Problems with 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 SUSPENSION

Dodge 2500 4x4, the truck is experiencing the "death wobble" i have read about it and my mechanic cant find anything wrong. it occurs at speeds above 60 mph and can only be stopped by slowing the vehicle to almost stop. the shocks and ball joints are good and the balance on the tires is good too. *tr

Clicking and shaking when in 4x4 mode. sounded like u joints. after having it checked by a mechanic, he found both sides needed ball joints and the u joints on the axle was worn out. this was an expensive repair of over $1200. also the tie rod ends needed replacement. he said that the weight of the diesel engine was the cause. he said that all of these front ends with the diesel engine needed to be replaced after about 70k miles. i am disappointed. *tr

After hitting a bump in the road doing 70, my truck shakes violently,and uncontrollably. i did this with a dodge service advisor in the truck. he looked at the vehicle and wants me to pay for any repairs it may need?? although my truck is a 2004.5, it only has 54,000 miles on it. i notice that i am not the only person living with this death wobble, as it is being called. it has happened once before, and i replaced the only part that even looked not right. *tr

My 2004 dodge 2500 series ram truck is experiencing the "death wobble". i am unable to go past 55 miles an hour as of today. this problem has been occurring for the last year and i have replaced every part that should have made this problem go away. when i hit a bump or pot hole or anything that will make the truck bounce at all, it violently shakes. this problem is putting everyone around me both on the road and in the truck at risk for a horrible collision. this vehicle is my only vehicle and i have no other choice but to drive it. i have read and experienced myself that there isn't a fix for this problem. all of the owners are now stuck with a vehicle they can't drive but have to pay for. this is not right by any means. isn't there something we can do to correct this ongoing problem before someone gets killed?? come on chrysler, step up to the plate and do what is right. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500 quad st/slt. the contact stated that the front end of the vehicle shakes violently while driving approximately 70 mph. he took the vehicle to the dealer and they replaced the front stabilizer rod at the cost of $1,000. the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. the dealer stated that the tires needed to be replaced. the failure mileage was 109,500 and current mileage was 109,900. updated 10/06/09. *lj the consumer stated the tires were worn out on the outside only. even when the vehicle had an alignment and the tires rotated the problem still remained the same. the fuel pump module was replaced. updated 10/09/09.*jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500 quad. while driving approximately 10 mph, a loud noise emitted from the front end of the vehicle and immediately the steering wheel failed to turn. the contact came to a complete stop to inspect the vehicle and noticed the steering damper detached and was on the ground. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated the tie rods and steering damper would need to be replaced. two years ago, the tie rods and steering damper were replaced under the service warranty. in addition, the front and upper and lower ball joints were replaced. there was a recall related to the defect under nhtsa campaign id number 07e009000 (suspension). the vehicle was ineligible because the recall did not pertain to the original equipment. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 59,000.

2004 dodge 2500 "death wobble" truck vibrates violently at highway speeds after hitting pothole or bridge expansion joints. *tr

I own a dodge ram 2500 and when i hit a bump the front end wobbles really bad ii had the truck check and nothing can be found. you really have to be careful it will cause a crash if you cant control it. *tr

I have a 2004 dodge ram 2500. i have been experiencing death wobble for about 1 year now. i have spent approx. $1000 replacing balljoints (available), trackbar bushings, steering stabilizer, axle u-joints, complete 2008 dodge steering system to include tie-rod ends, pitman arm, and linkage (available), and shocks (available) with no successful results. at this point i am at a loss of where to go next. this is my only vehicle and my wife and daughter have to use it for transportation everyday. after experiencing this for so long i worry everyday. i have researched this online and found out that many other dodge owners are experiencing the same problems and receiving no help from the dealerships. please review this and help us dodge owners repair this problem before someone is killed. *tr

