Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 10/16/2010 | 88470 | ||
| I have a 2002 dodge ram 1500 quad cab 4x4, very well maintained and was never abused. about 8 months ago i noticed a crack on the dashboard on the passenger side. within several months one crack had grown to 6 cracks. then about 1 month ago the the air would not flow through the dash vents anymore. in order to find out the problem i had to remove the dash board to get the heat and air system. when i removed the dash board it crumled into about 20 pcs. upoin inspection of the air problem i found out the blend door that controls the air tot he dash was broken. seems this is a problem. i am now having to replace the dashboard, front and rear pc and the 4 blend doors in the air system. while replacing the shocks i noticed the rack and pinion was leaking extremly bad which has never leaked before. no nosie while turning the steering wheel, no warning light to advise of the problem. | |||
| 05/05/2005 | |||
| I had to replace the upper and control arms ( both sides) because the tires where wearing uneven. i do not drive this pick-up off road! if you look at the lack of size to the ball joints, it is amazing they lasted 3 years. | |||
| 03/28/2007 | 93000 | 4 | |
| Purchased 2002 dodge ram used. at first service interval, rack and pinion boots were leaking, main seal was shot. also had manifold leak, along with a steering problem that causes shaking at 40 mph. steering problem still remains, and there is a loud rattle that the dealership cannot find. this vehicle has been a nightmare, most recently, my fuel pump decided to quit working. also, the interior trim, namely the hand grips on the driver and passenger door have been replaced numerous times, due to the cheap plastic that is used as a holding ring. do not purchase this type of vehicle. have had nothing but headaches with the truck, from the simple things, to the expensive things...was just told that my head gaskets are shot as well, have spent thousands on this truck, with no returns, do not get this year/model of ram 1500. *jb | |||
| 12/01/2002 | 3 | 06/05/2002 | |
| Electrical - cannot charge a cell phone in any of the receptacles. works in other vehicles. transmission - changes gears very rough, somtimes on acceleration, all the time when decelerating. steering - at times the steering does not want to work. will not turn, very hard as if no rack and pinion. truck slides out at times during turns, steering gets pulled.*ak | |||
| 01/14/2004 | 18700 | 2 | 09/12/2002 |
| In cold weather, steering wheel will not turn or is very stiff when vehicle is first driven. degree of steering effort required is variable and impossible to anticipate when driving. *la | |||
| 09/04/2003 | 14440 | 15 | 05/24/2002 |
| I have had my dodge ram quad cab in for service over 15 times for rust, wiring, two recalls, engine lights, bad gas cap, bad steering wheel, and list continues....*ak | |||
| 05/29/2002 | 802 | 6 | 05/17/2002 |
| Steering has pulled to the right continuously and consistantly since purchase. have followed all procedures including: been to service dept. 6+ times, notified daimler chrysler, etc. told there is nothing wrong with the steering and i am out of luck. it is a lemon. i am filing a lawsuit. | |||
| 12/23/2002 | 5 | 03/25/2002 | |
| While driving along the front end makes noises. but if you hit a bump or if the road is split, and it gets bumped the steering on the truck will snatch and throw you around. i have noticed this many times. my wife said it does it all time. i was not expecting it to do this will traveling and nearly wrecked. i believe there is something wrong with this truck. | |||
| 02/11/2003 | 1 | ||
| The steering wheel was unable to turn.*jb | |||
| STEERING - COLUMN | |||
| 10/08/2009 | 74200 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2002 dodge ram quad cab. while making a right turn at 20 mph into his driveway the steering column locked. he was able to safely turn the vehicle off. a representative from the dealer and manufacturer stated that they were unaware of this type of failure. no repairs were made. the failure mileage was 72,100. | |||
| 09/29/2003 | 3 | 08/01/2002 | |
| I was driving down the road when a truck ran his stop sign and stopped in the intersection (it is not a 4 stop). it was lightly raining. when i applied my brakes the abs didn't work and i then lost control slamming into the ditch embankment. missing the truck. i was going about 35-40 mph when i hit. i hit head on into the embankment. when i hit my air bag didn't deploy and the steering column broke. *la | |||
| STEERING - GEAR BOX - SHAFT SECTOR | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| Nar 05/21/2003 *mr the consumer experienced problems with gear shifts. dealer notified. *cb | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 09/03/2006 | 3 | 08/27/2006 | |
| Power steering fluid leakage.i have to dump a whole bottle in once a week. ball joints need replaced. lifters in motor knock and have to be fixed. *nm | |||
| 06/14/2002 | 1 | 1 | 06/14/2002 |
| Truck bounces out of control when hitting small and large bumps in the road. loss of steering control and very dangerous. also, truck pulls to the right constantly. i was told by the dealer in waterville maine, that this is normal for a 4x4. every time i bring it in for service, i complain, but i'm made to feel like it's all in my head. once they replaced the rack, and tried new tires, but it made no difference. under no circumstances can i release the steering wheel, and i'm hyperviglent of every approaching bump. other people who have driven my truck, with me with them experience the same normal problems. i've had the truck for just over a year now, and the problems haven't gotten worse, but remain constant. i will never buy another dodge product, and i am very unhappy with the treatment from the dealer. if i wasn't to lose so much money, i would have traded it in 3 months after i bought it. as far as i am concerned, this truck is a lemon. for several months after i bought this truck, i polled every owner of the same truck, when it was convienent, and i received more simalar problems than not.*ak | |||
| 07/02/2003 | 12000 | 12 | 05/06/2002 |
