I was going over a bridge on 144 in tulsa oklahoma when I felt my right wheel starting shaking real bad so I started to pull over to the side of the road , when all of a sudden the wheel just fell off with the brake and rotor intact. I had just purchase this vehicle 2 weeks earlier and only had 43,000 miles on it. I had to get a wrecker to take it to a specialist in broken arrow where he had a chrysler representative come look at it and stated that model had a defect in it and should not have happen at that mileage. He said there was no wear and tear on the tires to prove wore out parts. Also my concern if there is a defect in this type of truck why hasn't it been recalled. If this incident had happen during 5 o'clock rush hour this could have been very serious if not fatal. What does it take to get things like this taken care.
2003 Dodge RAM 1500 wheels complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 19 of 19, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I own a 2003 dodge 1500 ram, with 79000 miles. The past three months I have had a noise and vibration in the front of the vehicle. A local dealer diagnosed the problem as a bad front wheel bearing. He change the bearing, which I then disassembled and inspected. The bearing looked sufficiently fine, except for a lack of grease. Two days later I removed the remaining front wheel bearing, with the thought of getting grease into it. But upon removing the bearing, I found radial free play and excessive end play, the bearing was beyond a safe usable condition, and also had to be replaced. I have since found out that there were reports of insufficient lubrication, in dodge truck wheel bearings, and would like to add my problem to the list.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 dodge ram 1500. While driving the spare tire fell off of the truck. Upon further inspection he noticed that the cable that secured the spare tire had fractured. The manufacturer was notified, and he was promised a response. He was still awaiting a response. The dealer was also notified, but the vehicle has not been inspected. The current and failure mileages were approximately 133,000.
2003 dodge ram 1500 laramie (5.7l hemi). Vehicle passed warranty, began to hear a low hum upon acceleration and deceleration. Hum/whining noise became increasingly worse, LED to catastrophic failure of the rear end. Dodge engineers have determined that the rear end in the 2003 dodge ram 1500 - 3500 truck has an engineering flaw which causes the "c" pins in the rear end to break off and destroy the rear end. This damage has cause some of these vehicles rear ends to seize up and other to literally shear off the rear wheels. Repair consists of total replacement of the rear end in these vehicles. Although there have been numerous injuries and wrecks due to this failure and because dodge does not recognize this as a major problem, there has never been a recall on any of these vehicles to correct the deficiency. Dealerships will not honor warranty, or accept liability for this catastrophic failure of one of their systems, for full or partial repair costs.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge ram 1500. While driving 35 MPH, the hub loosened at the knuckle and the brakes failed. The contact pulled off the road and the vehicle was towed to a repair shop. A diagnostic was performed and the mechanic stated that they could not repair the failure because it was a wearable part. They further stated that the failure was caused by the lack of maintenance. The vehicle was towed from the dealer to the contact's residence because it was unable to be driven. The failure mileage was 58,290.
Rear wheel studs repeatedly sheer off. In the 20 months I have owned my 2003 dodge ram 1500, I have replaced 8 of the 10 studs. Most recently, I lost 3 out of 5 in a 2 month period.
I purchased a 2003 ram 1500 hemi with 20" chrome wheels. At about 11,000 miles I noticed the chrome had some small delamination bubbles. I notified the dealer and they replaced the wheel. I now have 34,000 miles and noticed that all the wheels have little bubbles of delamination in the chrome. They are replacing all the wheels only because I caught it before I reached the 36,000 mile mark. Make sure to check your 20" chrome wheels. They are a chrome plated plastic insert on an aluminum wheel and the chrome tends to delaminate from the plastic as they age.
2003 dodge ram quad cab 1500 4x2 vehicle, about 5 months since build and 3 months since purchase with about 4,700 miles on the odometer. In a swerving maneuver to avoid another vehicle at 40-45 MPH the left rear tire/wheel assembly separated from the vehicle resulting in substantial damage to the vehicle. Tire/wheel assembly is to include a broken axle shaft, broken brake caliper mount, broken brake caliper, broken rotor back plate, broken emergency brake cable, broken brake line, damaged 20" wheel, and damage to the axle shaft housing. Dealership, autoway dodge, is strongly urging the vehicle be turned in as an insurance claim and being difficult about the pursuit of a warranty claim. Other attempts to contact the daimler chrysler manufacturer rep who looked at the truck on 11/11/2003, as well as don armstrong, dc customer service orlando have yielded more reluctance to look at the problem as well. So far we have found some others who experienced a similar failure and were likewise denied warranty coverage while being pressured to pursue it as an insurance claim. One at a reported speed of 3 MPH in a u-turn.
Wheel and hub was damaged and broken off during a 10 MPH curb hit.
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