When i was driving back from a trip i hit a rough patch in the highway and the truck immediately started violently shaking from side to side as though it were bouncing from one front tire to the other in the front end. as i slowed down to pull over the shaking eventually stopped. we checked the car and there seemed to be nothing wrong, but the truck seemed to do the shaking to smaller and smaller bumps on the road and the passenger side tire started to show a marked amount more wear than the others. we replaced the shocks, the outer tire rod, stabalizer shocks, tires and the shaking went away for about a year before it came back. this is very dangerous as the car is very hard to control when it happens and you have to break immediately. when i was called in for a recall, for a seperate issue, by dodge i tried to talk to the men in the service department about it and they pretended to no nothing about the "death wobble" that i have read about all over the internet and when discussing it with a friend found out he had the same experience with it. it is definately a defect or design flaw in these dodge trucks, and while i was hoping that dodge would step up and do a recall, the very least i would have hoped for was an explanation of what i can do to fix it from the dealer rather than a denial of there being a problem at all. i cannot afford to replace this truck and cannot afford to replace the complete front end suspension every year. someone needs to make dodge step up and investigate this problem so that people like myself can fix the problem and know that we will have a safe truck to haul with. *tt

@ roughly 30,000 mi i hit a pothole on the freeway (i-80) at highway speed. immediately got a severe front end shimmy/bounce. had to slow to about 30mph to get it to stop. i took it to the dodge dealer ([xxx] in reno) who said it wasn't covered by (50,000 mi) warranty and wanted $2300 to fix it. took it to a 4 wheel drive specialist who replaced the track bar. about 10,000 miles later it did it again. this time they replaced the upper and lower ball joints. recently (70,000 mi) it happened again so i took it back. they checked and tightened everything & rebalanced tires and wheel and said they could find nothing wrong. two days later i got a violent freeway shimmy and it did it again today. i could have easily lost control of the vehicle and been in a serious wreck in either instance. this is dangerous and dodge doesn't seem to give a [xxx]. i need the truck but i am afraid to drive it. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

1. normal driving and operation 2. front hub failures. first at 35,000 miles, second at 42,000 miles (mileage approximate). potential for front wheel separation from vehicle. no accident. 3. replace front hubs. failed components are available for inspection if desired. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500. if the vehicle would hit a small bump between 35-65 mph the front end of the vehicle would shimmy. some occasions the wheels would lift off of the ground. when the failure occurs steering and braking becomes difficult. the exhaust manifold was fractured because of this condition. the manufacturer stated that because the warranty expired they could not provide any assistance. the u-joints, new shocks, steering stabilizer, sway bar end links and bushings were replaced. none of the repairs have remedied the failure, the current mileage was 88,000. the failure mileage was 60,000.

Front wheel bearing failure, 2004 dodge ram 2500 2wd slt quad cab. 96,000 miles. during front pad inspection, noted how difficult it was to turn left front wheel hub. had heard something while driving previous day that sounded like a bearing going out. then inspected right side, it was worse, free spin with grinding noise like it had no grease. after some research and the shock of how expensive the replacement parts are, i discovered that there was a recall for later years (2007) to replace these hubs for lack of grease. for these bearings to fail at this mileage is ridiculous on a part that can't be serviced. i am in the process of replacing both hubs for obvious safety reasons. i will be calling dodge on monday to see if they would care to help me. *tr

Severe front end shake (death wobble). *tr

Driving on interstate hit a bump the front end started wobbling bad , had to hit brakes to slow down for it to stop wobbling. went to three shops replace the stabilizer shock no help,replace the front shocks help for a while and wobbles again , i ,am afraid to drive it. *tr

Vehicle failed safety inspection because upper and lower ball joints were bad. the truck is only 4 years old with 67,000 miles on it. truck has been used primarily for highway driving. i am aware that dodge has had recalls for ball joint issues on their dakota and durango models. upper and lower ball joints were replaced to satisfy utah state safety inspection. *tr

Front-end noise gradually getting worse until front-end play in steering and wheels around 55,000 miles. ball joints and u-joint parts were replaced (my expense) and now again at 95,500 miles the same problem is occurring again. *tr

Truck vibrates or shakes when going over 60 mph. when it hits a bump it does the same thing. i was told it was ball joint defect which is on recall. *tr

