single mother without a large sum of money to purchase a vehicle, let alone fix major repairs. I need a safe vehicle for myself and my children. I feel like I have been scammed by the dealer, Dodge, the previous owner, and the NHTSA. This is not an isolated problem in my vehicle!
- St. Peter, MN, USA
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When we purchased this truck new in aransas pass tx & it rode like the springs were soft & bounced all over. It got worse at higher speeds. We had the springs checked & were told that they were good & this truck just rides this way. It started wearing the tires real bad and we had them replaced.then we had to have them replaced again ( only getting 13,000 miles on them before they were almost worn out) so we took it in again ( 3rd time ) to get tires with under 76,000 miles on it. We went to Firestone in corpus christi Texas & got new tires again but they could not do the alignment because the ball joints are real bad. We had no idea that it had a problem because we were told its normal for it to ride that way. So it has been the ball joints all along and it is getting more dangerous every day- bounces and feels like it may turn over. It really scares me. II found over many complaints about ball joints being bad on this vehicle from the beginning & Dodge replaced them at under 25,000 miles till the 3rd year.then way too many to count have had to replace the ball joints between 36,000 and 80,000 miles. Also we have never gotten any recalls on this vehicle and we lived at the same address. There are many recalls I see that we did not get notice of. This truck is and has always been dangerous. We have had it for a long time but cant drive it much because of the bouncing and swaying. We have felt from the beginning that it is dangerous and could cause a bad accident. But we were told it just rides like that because of the vehicle and the tow package. So in 2004 we bought another vehicle to use because this one feels scary. So we have put an average of only about 6500 miles a year because we are afraid of it. Plus it is on the 4th set of tires and has always worn them out really fast. It still rides the same way it did from the 1st day we got it. Scary.
On my way to work, as usual, on a "slightly" bumpy part of the highway my steering wheel and front end started vibrating so violently that I almost lost control. I could barely hold the steering wheel; and could not steer at all; all I could do was start braking and come to a stop. I got out and checked my tires and front end and everything appeared normal. I continued to work at about 40 mph (I had gone to work early so no traffic). At 8:00 I called my local mechanic and took it to him to check out what happened. He check everything and nothing showed. The next day it happened again; then again 2 days later. About 2 weeks later I took pickup in for regular oil/fuel/air filter change service. He test drove with me along and I explained further what happened. He said he has seen it before with Dodge 2500 & 3500 and it has been labeled the "Dodge death wobble". I thank god I was not in a busy traffic area.
I own a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab 4X4. When you hit a bump or pot hole at 50mph or faster the whole truck shakes violently so bad that you barely have control of the vehicle. It does not stop until you can slow the truck down..which is almost impossible. It happened to me 3 or 4 times on a major highway had to slam on the brakes to slow it down causing people around me to almost get in to accidents trying not to slam into me because in had no control of the truck. I have put in upper and lower ball joints, trac bar.steering column..nothing has fixed the problem and Dodge wants to know nothing.someone is going to get hurt or killed if this nproblem isn't fixed by Dodge. There are all kinds of complaints on the internet and also from mechanics and people I have talked to. Everyone who owns a Dodge truck can tell you about the "death wobble". I have done a lot of research and have found out it could have something to do with front end alignment. Thats next for me to try.
My Dodge Ram pick up developed the "death wobble" 3 years ago and it is now so bad, I won't take it on the freeway since it does the wobble at 50 mph. It is very frightening and I don't trust the truck anymore.
Front end death wobble on Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 2009 trucks. When hit a rough patch of freeway road at 70 mph the front end shakes out of control until truck is slowed down to 45 mph. Several repairs have been done including replacing the track bar, steering arms, ball joints, front end alignments, with no fix. The web has several problems listed but no fix. This must be fixed by Dodge with a recall. Can you help!
While visiting my cousin in fredericksburg va, he notice noise from the front of the car, we spot the broken coil spring and also notice the brand new tire (front, driver side has scratch on the side wall we assume the broken coil spring cause that. I took the truck in at stafford Dodge in va to have the coil spring replace. The dealership said the control and upper and lower ball joints were wearing out need to be replace it will cost about $2500. I call in to Chrysler motor to let them know that for 5 years old truck, I have to replace coil spring $527.44 and control arm when I have money to replace $2500. That just not right.
