Nine problems related to brake electric antilock have been reported for the 1997 Dodge Ram 1500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On December 14 2005 my son was driving my Dodge Ram 1500, he tried to stop and the abs system locked and he rear ended the car in front of him. The engine stalled and he had no control over the vehicle. The truck slid approximately 20 feet. There was a child injured in the car that he hit.
Consumer took vehicle to dealer to have brakes done and a gear box put on, and consumer found out that fornt coil springs were busted due to defective steel.
Consumer having problems with there brakes and it is hard to stop vehicle. Dealer notified.
Truck acceelrated upon putting into drive. . . . . The pedal went to the floor . . . . Could not stop it. The abs activated and vehicle crashed into a building. . . . It squeeled the tires as soon as I stepped on pedal and it went to the floor. . . . . . Crashed into a building and it was still revving at full throttle. . . . . . . . . Can you help us. . . . . . We dont want to drive it again unless we know what caused it to do this. . . . . . . . . The exterior damage is being repaired but we still dont know why it did that. . . . . . . . Thankyou. . .
Ongoing and intermittent failure of braking system;. Vehicle been in / out of dealer shop on twelve occasions. Various parts and repairs have been made, but the problem still reoccurring. Please provide us with any further details on this matter.
While driving and attempted to stop, anti-lock brakes did not catch, and consumer ran into the back of another automobile. Driver sustained some injuries.
Abs brakes pulled to left and locked up, causing consumer to hit enbankment and went into someone's yard.
When driving at any speed and applying the brakes, the abs system kicks in, and the brake pedal goes straight to the floorboard.
As per NHTSA #sb049106,bulletin #96-40,sequence #152. The description in this report describes how my truck has driven since I received it. I went through all the hoops and rings that the dealer and the regional manager required and finally ended up in arbitration only to be told that my truck didnt have a problem,what I felt (and experenced) was inherent to the vehicle and all the vibration, clunking and hesitation just bothered me more than anyone else was because I was sensative to it. After 2 years of battling with this and brake problems(which I will say ,they fixed after 32000 miles and $400+ of my money) I couldnt afford the time off to continue battling. Not once was this buletin ever brought up,infact,during arbitration,if was asked if any bulletins refered to problems like this and the answer was a flat "no". I still have all my records and copies of the dealer service records. I'll try to call Monday,07/19/99. My home #is 623-878-2138(recorder/fax) cellphone is 602-321-0921. Thank you phil lobins.