2004.5 ram qc 4x4 diesel. extremely loose steering/front end after less than 60,000 miles. no full-on death wobble, but came close when hitting bumps. research indicated this is a known issue on these trucks due to the design of the aam 9.25 axle. ball joints are too small for the weight of the truck and only the bottom 2 joints bear the weight. the upper 2 ball joints bear no weight and are not ball joints, but more like pins that allow vertical movement when turning (because of the poor geometry design of the axle). due to this arrangement, there are no adjustments of any kind for wear and any wear on the lower joints results in looseness. this in turn causes more stress on the upper joints and they fail quickly. i refuse to pay the ridiculous price at the dealer for poor quality design and parts that will fail soon again. i purchased very expensive ball joints that have been designed to help overcome the inadequacies of this low quality axle. also had to replace all tire rod ends, link arms, trackbar and steering damper. steering box was also worn severely due to the front end parts wallowing around constantly. i added a steering brace to help. wheel bearings also shot, but they are not serviceable on this axle. entire hub has to be replaced with non serviceable bearings pre-installed. very expensive to do at $300 each instead of the usual $40 or so per wheel!!! disgusted with dealerships that are clueless about this axle. they all want to just blame it on tire balance, alignment or driving habits. even the "certified mechanics" in their garage are clueless as well. as many of these trucks that are experiencing this problem you'd think someone at dodge would know this by now. had i known about this axle at the time of purchase i would not have bought this truck! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500. while driving 60 mph he struck a pothole, and then the front end of the vehicle began to shimmy. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. the technician replaced all four tires. after the repair the failure resurfaced. the technician recommended the replacement of the tie rods, ball joints and steering damper. no repairs were made. the failure mileage was 27,000. the current mileage was 35,000.

On 3-24-08, my vehicle failed state inspection at shaffer's auto service center; 422 taylor st.; new castle, pa 16101 (724-654-1088). since it was under an extended warranty plan, i took it to king's chrysler; 3239 wilmington rd.; new castle, pa 16105 (724-654-7761) to be fixed. they replaced both front universal joints. but they said that all four ball joints were within specifications for allowed movement. my 2004 dodge ram 2500 had 32083 miles on it then. a remark was made that the balljoints should last another 5 thousand miles or so. today i wanted to have them checked, since i have 37,000 miles on the vehicle. i have been continually worried that a wheel might break off since this vehicle failed inspection at shaffer's. and this is the second time that i took it back to king's to see if the balljoints were bad enough to change. today, they told me i voided the warranty because i had locking hubs installed on the vehicle to improve fuel mileage. i had the hubs installed after it failed inspection and they said it would last a while longer. i plan on changing the balljoints at my own expense now. but am troubled that they didn't change them at the time because if one breaks, then a wheel could fall off my vehicle and i could be injured as well as anyone else who was near me on the highway. i have recently been doing a lot of traveling on interstate rt. 80, across pa and am afraid one will break at 65 mph as i travel rt. 80. should vehicle dealers be permitted to defy the authority of another state vehicle inspection station to keep from doing warranty work? i believe that their negligence has put me and others at risk on the road ways i travel. *tr

I have had several problems with the front end of my 2004 dodge ram 2500 3/4 ton four wheel drive ranging from poor ride (shaking and shimmying), tire wear, and several gearboxes being replaced. i originally took it in with 35,000 miles on it to the dealership and they told me the problem was due to the tires being out of balance and that the tire were wore wrong causing the shimmy feeling. now, two years later the tires on the right side are destroyed, so i took it back to the dealer and they told me it needed an alignment. i took it to local tire company to have new tires and an alignment done and they informed me that the upper and lower ball joints the need to be replaced along with one tie rod at 52,000 miles, costing $1,500 for the work on the front end and $900 for tires. for a vechicle that has never been abused or seriously taken off-road this is ridiculous. *tr

Ball joint failure. *tr

Have had premature failure of front end parts: ball joints, tie rods, ujoints. i have replaced 3 times in last 5 years and again now having to replace. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500. while driving 40 mph, the front end of the vehicle dropped and the passenger side front wheel bearing malfunctioned. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they replaced the hub, brake caliper, abs sensor, and brake shield. the vin was unknown. the consumer stated there was a loss of control as a result of the wheel dropping off the spindle. updated 11/26/07

