Problems with 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 SUSPENSION

The air bag warning light stays on all the time. the dash cracked and pieces fell into the electrical systems. the ball joints failed. all around 120,000 to 130,000 miles. the fuel injectors began to fail at 120,000 miles.

There is extensive death wobble in my truck and makes it almost impossible to control. i understand this is a common and recognized problem by dodge/chrysler for their dodge ram line. this is dangerous and an identified design flaw. it obviously happens while driving. i have to nearly stop the truck to calm the shaking.

This low mileage (64k) 1999 dodge ram 1500 has developed a death wobble. usual symptoms, hit small bump in road at 60 + mph and shake and shutter until slow to 20-30 mph to regain control. this is extremely dangerous and i do not know what to do about it.

Am on third engine each time oil pump failed,and now this one is acting up, powertrain end of year built truck has a lot of 2000 parts on it, rear end seized up drive shaft broke rear yoak split in two, suspension tie rods and idle arms always breaking, two break disks 1 left side 1 right side broke, left one split right down the middle, the right side the center of the hub broke right out at the bearings riped right out

1999 dodge ram 1500 pickup, while driving around 35-45 mph usually on a downhill grade the entire vehicle will begin to shake,the only word to describe it is violently and will not subside until you can get the speed below 20mph but you can not just apply the breaks or the shaking become uncontrollable,i have replace most of the suspension(control arms,ball joints ect.)nothing works.this has happened multiple times! i've talked to others and there is a name for it, dodge death wobble. also i am another victim of the dodge dash cancer, in the last couple of years my dash has basically disintegrated....considering bringing a class action lawsuit

The "dodge death wobble" is for real. while driving my 1999 dodge ram 1500 on the interstate, i went over a small bump in the road. the whole truck began shaking violently. it was extremely hard to control and did not stop shaking until i slowed down to under 20 mph. this is extremely unsafe and dodge should be forced to fix the problem. this problem has occurred more than five times in my truck. *tr

Bolt attaching lower shock mount to lower a-arm has to great a threaded length causing the threads to bear on the lower a-arm, causing the threads to be ground down and the hole in the a-arm through which the bolt passes to be fretted and enlarged excessively. the wear of the a-arm could result in cracking of the a-arm due to fatigue. wear of the bolt threads could cause excessive bending of the bolt and premature failure of the bolt causing loss of control. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 dodge ram 1500. while driving between 2- 40 mph a whining noise was heard coming from the rear end of the vehicle. when the speed was increased the noise would become louder. when the vehicle was in idle the noise was not heard. the vehicle was currently at the dealer. the purchase date and vin were unknown. the current and failure mileages were 101,000.

Tl* - the contact stated that when she got into her 1999 dodge ram 1500 (failure mileage: 100000) the seat belts were retracted and locked. the contact took the vehicle to the shop and they notified her of the recall on the retractor. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer who stated that they were not aware of the recall and asked her to make an appointment. *jb updated 2/22/2007 - both front seat belt were locked in the retracted position and could not be used. the seat belt light is illuminated on the dash. the water pump has been replaced. the air conditioning has been replaced. the brake lines have been replaced. the rear end has been replaced. the driver's side window would not roll down. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while traveling 45 mph, there was a loud thud heard and the steering became inoperable. the vehicle went off the road, hitting a tree on the passenger side between the door and bed of the truck. the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and then seen by an independent repair shop. the repair shop determined the upper ball joint on the passenger side and the wheel bearing fractured, causing the steering to lock up. the manufacturer was alerted.

1999 dodge ram experiencing problems with the brakes and the catalytic converter.*mr 1 year old and not on repository. when the brakes were applied a light on the dash illuminated. the dealer stated there was no problem with the brakes. the consumer took the vehicle to another mechanic, who stated he was sold a vehicle with no brakes. the mechanic stated the vehicle needed to front brakes with shims, front rotors, two front calipers, bearings, two rear shoes, two rear hardware, two drums and two rear wheel cylinders. the vehicle jerked when the consumer placed the gear into reverse. the front wheel on the drivers side would shake when the consumer hit a pothole. the windows would fog with a greasy film, the heating coil was replaced. the check engine light illuminated and the 02 sensor was replaced. the pcv valve hose was replaced, the left brake light bulb was replaced, 4 injectors were replaced. *jb

Contact stated: 1999 dodge ram 1500 truck. hood popped up at 45 mph. secondary latch did not catch, it just went right up. did not hit a bump in the road. vehicle was on smooth road. also, had to have the whole front end/ rear end and transmission rebuilt. *ak

Vehicle wheel almost layed down. brand new front tires wore down. *tc the ball joints failed, which caused the problem with the tires. the dashboard cracked and the consumer had it replaced at a cost of $525.00. *jb

Popping sound heard coming from driver side front wheel area. i asked the dealer to inspect the vehicle while performing normal maintenance. the service department informed me that both left and right side top and bottom ball joints had failed and that i should immediately have them replaced. the 1999 dodge ram 1500 has less than 70000 miles. it has not been driven off road. it primarily has been driven to school and home approximately 6 miles round trip untill 2 years ago. the mileage that is on the vehicle is either in town or interstate. the vehicle has been serviced every 3,000 miles and has had periodic maintenace performed in accordance with the manual. i don't understand unless the parts were defective when the vehicle was purchased new. seems there is other failures of this type affecting durangos and dakotas.*ak

Front end drive and suspension also steering column move and make a noise while driving making it feel like the front suspension is going to give way. *tr

I own a 1999 dodge ram 1500. i noticed the vehicle was pulling to the right and brought the vehicle in for an alignment. i was notified my tires were unusable and that the front trac/sway bar was defective. the mechanic told me there is a design flaw in the trac bar on that vehicle and it is a common problem. i should not have to replace a sway bar and tires on a vehicle with only 28,000 miles on it. dodge should put out an immediate recall on the sway bar as people will have quickly deteriorating tires that could cause a lot of accidents.