While driving at 40 mph something under the 2001 Dodge Ram malfunctioned resulting in the consumer loosing braking and steering ability. The vehicle went off an embankment and hit a tree. The consumer believed the problem may have been a ball joint or tie rod end.
Vehicle started exhibiting steering problem at 3000 miles. The original dealership did a realignment of the front end, installed new shocks, we replaced the tires even though the original tires were not worn out, and the problem continued to get worse. We had the shocks replaced under the warranty twice without any difference. We had the front end realigned at our expense three times without any difference. The local dealership replaced the pitman arm and tie rod end sleeve, and realigned the front end to the tune of $345, and said this would solve the problem. When the truck hit a bump or uneven place in the pavement at freeway speeds it will start to shake uncontrollably, but this is not consistent. It doesn't happen with every bump, and there is no predicting when it will happen. In order to regain control, you have to stop immediately, and there is going to come the time when this is going to cause a multi-car crash on the freeway! fortunately this has not happened yet. The local dealership, not where we bought the truck since we don't live there anymore, wants to replace the entire front end to the tune of $2000, but they don't know exactly what is wrong, and Dodge says they won't warranty this work even though this has been ongoing since 3000 miles. All mileage on the truck has been highway or city miles. Obviously there was a defective part installed originally, and has steadily gotten worse, but the dealership can't pinpoint this defective part. The situation has now gotten very dangerous.
When I had my truck serviced the technician told me my left tire had been rubbing on the shock absorber bracket. The tire had a smooth spot where it had been rubbing on the bracket, and there was a second tire on the back with a smooth spot. The tire in the back had been rotated from the front to the back at the last oil change. I took the truck to the dealer and they welded a extension on to the stopper to keep the tire from turning into the bracket. They told me my tires were to big for the truck, I put 245/75/ R16 on the truck in June 2003 and have had no trouble out of them. The truck was at the dealer in February 2004 to get the front end checked, this was eight months after the tires had been on the truck, I believe if the tire was rubbing the technician would have noticed. I will not have to replace the tires because the rubbing was caught early. I wonder how many people are driving around with this problem and don`T know. I have seen other complaints about this same problem on your website, I guess Dodge is going to wait till their customers start getting killed before they acknowledge the problem and fix it.in the past year I have had to have the instrument panel replaced and both the hub assemblies on the front, I am buying another truck in the next year and it will definitely will not be a Dodge.
While driving, the vehicle began to shake violently. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and was told there was nothing wrong. Please provide additional details.
My boyfriend bought a 2001 Dodge Ram in November of last year. After having the truck only four months the transmission had to be completly replaced. Two days ago we noticed a problem with the shocks. He brought it to the dealership and they told him all of the shocks need replacing, as well as other things such as the axel and what not. This is only seven months after buying the thing. The people at the dealership are rude and very unhelpful. They honestly could care less about the inconvenience they have caused us.
The ball joints of my 2001 Dodge Ram pickup had 5 times the allowable limit of play, which is 60,000th of an inch (1/16). All four ball joints had 5/16 of play at only 21,000 miles. The shop I went to for my inpection diagnosed the problem, and said I was fortunate that it didn't get any further. One good pot hole with that much play and a wheel could have come off. The shop owner told me that the ball joints were probably out of spec at 6,000 miles, considering their condition at 21,000 miles. He also said that this is a very common problem with all Dodge vehicles. He said that he has had Dodge durango's in his shop with only 6,000 miles that had the play he found in mine at 21,000 miles!
Due to erratic operation of the vehicle, the owner had the truck inspected by a technician. Upon inspecting the truck, the technician informed the consumer that the upper ball joints and steering column needed to be replaced.
The front tires wore out every 6,000 miles. The problem was not with the tires. The factory had no provision for correcting wear of tires nor aligning the tires. Factory rep. Stated there was nothing that could be done about it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waterford, PA, USA