Vehicle has an uncontrollable shimmy or wobble sometimes at speeds above 40 mph. it seems that there is no rhyme or reason as to when it might occur but is usually precipitated by only minor highway bumps or dips. it will not come back under control until the vehicle slows down considerably. i have had times when i have had to pull over to the side of the road. *jb

My husband drives his 2004 dodge 3/4 ton diesel pick up every day to work. about a week ago he noticed that it had developed a vibration when he stopped. believing it be a brake problem he took it to our mechanic shop and had them look it over. we were completely noplussed to discover that all of his front ball joints had failed. we were then told that is a common problem with this brand and that it was because there are no grease fittings on the factory installed parts. we had both the lower and upper ball joints replaced at the time. *tr

I too have recently experienced the violent shaking/shimmy or death wobble"with the 2004 ram 2500, the first time at 75-80 mph and could do nothing to stop the problem,. i figured i was going too fast and hit a bump at a weird angle. then, it happened again at 60-65 mph with the same results. you have to just hang on and slow the truck down and hope people get out of the way. the third time it was the final one. i took the truck to the dealership, and they replace the steering damper, that was accomplished with no help. the problem actually got worse and occurred again at much lower speed. i will be replacing the inner and outer right tie rods, and will try again once they arrived. until then i would be confined to city driving. dodge needed to wake up and see that this was an extreme safety problem that must be looked into before someone gets killed. *ak

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 dodge ram 2500. while driving approximately 75 mph under normal driving conditions the vehicle began to vibrate violently. the contact was able to reach his destination, but had to drive approximately 55 mph to prevent the vibration. the vehicle was currently being inspected by the dealer. the current and failure mileages were 60,000.*ak the consumer stated the vehicle is company property and assigned to him. the dealer to the consumer the steering stabilizer had worn out. updated 07/06/07. *jb

When driving over 60 miles an hour and the truck hits a bump it shakes violently. i have had to stop on the freeway to get it to stop. have had it in three times for aligment and to have the front end checked. seems alot of people have the same problem with there dodge trucks. *tr

For the 3rd time my 2004- 2500 dodge ram truck has the death wobble. first time 2006 then second time 2010 and now again in 2014. this is a very dangerous experience to occupant's of vehicle and any vehicles near by. a simple man hole in road or a bridge section will cause the truck to shake uncontrollably. this is no prior warning as to when this will happen. dodge apparently knows about the problem however the service centers claim there is nothing wrong and that all trucks do this. i have owned trucks my whole life and even another dodge truck and have never experienced this until this poorly engineered 2004 truck. **please require dodge to warn all these owners and continue to repair and replace the parts to keep owners safe** my friend had one of these and traded it due to the problem so there for another innocent driver will possible die because they are not aware of the problem. please please please make dodge corporation stand behind the product that innocent buyers spent their hard earned money on and now have to fear for their life. *tr

Upper and lower ball joints the ball joints need to be replced at 70,000 miles, for a vechicle that has never been abused. this is uncalled for. *nm

Tl*- the contact stated that the 2004 dodge ram 2500 had a recall listed in the local newspaper for front wheel hub and bearing unit replacement. the contact stated the recall in the newspaper was for year 2006 dodge ram. he had repairs done for lower ball joints, tie rod ends replaced, wheel bearings replaced for the right front wheel, and a wheel alignment. the contact felt that this vehicle should be part of the recall due to the repairs he had done for the front end of his vehicle. the current mileage was 96318.*ak updated 03/30/07. *jb