The ball joints are also defective, but this is an 1999 dakota. i have went through eight tres in th front and can hear the ball joints squeak.*ak

I recently took my 1999 dodge ram 1500 pick up to my alignment shop and had to put a new tracker bar on it. which i replaced about 8 months ago at about 40 thousand miles.. and now i have to replace my steering box and my truck has just over 54,100 miles on it and i think that is a little ridiculous. ever since i bought my truck new in 1999 i have had to have the front end aligned in the first year, the second year, in the year 2002 and now on march 3 rd 2003 i had to have it again for the reasons i stated in the beginning. i had some electrical problems under the dash and in the steering column. my alignment shop says they have replaced a lot of steering boxes and the tracker bar even at 18,000 miles. i have called chrysler themselves and they won't do anything about it and i think they should because i believe that it is a result from a bad part from the factory. i have documented everything i have done to my truck. i have looked into the price of a new steering box and i have found that dodge wants over $600 and a parts house in my town can get the same dodge steering box for $205. i believe that i should not have to pay for the box what ever the price, because i believe it is new enough that they should be willing to have it fixed, to at least make a customer some what happy. i have never heard of a steering box going out at less then 100,000 miles. my father had a 1999 ram 1500 pick up and with less than 25,000 miles the motor lost 4 quarts of oil on our way to a old car show in montana but it never happened again so he did not worry about it and sold it and got a new 2002 ram pick up and he likes it so far, but a friend of mine has a 2002 ram and he is having a problem with his front end alignment. so i am wondering if there are other people having similar problems with their front ends on dodge vehicles. *jb

Consumer has had to replace front wheel bearing again. he just replaced them 3 wks. ago. also, mechanic stated that bearings were too small for truck, and as a result they were wearing out faster.*ak *yh

Consumer replaced a set of front wheel bearings approximately 3 weeks ago. currently, need to replace them again. consumer was told by mechanic that bearings were too small for truck and that was why they were wearing so fast. *ak *yh

The truck continuously pulls to the right above fifty (50) miles an hour. after two separate attempts to correct the alignment, the truck was returned to the original place of purchase for repair where i was told by the service advisor ( tracy krumpleman) that because my truck was lowered it won't be guaranteed to hold an alignment. i then stated that the truck was sold to me with the aforementioned suspension modification from the same dealership that he is now working for , and the service advisor ignores this fact and restates that the truck won't hold an alignment because it's been lowered.*ak

Consumer has to continuously fight to keep vehicle on road. took vehicle to dealer, and they replaced steering box. but problem reoccurred, and vehicle has been at dealers 6 times since then. *ak

Serious bounce of rear at all speeds. will be unsafe on roads with loose material or ice. district rep inspected and says aware of problem. chrysler cannot fix and is normal for this vehicle. i was told i had no recourse on this problem and that was final. *ak

The vehicle pulls to the right side of the road at speeds over 50 mph if the steering wheel is released. a continuous down force on the left side of the steering wheel has to be maintained if the vehicle is to remain in a straight line down a straight road. if i release the steering wheel while going in a straight line down the road, the steering wheel will rotate about 1/4 inch in a clockwise direction and the vehicle leaves the road in anywhere from 3 to 10 seconds depending on the level of the road. this issue is consistent 100 % of the time. the amount of downforce on the left side of the steering wheel to maintain the vehicle in a straight direction down a straight road various with the level of the road but is continuous. the vehicle's front end has been aligned by the dealer four times. i have also gotten an opinon about the vehicles steering and alignment from a firestone dealer. the dodge dealer's service manager (billy duncan) did not document the third and fourth alignment and the service manager (billy duncan) refuses to achnowledge that there is a problem. i spoke to the dealership's technician (mike) that performed the alignment all four times at the dealership. he states that the vehicle does indeed pull to the right and that he has aligned the vehicle four times in an attempt to cure the problem. he states that he does not know what is causing the problem and on the fourth alignment he had to adjust the front left wheel caster adjustment out of specifications in order to acheive marginal results. he also stated that because the alignment is now out of specs., i may experience an additional 1/16" tire wear on the left front tire during the life of the tires. i had the alignment checked at a firestone dealer prior to the third and fourth alignment by the dealership. the firestone dealer said the the alignment was in specifications, yet the vehicle still pulls to the right. at the present time, the vehicle now "drifts" to the right side.

While driving down the road whether it is 20 or 60mph, when loosening up on the steering wheel it will pull extremely hard to the right. when driving long distance, driver has to fight the steering wheel in order to hold it. it has been in the shop eight times. they have replaced front brakes, and shocks. *ak

Vehicle rockes back and forth at highway speeds, upon hitting uneven pavement, like bad shocks. dealer says they can't feel it, my wife won't drive the truck. dealer contacted dodge. dodge says there is not a problem. i have talked to another dodge owner, that traded his dodge off at 4500 miles because of the way it handled. which was similar to the way mine does, but his was a 2500. dealer said they could fix the problem by putting heavy duty shocks on this vehicle, but was told they couldn't get shocks to fit this new truck. why have to put after market shocks on a brand new truck? when driving this truck in a tight corner, it feels like it is going to throw you off the road. i am at this time in the proccess of arbitration for other problems, so dodge will say i am just causing problems but the handling i belive is a safety concern, that dodge is not addressing.