Carrier/rack problems of the 2003 Dodge Ram 2500

At approximately 64,000 miles, I noticed the dashboard started to crack in multiple places. Shortly there after, pieces started to break away while driving. Most of the pieces had sharp edges with the potential to cause injury to the driver or front seat passenger. There have been numerous complaints/reports of this problem logged with both the manufacturer and the NHTSA for years with no action even attempted to have a safety recall issued to have the defective factory dashboard replaced at no cost to the owner. What has to happen before the NHTSA acts? the loss of someone's eye perhaps or a piece flying into the face of a driver causing loss of sight and causing a collision? wake up!!! this is not just a cosmetic problem. It's a sleeping giant waiting to happen!.

Takata recall complaint recall number r26 / NHTSA 15v-312 I took my truck to the dealership to get the recalled passenger takata airbag inflator replaced under the recall. I was told by one of the service advisors that Dodge will replace any parts that are broken free of charge during the replacement of the inflators. Well that was a lie, as you can see that the dashboard on this same 2003 Ram 2500 model has many complaints about it cracking and literally breaking apart due it becoming brittle. Mine has 5 cracks on the dashboard and it is blowing broken pieces out the vents into my face while driving due to the problem with the dashboards. Well then the dealership advised me that the dashboard will crack and break into pieces during the replacement of the faulty takata inflator and they wanted me to pay to replace the dashboard and other associated parts that will break apart during the replacement so I declined the repair. They told me that since my dashboard has cracks already that they would not pay for the parts that would break during the replacement of the inflator. I do not have the money to replace the entire dashboard. So now every time my wife is a passenger in the truck I have to worry about her getting injured worse in an accident due the faulty inflator. I find this unacceptable that Dodge installed cheap plastic dashboards and now I have a defective inflator that can not be replaced with out costing me thousands of dollars due to the defective dashboards. I think Dodge should pay for everything since they used faulty parts and the recall repairs should not cost me anything to get it fixed no matter how many parts they have to replace free of charge attached is the repair ticket I received from the dealership.

Takata recall complaint recall number r26 / NHTSA 15v-312 I took my truck to the dealership to get the recalled passenger takata airbag inflator replaced under the recall. I was told by one of the service advisors that Dodge will replace any parts that are broken free of charge during the replacement of the inflators. Well that was a lie, as you can see that the dashboard on this same 2003 Ram 2500 model has many complaints about it cracking and literally breaking apart due it becoming brittle. Mine has 5 cracks on the dashboard and it is blowing broken pieces out the vents into my face while driving due to the problem with the dashboards. Well then the dealership advised me that the dashboard will crack and break into pieces during the replacement of the faulty takata inflator and they wanted me to pay to replace the dashboard and other associated parts that will break apart during the replacement so I declined the repair. They told me that since my dashboard has cracks already that they would not pay for the parts that would break during the replacement of the inflator. I do not have the money to replace the entire dashboard. So now every time my wife is a passenger in the truck I have to worry about her getting injured worse in an accident due the faulty inflator. I find this unacceptable that Dodge installed cheap plastic dashboards and now I have a defective inflator that can not be replaced with out costing me thousands of dollars due to the defective dashboards. I think Dodge should pay for everything since they used faulty parts and the recall repairs should not cost me anything to get it fixed no matter how many parts they have to replace free of charge attached is the repair ticket I received from the dealership.

Dash has been cracking for years as most do. Becoming a safety issue as pieces fly into your face everytime you use heat or ac. Also has jagged edges that could be an issue in an accident situation.

While searching for a fix for my dash which just cracked I found several reports of after the dash cracked where electrical issues arise. As in headlights not working at all or when switching to hi beam. I also saw a video on this issue from a news broadcast and when Chrysler was questioned about this there was never any response while the public was requesting a recall. From what I can find out just in the hour I was looking this up this would apply to just about every Dodge ram made between 1996 and 2006. My truck is garage kept and I keep it in excellent condition so for this to happen due to sitting in the sun it's entire life I might understand but there is no way this should have happened to mine. My father was a mechanic for Chrysler for over 20 years and this is just plain cheap made products. Which from what I can find out could and most likely will lead to some safety issue with the vehicle. Since I can not find anything more out with regards to what the NHTSA is doing only monitoring the issue?? the broadcast I saw was from 2012, I would think something would have become of this by now for sure after seeing that video. Yet at that time the news channel stated your doing nothing.

