Three problems related to ball joint have been reported for the 2003 Dodge Ram 3500. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Ram 3500. While driving 40 mph, the driver side tie rod ball joint fractured. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was repaired by the owner; however, the failure continued intermittently. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
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.
2003 3500 drw 4x4 diesel while traveling on improved roads/hiways above 40 mph vehicle hits pothole, expansion joint or uneven roadway, front end starts to jump violently, whole vehicle rattles and shakes until brakes are applied, service tech. From Dodge dealer was present during duplication of event, has been in shop for over 1 week and they have replaced tie rod ends and ball joints and problem still exists, contacted damiler/Chrysler and they state that customer replaced shocks with aftermarket product. Vehicle unusable in this condition, very good possibility of injury or death as a result of this problem.