| During heavy rain, or in a car-wash, or running through too large of a puddle of water, the serpentine belt begins slipping an excessive amount. it will slip enough to cause the gauge that is showing the charge level to drop noticeably, and it will sometimes drop to the point of no longer showing charging at all. at this point the check engine light is also displayed, and it is now necessary to turn the ignition off and restart the truck to reset the gauge and light and have it begin displaying properly again. during a heavy downpour of rain, this problem occurred again as i was going around a curve and the power steering failed. this is obviously due to the fact that the power steering pump is driven by this belt. had there been another vehicle in the oncoming lane of traffic, i would have had an accident that i could not have prevented due to this failure. i am not satisfied with the answer that there is nothing that can be done to correct this problem. this is a truck, and it should be able to handle some water. if this problem truly exists in all trucks like mine, then it is only a matter of time before someone has a serious accident and files a lawsuit against dodge, or even a class-action suit if enough people are really affected by the same problem. had i been in an accident when the power steering failed on my truck, im certain that dodge would have been held liable for both my damages and whomever i had hit. the problem might be resolved by replacing all the pulleys with wider ones and then a wider serpentine belt , or it might be resolved by adding some type of splash guard, but that would probably not resolve the water coming through the grill. one of my employees has the new hemi dodge truck, and his belt is slightly wider, and he does not have this particular problem. *ak | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION | |||
| 12/20/2007 | 57500 | 2 | 05/09/2002 |
| '02 dodge ram 1500 steering loss due to rack and pinion leaking and failing. this has happen twice now and the truck only has 58,000 mi. on it. please make dodge recall these trucks before someone gets killed. *tr | |||
| 02/20/2007 | 54000 | 1 | 12/28/2005 |
| I had to replace the steering rack and all its components at only 54,000 miles on a 2002 dodge ram 1500. i looked into this and this is a very common thing to happen, and it should not be happening at such low mileage, some as low as 20,000 miles! i think dodge needs to look into this and find out why it is falling apart so soon, and possibly issue a recall and a reimbursement for those of us who already spent the 1100 to fix it! *jb | |||
| 06/15/2006 | 72000 | 1 | 04/30/2002 |
| For no apparent reason and without warning, the rack and pinion steering failed causing excessive leaking of power steering fluid and failure of the power steering. dodge/chrysler denied any assistance to the issue. the vehicle is a 2002 dodge ram 1500 quad cab, 4.7 liter engine. 72,000 highway miles. it has come to my attention from the dealer that this is a common problem that can happen 2,000 miles to 200,000 miles indicating the continued use of a defective part. despite my willingness to accept the labor costs of the repair chrysler refuses to assist with the cost of the $600.00 part. there is no after market part available due to the truck being too new according to the dealer. this part failed due to a manufacturing issue and not abuse on my part. the part can not be repaired and must be replaced since dodge/chrysler does not supply a parts package to repair the part. due to this fact the part must be replaced and not repaired. this is also a great safety issue as the power steering leaked out without warning causing the loss of power steering. an accident could have resulted from the loss of power steering. *jb | |||
| 10/04/2005 | 61000 | 1 | |
| Failure of rack and pinion.*jb | |||
| 09/28/2005 | 49680 | 1 | 06/15/2002 |
| My 2002 dodge ram quad cab pickup has 49,000 miles on it. i recently brought it in to get an alignment and brakes checked, when the service writer informed my that my rack and pinion steering was leaking. 49,000 miles! if the steering is lost, the consequences could be serious, and even fatal. i called dodge corporate for out of warranty assistance, and after sitting on hold for 30 minutes, they came back to tell me because of procedure, they will not be able to help me. the cost to fix this is $675 parts and labor. i feel that a four wheel drive truck should have it's rack and pinion last longer than 49,000 miles, and that dodge should step up to the plate and help out. dodge obviously does not feel that way. *nm | |||
| 02/17/2004 | 10000 | 4 | 06/26/2002 |
| Currently own a 2002 dodge ram quad cab. i have had numerous problems with my truck. i myself have also experienced the same problems with the transmission jerking as well as the vehicle completely shutting off when idling (and not even at long periods of time). at times when putting into reverse, the vehicle will not move at all and i have to completely shut off the truck and restart it to get it to move. i haven't had it reported at the dealer yet because they will be unable to duplicate. just noticed a problem with my rear taillights. at different times, different bulbs would seem to go out causing the lamp out indicator lamp to illuminate. when i went to change the bulb myself (cause bulbs are not warranty), i found that the sockets were causing the bulb housing to melt inside the sockets as well as on the bulbs. i took it to the dealer and they only replaced one side because the other they did not have in stock, yet they did not even bother ordering the other side. i have already had my rack & pinion replaced because it was leaking and also have had to have my tcm and pcm reprogramed because they were causing my check engine light to come on as well as making my air conditioning inoperative. *ak | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION - RACK | |||
| 12/31/2002 | 10000 | 01/31/2002 | |
| Rack & pinion steering leaks and very hard to turn when vehicle is cold, has been replaced twice and still a problem, also severe corrosion of front bumper, is ordered and will be replaced. | |||