Dashboard cracked. First the little piece by the front windshield just fell apart. We replaced that and now the big dashboard is cracked all the way through. We were just driving on the freeway and it just cracked.

The dashboard on my 2003 Dodge2500 started cracking with nothing ever touching it. Pieces of my dash are now falling into my under compartment from intersecting cracks. I've never seen a dashboard do that in my life. My fear now is that if I get in an accident that shards of plastic may be thrown everywear. Or that the recall of the air bag in this model may go off throwing shards of plastic everywhere as well. This truck was over 30,000 dollars , you would think Dodge could give you a dashboard that didn't disintegrate for that much money.

I have a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 that the dash board is cracking and falling apart for know reason. My truck is in like new condition the dash started cracking at about 60,000 the truck now has 112,000 miles on it and the dash is in pieces. Nhtsa needs to take this mater seriously and make Dodge take care is this problem at no cost to the truck owner. Dodge knows there was a defect with the plastic that was used in the dash and needs to take care of it or be made to fix it. This is a danger to me the driver and my wife and kids that ride in my truck.

The dash in my truck has cracked from the from to the rear of the dash like alot of of the Dodgeram have done but yet there has not been a recall for this issue. What is it going to take before anyone does anything about this issue. Is someone waiting to have a airbag go off and send the dash in little pices or one large pice to cause a fatal accident or what this is a saftey issue.

Cracked dash.

The dashboard in my truck started to crack and is now falling apart with huge sharp pieces coming off I am afraid my small children will be injured from the dash.

The dash started cracking and has not stopped . Will they ever do anything about this or will my dash be in my floor ?.

Since I purchased this vehicle in 2012, the dash board has been so severely cracked that there are sharp edges exposed. The previous owner had a carpet dash cover on the dash. Directly above the passenger airbag the lip of the dash is cracked from the airbag all the way to the windshield. I am afraid of that cracked piece being projected by the airbag during an accident and injuring a passenger. All of the cracks are straight lines, most running front to back. This indicates that it was inferior plastic or manufacturing process that caused the plastic to crack this direction, or that the dash is not properly supported underneath. Plastic cracks from sun damage tend to be "spider web" type of cracks.

The upper dashboard on my Ram 2500 cracked. The exposed edges are sharp, and represent a safety hazard under normal operation. The situation could be catastrophic if the sharp edges were to cut the airbag when deployed. This defect has been reported to Dodge by a large number of customers, and their typical response is that they bear no responsibility since the vehicle is out of warranty.

The dashboard of my 2003 Dodge ram is falling apart. It has to many cracks to count and pieces are falling off the dash and into my lap while driving. I am scared that these cracked pieces will fall off and puncture my skin and cause damage to my health. I have contacted my dealer and they tell me its to bad the vehicle is out of warranty. It is to expensive for me to replace. I just don't want to have to take legal actions when I get injured by flying debris created by chryslers inferior product!.

The dashboard of my Dodge ram has cracked in many pieces and is falling into the floor. My dash has actually cracked so bad it is in 4 different pieces just supported by a couple screws and metal braces. More falls off and bigger pieces come apart every time I drive it. This is ridicules!!.

Pillar handle broke and dash cracking. Almost fell to the pavement when handle pulled off pillar. Can believe its plastic hangers. Also dash cracked right above airbag on passenger side.

The dash board developed it's firt crack in may or April of 2011, since then it continues to crack. If it continues to crack I fear that small pieces will dislodge which may create a hazard for any occupant in the vehicle. Such as a piece lodging in their eye and possible loss of eye sight.

Dash cracked a few years back, now it is almost completely disintegrated. Besides the danger of flying projectiles the defroster air vents no longer direct the air flow.

Dash is cracking. Should be fix by Dodge it could be a safty hazzard. . .

At about 7 yrs old, our trucks' dash started cracking at what looks like the mounting seems. There was no crash that damaged it. We live in the desert, but always use window shades. Since we're out of warranty Dodge will do nothing. It has since broke off in larger chunks, falling into the air vents. We have owned vehicle for much longer and never had this problem. I have recently been reading forums where others with this type vehicle have the same problem, and again, Dodge does nothing. Is it going to take one falling completely apart, and a child sticking their hands in there and being shocked for someone to make Dodge recall their faulty dash boards?.

