Two problems related to steering knuckle spindle have been reported for the 2001 Dodge Ram 1500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
2001 Dodge ram with less than 40,000 miles and the bearings and steering knuckle went out and the wheel came off. Did not wreck but only because my husband was driving and he is a professional driver. Had I been driving we could have had a serious wreck and injured or even killed all 6 of us in the vehicle.
My wife was driving the truck when it began making a noise and the wheel began to wobble. When she stopped, the wheel was wobbly. Her dad investigated the cause thinking it was a bearing going out but found out that the spindle nut that holds the wheel on had backed off. The wheel has never been worked on and it had the new type of nut that does not have a kotter pin in it and is the type that is "self locking". Needless to say, it did not lock and could have caused an accident if the wheel had come completely off.