I own a dodge ram 2400 and it definitely has the death wobble. when i heard about this problem on the radio and heard them call it the death wobble, i was completely aware of what they were talking about. this is a very good way to describe what happens while you are driving. i have had this problem since 2006. i reported the problem to my local dealer-greenway dodge in orlando fl. greenway attempted to fix the problem on 11/24/06 and 12/26/06. if they cannot mimic the problem, they say it does not exist. i have the truck shaking violently on video. after greenway supposedly fixed the problem, we went on a family vacation. within the first hour of the trip, the truck was shaking violently and my husband had to do whatever he could to control the vehicle. i took the camera out and recorded what was going on. greenway did not even want to see the video. i told them they returned the truck to us without fixing it and that it was a deathtrap for our family and others on the road. i have made complaints to dodge customer assistance center and received no help. i contacted the news back in 2007 and received no help. i printed out many many complaints regarding this truck at the www.complaints.com website. this dodge ram truck has had this problem for many years. it is not just the make and model that i have. dodge and chrysler know of this problem and they are leaving these deathtraps on the road. the entire truck should have been recalled! i am amazed that this company does not care about its customers and does not care about anyone on the road. everytime we get into the truck we risk our lives and the lives of anyone on the road. not every truck will stop wobbling when you slow down either. we have to actually pull off to the side of the road, turn off the engine and then start all over again. if we are in the left lane of a 3 lane highway and have to pull over to the side, we have to go across all the lanes and hope that we make it. *tr

My 2004 dodge ram 2500 developed a vibration in the front end a about 35,000 miles. it was most noticeable at low speeds turning to the left. it got worse and by 50,000 miles began to appear at speeds from 45 mph and up. at 52,000 miles the dealer found that both cv joints were bad along with both upper and lower ball joints. both cv joints, all four ball joints, and the lt front hub and bearings were replaced. i have the replaced parts except the cv joints which were returned to chrysler. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving at highway speeds of 60mph over bumps, the vehicle violently vibrates intermittently until the brakes are depressed and released. the vibration can be felt through the steering wheel. when the vehicle was taken to the dealership, they determined the upper and lower ball joints on both sides were replaced due to excessive play. however, the replacement of the ball joints did not correct the problem. the vehicle was returned to the dealership on 5-03-06 where the steering damper was replaced. the contact is unsure if this repair has corrected the problem because of its intermittence nature of this defect .

Left wheel bearing on my 2004 ram 2500 truck has been replaced 8 times. the failure occurs under normal driving conditions. two dealerships have worked on the problem but they have not been able to correct the malfunction. the seal of the wheel bearing has been broken every time. the first incident occured shortly after i purchased the truck. mileage was approximately 2200 miles. recently, the last four times, the seal was broken approximately every 3000 miles. dodge dealership (arrigo dodge, west palm beach, florida) claims that chrysler will not authorize them to repair additional parts (spindles, front end, etc.), however, a chrysler representative has stated that the dealership has the authority to make any repairs that need to be done. dealership claims that this is the first time that a vehicle has been brought in with this type of repair.

My ram 2500 4x4 diesel truck started shaking uncontrollably at 60-65mph around 30k miles on vehicle, had to completely stop the vehicle to make the shaking stop. i thought i had problems with tires and balancing, so went to tire shop and bought new tires and had front end aligned. but about a week after new tires were installed it happened again, so i had dealership examine vehicle, they changed steering damper, and ball joints after 3 weeks in shop. again, the vehicle started shaking, so brought it again to dealership, where they stated i needed to have the truck aligned, so i told them to have it aligned. the problem continued until i noticed the front tires were loosing its shape going bald on the outside, obviously alignment wrongly performed. i called the dealership and they said there was nothing they could do as alignment was not performed at their site. that's when i decided to bring the vehicle to my technician and pay for a real technician to do the job correctly. here's what he found out: all tie rod ends and bars were damaged, steering damper was bad, and the front end was displaced wrongly via the eccentric adjustments. to our surprise, all new repalcement parts (tie rods, and bars) had problems, went back to mopar parts store three times to exchange parts. this is when we decided to go all the way and exchanged all tie rods and bars with aftermarket ones with grease cups and added a second steering damper to the principal bar coming from the pitman arm. problem has been solved with $$$ and time to think about the problem. i can forwrd pictures of how the front end suspension looks now, not different from original but with grease cups and additional steering damper (mopar clamp on type). please forward this to chrysler and dodge engineers.