Dodge 2500 slt has a severely cracked dash with multiple very sharp and jagged edges. . . Its made of very poor and brittle plastic and because its in the dash poses a significant hazard to the airbag deployment and or persons thrown forward onto the dash. Dodge knows this is a problem and hasn't had a recall on this issue. I would like to know if the national highway safety people would like to take action on this issue.

In the past few years air bags have been the focus of the largest safety recall in the nation, if not the world. The problem is that small sharp pieces of metal or plastic can act like shrapnel in the case of an accident when the air bags deploy, showering the occupants with possible deadly debris. A similar situation exists with the dash of the 2003 Dodge ram. Made of an inferior plastic, the 2003 dash begins to crack, splinter and disintegrate leaving unsightly holes. The holes are not merely cosmetic, they are created by the plastic dash cracking and creating sharp plastic shards which could act very much like the shrapnel from the air bags. The problem is potentially much greater as the cracked and hole ridden dash no longer prevents objects from falling into the dash and getting lodged behind the instrument panel. This has the possibility of causing a short circuit which could result in a fire or even inadvertently and unexpectedly turn off the vehicle, which coincidently is also another major recall issue (gm ignition).

Cracked dash. Like so many other 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 owners, my vehicle has developed cracks along the dash for no apparent reason even though the vehicle is well cared for and maintained in pristine condition. The first hairline crack appeared in 2010 at the center of the dash beginning on the windshield side. Over time the crack has progressed towards the instrument panel to the point that the dash has completely split in half. To date, two additional cracks have developed, one six inches to the left of the center crack and another over the passenger airbag section. With so many complaints of cracked dashes, particularly with the 2003 model year, it's apparent that a manufacturing flaw exists and Chrysler should acknowledge this fact and effect replacement of the defective dashes. Is a cracked dash a safety issue? absolutely, considering the additional injuries that can be inflicted on vehicle occupants in the event of a collision and the deployment of air bags. Since Chrysler has set a precedent by acknowledging that a problem existed with cracked dashes on Dodge ram model years prior to 2003 (1998-2002), and has agreed to replace the cracked dashes on the previous model years, then why not do the same for the 2003 model year that seems to have the most complaints/issues? so what if the cracks appeared after the warranty has expired on these vehicles; it's a matter of integrity. Given that Chrysler is fully aware of this manufacturer defect, they should admit accountability and do the right thing by recalling these vehicles and providing the necessary replacement of the defective dashes.

The dashboard on my 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 truck is severely cracked and fragmented. I first noticed a long (6"+) crack down the center of the dashboard, from windshield towards the interior of the truck) in 2010. I have used a dashboard mat/cover in the vehicle since purchased in 2002. The crack was noticed when removing the dash mat cover to clean/wipe down the dashboard. The dashboard has not been subject to direct sunlight for the duration of the time that I've owned the vehicle (single owner). Since the initial crack in 2010, the condition of the dashboard has continued to deteriorate. With no instances of direct contact or accident, the small slits for the dashboard air vents have started to break off entirely, and from time to time use of the air vent near the windshield shoots little bits of plastic back into the front seat passengers. This is a safety issue during normal operation, and a further hazard should there be a hard stop, crash or other abrupt event. I am also concerned that if the dash is subject to any sort of impact from the vehicle cabin (persons or objects) it may further shatter and create unnecessary cutting or impact injuries to passengers.

I have a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 . We have been noticing our dashboard cracking more and more. It should not been detoriating before we get it paid off. I feel as though it is a defect in the model. And I think Dodge company should recall this issue and fix this at no cost to me.

Cracked dash could be dangerous in accident fly debris or if air bag goes off this is potentially dangerous to me and my passengers.

Dashboard is cracking and breaking apart. I know if many Dodge ram's that have the same problem. This is not cosmetic as Dodge claims but is a defect in materials, workmanship, or both. The cracks seem to just appear. I have not noticed it happening while driving.

My truck has been babied it's entire life and has been garaged. I even tinted the windshield with the uv rated ting so it would help with the dash issues also. Even with all this precaution, the dash has still cracked. I noticed the first hairline crack in summer 2006 and it's been a downhill spiral ever since. Recently it started dropping parts in the vents I guess. Then I would have particles flying in my eye when I turn the heater on. My kids also have things flying in their eyes. This is a danger ous situation and Dodge needs to reclall these dashes before someone gets really hurt or killed.

Dash began cracking after only a few years. Now it is completely falling apart and I believe if the airbags went off in an accident it would sent pieces of the dash into the faces of the occupants.