Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT | |||
| 06/01/2008 | 65000 | ||
| Dash has several cracks in it. | |||
| 04/01/2010 | 70000 | ||
| The dashbord on my 2003 dodge ram 1500 is cracked and continues to crack more and more each day. i am affraid that pieces that may fall inside the airbag compartment which may lead to serious injury if they become deployed. there have been several complaints about this with this particular model. | |||
| 03/23/2010 | 100500 | ||
| I was getting into my pickup truck while in the process of leaving work to go home for day. i reached in and grab the grab handle located on the a-pillar and started to pull my self into my vehicle. the a-pillar grab handle broke, causing me to fall backward stricking my head on the drivers door and then the ground as i continued the fall to the ground. as a result of this fall i developed a subdural hematoma and almost died twice as a result of this defective part. both the drivers side a-pillar grab handle and b-pillar grab handle from the passenger side are in the hands of a forensic engineer who has determined that both parts were substandard. the passenger side was also cracked around hold down bolts and ready to fail. pickup truck was a 2003 dodge quad cab 1500 4x4 on factory 20 tires. chrysler llc. is well aware that this problem exsists but has choosen to do nothing! in 2003 when motor trend tested the dodge quad cab for their truck of year award the part failed on motor trend magazine. there have been numerous serious injuries reported pertaing to these defective parts, but chrysler has decided that their bottom line was more important than their customers health. a recall needs to be made for these parts to stop these injuries. i ended up missing 3.5 months of work and my health insurance company ended up paying out over $350,000.00 for these injuries. i bought this truck in 2003 new and i did so in good faith. chrysler needs to act in good faith and replace these parts and protect their customers. | |||
| 07/22/2003 | 2451 | 1 | 06/01/2003 |
| While entering the driver side of the vehicle using the a-pillar grab handle assembly, the entire assembly broke free from the vehicle structure. i fell backwards onto the pavement injuring my back and left shoulder. my head missed striking a concrete curb by mere inches. this failure constitutes a serious safety condition with a strong possibility of personal injury. this is also a latent defect that is unable to be detected by the consumer until the component fails. my injuries resulted in two lost-work days, but could have been fatal if my head had struck the concrete curbing mentioned previously. this safety condition affects both the driver and passenger a-pillar and b-pillar grab handle assemblies (if quad cab) in all dodge ram series trucks. an inspection of the component showed that the assembly is held to the vehicle structure with two 8mm bolts. the bolts had pulled-through the plastic material of the assembly. there is no metal sub-structure within the handle assembly to prevent bolt pull-through from occurring. it seems unconscionable that a manufacturer would design a component to be used as a occupant weight bearing device without insuring that the component is designed to withstand the loads likely to be placed upon it. best practices for grab handles should always incorporate a metal sub-structure into their design. on a side note, my dealer informed me that the replacement component is on national back-order with every parts depot having fifteen or more parts on order. this would indicate that the problem is wide spread, and requires immediate corrective action. *ph | |||