1.8

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
91,092 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2003 Dodge Ram Van 1500 steering problems

steering problem

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2003 Dodge Ram Van 1500 Owner Comments

problem #3

Oct 052015

Ram Van 1500

  • 148,505 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving down the road at 65 mph and lost total control of vehicle steering found out it was due to a rusted framed. Totally unsafe van. I was glad it was not very busy on the interstate or I could have been killed. I am very disappointed a manufacture can have so many complaints online and nothing has been done. It is total frame lost to rust.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #2

Nov 202013

Ram Van 1500 8-cyl

  • 120,993 miles
For 2 days prior to incident, noticed steering wheel kept changing orientation while driving in a straight line. A lot of groaning and creaking noise from right front suspension in right turns as well as vibration at highway speed. Parked vehicle and inspected underside to find that idler arm bracket was tearing away from frame rail due to rot. After parking vehicle, I moved it around in the driveway no more than 3 times before idler arm bracket completely separated from the frame rail with a very loud pop.. van now has no steering and is junk sitting in my driveway. Inspection of front frame rail area reveals heavy rot on both front frame rails and steering gear mount as well. The rest of the body is typical for 10 yrs old in upstate NY. I have previously owned vehicles 20+ yrs old with body rot, but have never had any frame issues associated with rot. After much research, this appears to be quite common on full size Dodge vans. Will be filing a complaint with Chrysler Corp., but don't expect much to come of it. Absolutely amazed that people have not died as a result of this defect. Considering the number of these vans still on the road, I would consider this a growing concern for those that own and drive them as well as other people on the road with them.

- Rush, NY, USA

problem #1

Apr 152003

Ram Van 1500

  • Automatic transmission
  • 3,779 miles
We bought our 2003 Dodge 2500 diesel Ram pickup on January 25, 2003 with 10 miles on it. We noticed it pulled to the right and once in awhile would shake a little, we thought it was out of alignment. On April 27, 2003 we where driving on the freeway at about 80 miles per hour when all of a sudden the truck was violently shaking back and forth. It took everything my husband had to keep us on the road. After what seemed like an eternity he was able to pull onto the shoulder and get it stopped. We decided to try to get to the next town that was 20 miles away. Traveling at 40 M.P.H. with our flashers on, it happened again. My husband called the tow truck, and we haven't seen our truck since! the mechanic said a bolt on the track bar mount had come loose and fell out and they would need to replace the entire front axle. Spoke to the mechanic today and they received the front axle today. Now they need to replace the ball joints, they have been ordered and will take another couple of days. I have spoken to a couple of mechanics today and none of them can figure out why the front axle along with the ball joints would need to be replace because of the loose track bar mount. You can find this on the NHTSA website, sorry I don't have the exact website address. www.NHTSA.dot.gov once in the website go to: Complaint search criteria: Vehicle 2003 Dodge truck

- St. George, UT, USA

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