$70k Truck Falling Apart at 38k Miles

[MD Sledhead]

You've never bought a truck equipped with Bridgestone Duelers I'm guessing. They make a pretty good studless snow tire (Blizzak) but those Duelers are lucky to make it 30k miles for most people.

In all the years (20+) I've owned a Ram, I have never had tires go more than 30K miles. Michelin, Goodyear, General, Cooper, and many others.

 

[Hudsonodoi]

I’m having all the issues everyone is having and more. Now I have these Service 4WD, with tail gate brakes, and many computer issues. I’m so done. Changed dash, engine stalled for diesel fuel pressure pump to be fixed (it took them 3 weeks to fix) now truck will be in the shop gain for a total of 20days……I’m so done with RAM. Waiting for a fix and trade in for Toyota Land Cruiser. I’m don’t with pickups

 

[DA Smith]

Man that's the kind of dealership I would love to go to. I could spend all the time I wanted looking and getting in vehicles to get the feel of them until I found one that flips my switch then ask for a salesman, it's always irritating to me when going to look at a new vehicle you pull up and park and before you can cut the engine off there's a pack of sales people running out of the office ready to pounce on you. I'll call for one when I'm ready for one.

 

[turkeybird56]

Credit check for a test drive? That's a little nuts.

I've never done more than a photocopy of my license.

No way they gonna do a Credit run on a test drive for me. THEY cannot check my CREDIT anyway, as I have all the reporting Credit Agencies Locked down, as frozen. I have to go in and "unfreeze" which one of the Big 3 any bizness/car dealership whateva using before they can do a credit check. Heck, even getting financing to do new windows for house, I had to go in and temporarily unfreeze a reporting agency. Not fool proof but another level of security on fraud.

 

[Jerrybob]

In all the years (20+) I've owned a Ram, I have never had tires go more than 30K miles. Michelin, Goodyear, General, Cooper, and many others.

I've never had any vehicle we've owned get less than 40K on any tires.....that includes tow rigs.....hunting rigs.....passenger cars...SUVs. I do replace my trailer tires at 5 or 6 yrs not due to wear but weather cracks on sidewalls....just sayin.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Of course a new vehicle has attractive new, shiny features...

*For me* the shiny new features have jumped the shark. There's no current production Ram 1500 I want, and frankly that goes for most manufacturers. I don't want lane assist, I don't want automatic brake application, I don't want my truck watching me drive, I don't want automatic over the air drivetrain updates, etc. The truck watching you for being sleepy or drunk is coming to the US unless Congress changes the law in the next few years. My days of buying new are probably over.

 

[dtru1222]

I appreciate all the input. I dont think I qualify for the lemon law here in Texas. It requires the dealer to attempt 2+ repairs on an item and the original warranty which went out last year before I hit the 36k mile mark. I know this doesnt happen to all vehicles, I have had many Dodge/Ram vehicles over the years. My last two 1500's had little problems. One had a weird intermittent shifting issue. Had my Challenger for a while with no real problems either. I finally went for "top of the line" at the time before TRX came out and bought the truck outright. I am just very disappointed that the truck I was so excited for and to show off is now feeling like its just falling to pieces.

I have taken great care of it. I am an ex Army mechanic and I know all the stories of how people mistreat/neglect their vehicles and I can assure you thats not me. I could have looked passed all the other issues but the dashboard is where I draw the line. That is completely unacceptable. Reading the forums it seems its common and they still will not take care of it. They offered a discount but at that point I am more inclined to drive it around like a billboard for the poor quality.

 

[Dusty]

Glad you had good luck with your Honda. Our Odyssey was nothing but problems and why we started getting rid of vehicles before the warranty ran out. Torque converter, 3 alternators all four brake rotors TWICE! the TCS never worked correctly (probably related to the brake rotor issues) and an annoying rattle they never could find.

No broken motor mounts? It seems everyone I've known with an Odyssey has had at least one break.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 112538 miles.

 

[MD Sledhead]

I've never had any vehicle we've owned get less than 40K on any tires.....that includes tow rigs.....hunting rigs.....passenger cars...SUVs. I do replace my trailer tires at 5 or 6 yrs not due to wear but weather cracks on sidewalls....just sayin.

Interesting... do you live where it's flat? Little to no snow? If I'm not going up a hill, i'm going down one. Roads are rough due to the harsh treatment in the wintertime.
The 20" P tires that come on the Rams start out with 11/32 of tread (i.e. 1/3rd worn out). Even rotating ever 5000 miles will get me about 25k max.
I went to Falken Wildpeak AT3 LT tires and exceeded that, but I traded for my 2024 before they needed replaced (had high hopes there).

 

[Tulecreeper]

I've never had any vehicle we've owned get less than 40K on any tires.....that includes tow rigs.....hunting rigs.....passenger cars...SUVs. I do replace my trailer tires at 5 or 6 yrs not due to wear but weather cracks on sidewalls....just sayin.

Interesting... do you live where it's flat? Little to no snow? If I'm not going up a hill, i'm going down one. Roads are rough due to the harsh treatment in the wintertime.
The 20" P tires that come on the Rams start out with 11/32 of tread (i.e. 1/3rd worn out). Even rotating ever 5000 miles will get me about 25k max.
I went to Falken Wildpeak AT3 LT tires and exceeded that, but I traded for my 2024 before they needed replaced (had high hopes there).

I'm with @Jerrybob.