2004 dodge 2500 4x4 4 door automatic. the problem is when i am driving around 60 or 65 and hit a bump in the road the front end shakes out of control until i slow down to less than 35 or 40 then it stops. i have replaced tires, ball joints, and stabilizers bars, put some sort of heavy duty stabilizer shock on the front end the dealer could not find any thing wrong every time they test drove it. i finally asked if someone from the dealer could ride with me to see what the truck dose at 60 mph. a mechanic rode with me driving at about 62 mph we drove across the seam at the beginning of a bridge and the front end let loose. the reaction from the dodge mechanic was just short of panic. he then drove it and it did the same thing. back at the dealership he told the service manager 'i have no idea what that could be i thought the front end was falling off. this problem has been going on for at least three years and about 55,000 miles. i hope you can help thanks for your time. *tr

I have a 04 dodge 2500 4x4 truck, when i drive at speeds of 70 mph and above a hit a ripple in the road, the front driver side tire will start to hop violently. i have to slam on my brakes to stop the hopping of front tire. *nm

Vehicle is in for a third time for same violent shaking at 65mph as reported to this site before. this vehicle is bound for a fatal head-on! i have found numerous complaints of the same problem nationwide on the internet. dodge bought back 32 vehicles from the state of maine for the same reason. is anyone at the nhtsa looking into this? i have video of the problem showing a violent high speed wobble and bounce of the front-end. the video was taken from a second vehicle as i traveled at about 70 mph.

Dt: vehicle dies while driving and has no stopping power. consumer has taken vehicle to service department and it has been fixed twice. the last time he took it in they didn't want to put it on the machine to check to see if anything was wrong. this happened at least once every week.*ak there was a problem with the front suspension making a clicking/popping noise. even though dealer could not get it to duplicate they tightened the suspension bolts. *tt *nm

This vehicle is subject to violent shaking of the left front suspension upon hitting a bump at highway speeds. the shaking is so violent that it causes the truck to jump out of it's lane. this has now happened for the third time in 10,000 miles. there are no modifications to this suspension system. i drove directly to the dealer who inspected the truck but report "nothing is wrong" with it. i have since found many complaints describing this phenomena on the internet. all describe this the same way - as violent shaking - and all report the same "cause" ie., highway speeds and small bump or break in the pavement such as a expansion joint etc. *jb

While driving the front end of vehicle shook horribly. consumer took vehicle to dealer for service twice, but they could not determine the cause of the problem.*ak

2004 dodge ram 2500 severe death wobble occurs when you pass 40 mph and hit even a small bump it has been so bad at times that i have injured my neck i have replaced tires stock size, shocks, bearings,rotors,ball joints,bushings my wife is afraid to drive this truck and hates to even ride in it now she says its a major accident waiting to happen it has threw us across the lanes just the other day i just missed the guard rails by inches if the roads are snow covered forget driving it unless your life insurance is paid up. *tr

The front left tire started wobbling severely at about sixty miles an hour and could have caused serious injury if traffic had been any heavier.*ak

2004 dodge 2500 ram truck 4x4 when i hit a bad bump at 60-70 mph. the front end shakes violently to the point of having to almost stop in traffic.*ak

At less than 4000 miles on my '04 dodge ram 2500 i experienced violent shaking in the front-end at about 70-75 mph. i had to slow to about 35 to recover. this occured on a poor stretch of interstate therefor i avoided this stretch for sometime. at about 13000 miles i experienced the same problem and had to come to a complete stop to recover. this occured three more times on that trip and each time the onset occured at a slower speed. the shake is so violent that there is no steering control and slowing to abruptly enhanced the problem. i have seen several similar complaints on the internet yet only five reported to the nhtsa. there are currently three other pickups with the same problems being serviced at the same dealership i took mine to. i was told by the mechanic that they haven't tracked the problem and dodge has been of no help. i currently have 600 miles on it since the repair and the problem is back. this problem without a doubt will cause a fatal crash. i am currently restricted to town driving until this problem is solved. note: the date noted below for the date and mileage of occurence is only an estimate.

I am having a violent shake in the front end of my 2004 dodge. this occurs at highway speeds and i have to slow to 50 mph to make it stop.you can imagine towing a trailer on the freeway, surrounded by semi trucks and slowing to 50.this has almost caused several crashes.the dealer is unable to pin point the problem after 2 attempts and i want to use the oklahoma lemon law to get a new truck. i refuse to drive the truck another mile. it isnt safe and it will end up killing me and probably other drivers. i need help...*ak