general problems of the 2003 Dodge Ram 3500

Was driving down the road and went to shift gears and the shifter lever arm broke off at the bottom.

Was changing oil on my 03 Dodge Ram 3500 and noticed the frame rail near cab mount on drivers side was completely rusted thru with a hole approximately 2 inches long and 1/4" wide. I'm afraid to haul my goose neck trailer under these conditions. I'm afraid that additional weight could cause the frame to collapse. I don't remember seeing a recall for this condition.

Directionals suddenly started blinking fast. Right & left directional don't opperate, right rear taillight doesn't operate, front left headlight does not opporate, both rear brake lights don't opperate, checked all bulbs by certified mechanic. All bulbs are in good condition. Tested all electrical & lighting lines, certified mechanic concluded that the integrated fuse box is defective & needs a brand new replacement. No corrosion present. Ordered fuse block from dealership, parts dept. Confirms these blocks are on national back order, with 1000's of orders placed. Called Chrysler, they said they can't help as there's no vendor making this part yet. If I got a used part for $400, it'd be an old defective fuse box & I'd have exact same safety issues. Apparently many 2003-2005 Dodge ram diesels currently have this same electrical problem.

I got a letter last year 2014 about the recall and went back a month later, and they verbally said that there's a recall on the recall. The recent one, I took it to turlock Dodge and they put me on the list and I'm at the bottom and it has been a year, but I want it fixed ASAP. The recall says: "the problem is the left tie rod ball stud on your truck may fracture under certain driving conditions. This could cause a loss of directional control and/or crash without warning. The dealer will repair your vehicle free of charge. To do this, your dealer will inspect the steering linkage on your truck and replace steering linkage component/s if required. The inspection will take less than 1/2 hour. If linkage replacement is required, the work will take an additional 1 hour to complete. . Etc" this was copied from the recall notice. So when are you going to fix it?! fix this ASAP, I'm frustrated since it has been a year and no one has gotten back to me except the letter!.

Dash board falling apart.

Dash board starting breaking apart voluntarily several years ago and has been getting continuously worse to the point that entire dash has crumbled. . Dash board pieces are hard sharp plastic material and could come back and injure someone in the event of an accident. Dodge dealerships state that all ram trucks have this problem but no recall has been issued.

Sharp parts and peices keep falling off the dash of my truck and most of not all have either hit my passenger or myself while driving.

The dash is completely fractured and broken into shards of sharp hard plastic that should the takata airbag ever deploy will be propelled like shrapnel through the passenger compartment at explosive speeds. It's like driving a car with broken class covering the dashboard. This issue, the dash fracturing and splitting into pieces as a result of sun exposure and age seems to be a known problem on almost all of the online forums I went to to discover if this was unique to me. I cannot understand how such an obvious and common hazard experienced by so many, is allowed to persist.

When the trailer was used, it bent the main springs which supported both the truck and trailer in the opposite direction. If the spring were to break it could cause an accident.