I live in flat terrain now, but my last truck I drove for 23+ years - a Silverado 1500 4x4. No snow, but very hot summers, and for the first 14 years of that 23 years I lived in N CA and spent my share of time off-road, towing a boat, hunting and fishing and I never got less than the 50,000 mile warranty out of a set of tires. And I was buying Big-O brand tires for like $500 - $600 per set so nothing fancy. Just good, solid tires.

 

[KeithP]

No broken motor mounts? It seems everyone I've known with an Odyssey has had at least one break.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 112538 miles.

Not while had it but we didn’t have it all that long. Wouldn’t be surprised if the second owner didn’t have that problem though. Hopefully they still had some warranty time left if it did happen to them.

 

[DanAR]

Never had a sunroof leak on past Saab, Audis, or Toyotas/Lexus (at least as long as the wife closes it completely). But I view them kind of like skylights in a house. When you ask the builder how many skylights he plans to put in and he responds with, well - how many roof leaks do you want. It’s a bad omen.

 

[Scottly]

I'm with @Jerrybob.

I never got less than the 50,000 mile warranty out of a set of tires. And I was buying Big-O brand tires for like $500 - $600 per set so nothing fancy. Just good, solid tires.

But I bet ya kept the air pressures in check, and rotated them on the regular

 

[Jerrybob]

But I bet ya kept the air pressures in check, and rotated them on the regular

Easy to do........highly recommended.

 

[MD Sledhead]

But I bet ya kept the air pressures in check, and rotated them on the regular

I'm with @Jerrybob.

I live in flat terrain now, but my last truck I drove for 23+ years - a Silverado 1500 4x4. No snow, but very hot summers, and for the first 14 years of that 23 years I lived in N CA and spent my share of time off-road, towing a boat, hunting and fishing and I never got less than the 50,000 mile warranty out of a set of tires. And I was buying Big-O brand tires for like $500 - $600 per set so nothing fancy. Just good, solid tires.

That would be the difference. I rotate my tires every 5k and keep the recommended pressure.
Vehicles don't last 20 years where I live - doesn't matter what you do to them.

Winter is extremely hard on any car or truck. Between the $hit they put on the roads (84 tons of salt per lane mile, and antiskid that will slice right through your tires) and snow/ice, it's brutal. If undercoated, you'll get 10 years only if you really take good care of it.
(all because the Baltimorons can't driver their BMWs in the snow).

 

[Sherman Bird]

The leather dashboard has completely peeled and looks terrible even from the outside, sun visor just dropped out of the holder and I cant use it, girlfriend tried to close the tailgate once and the whole thing came off, sun roof and bed light leaks water, alignment from the factory was so off after 10k easy miles that it took them a whole day to fix and the steering wheel has been tilted right ever since, parking sensors go off randomly sometimes throwing the brakes and making loud noises when theres nothing around, in 2wd sharp turns/reverse the truck stops and I have to give it gas and it feels like its doing the 4w hop, at stop lights it randomly seems the break is applied and wont roll forward, I have to give it gas to BUMP it out of whatever is holding it back then its always TOO much gas... All this and I am not even going into the issues with the 12 inch stereo system.

I have been a long time owner/member of the forums. I have owned Dodge/Ram trucks and cars since the 90's and always had good things to say about them. I purchased a 2020 1500 Limited with every option except the ones I didnt want and its been the worst quality vehicle I have ever owned. The base models I used to have had very little problems.

The worst part is that all of this started happening as soon as the warranty ended. I just had someone hit my wheel while I was parked and decided to take it in to look at all the issues. $6,000 to fix it all.. Most of the issues I could have looked passed and just chalked it up to "things happen". The dashboard problem however, is absolutely inexcusable. Looking on the forums I see its a common issue. These are some of the highest trim levels available and the leather peeling off of the dashboard at such low miles/time is laughable. They want me to spend $3,000 to install the same poor quality dashboard only for it to go out in another 30k miles.

This will make me never buy another product from this company. It quickly went from being the best truck I have ever had, friends loving it, to explaining how a $70k truck is completely falling apart.

I do not know where you are located in retrospect to hot sun/heat inside the truck/do you use a Weathertech windshield shade? (I do and they are second to none keeping my interior cool and protected from the harsh rays) I wonder IF one can mitigate this issue by some diligent efforts.

If you DO garage it/ keep it protected from environment, then there IS no reason for the problem.

My 2007 Toyota Camry dash didn't come apart, but the plastic got all gooey to the touch. Sticky. Toyota replaced it 0n 2017 at 157,000 miles, No charge to me.

 

[Dean2]

I have owned a great many vehicles past 250,000 miles, and a ton more below that. In 50 years of driving I have owned 4 new vehicles, so most never had warranty, or did for only a short time. Two of the new ones I bought in the last 3 years because I could get brand new cheaper than 3 year old used.

Across many makes I have never had to do more than regular maintenance. No motors, transmissions, rear ends or any othe major repairs. A few have needed steering parts and one POS Ford Aerostar van got punted within months or it would have cost me big bucks. That said, after owning so many vehicles I expect to one day get a dud, but all in I saved a metric ton of money not buying new every 2 or 3 years just to have warranty coverage.

Sell the problem child and move on.

 

[RD Holland]

I have the Laramie Longhorn with that great interior. My dash started disintegrating after about two years and was kaput by three. It is a terrible look. Fortunately my RAM dealer fixed it under warranty. I asked about an extended warranty when mine ran out and if it would cover the dashboard, just in case. I was told no way. Now I know why. It is doing it all again. Bubbling up now for about a year and now the dash is starting to separate starting with the piece above the instruments right in front of me. I just happened to see this post because I wanted to search and see if Dodge has a better solution than to just replace the same POS with another one that will last three years if I'm lucky.