Table 1 shows two common wheel related problems of the 2003 Dodge Ram 3500.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Wheel Bolts problems | |
| Wheel problems |
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge truck. The contact purchased an aluminum dominator alloy adapter plate, which would allow him to switch from an eight lug bolt pattern to a ten lug bolt pattern. The adapter plate failed and caused the front passenger side wheel and tire to detach from the vehicle while driving 50 mph. This failure caused the rotor to fail and damaged the body of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic. While replacing the other three adapters; the contact discovered that the front driver side adapter was also cracked, but had not failed. No other vehicle or equipment information was available.
As with many of the other complaints about 2003 Dodge Ram 3500's this Ram 3500 has had all suggested steering component upgrades and recall upgrades (change steering to 2008 steering) and the tie rod recall for the 2008 steering. The 2008 steering upgrade seemed to exacerbate the tire wear issue. Additionally, ball joints and shocks have been replaced. The ram death wobble and excessive tie wear is still present. The last set of tires lasted 8,000 miles (I am putting a new set on today). The tire wear on my last trip of only 360 miles was very noticeable - so much so a trip of 1,000 miles or more would have caused dangerous tire wear and potential catastrophic failure. Dodge has tried to fix the problem by only skimming over the issue with minor fixes. As a retired law enforcement officer with hundreds of thousands of miles of driving experience - the steering and excessive tire wear is unsafe. Since I am getting new tires and an alignment today - I will be more than happy to track mileage, driving conditions, note steering issues, and photograph tire wear - if you wish.