Any of you had/have these issues with a new Ram?

[jordang1102]

Hello all,

I'm brand new to this forum and a brand new and first time Ram owner. I have had (3) Silverado 1500's over the years and they've always been great, but I do not like the looks of the new models (nor the GMC's) so I purchased a new 2015 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn 4x2. This truck has it all...looks, power, classic design, capabilities, ride quality, etc.

However, I've (from my perspective) had a terrible 1st 2/months of ownership at this point and I'm hoping issues start to resolve themselves so I can begin to like this truck. I've had many issues resolved but there are (2) issues that remain and I'm hoping for some advice, input from past experience, etc. Damn I miss my Chevy at this point.

Issue# 1: Truck pulls to the left while braking.
This has been going on since day 1 and I purchased the truck on May 25, 2015. The truck pulls substantially to the left while braking and especially after a hard brake took place. I live in Austin, TX and you cannot avoid the occasional sudden hard stop while commuting on I-35 in rush hour. After such, the truck pulls even harder than normal to the left. So hard in fact that when I experiment and let go of the wheel - the truck rushes into the other lane (on-coming traffic side) very very fast. Local dealer has looked at this issue once recently (after I had to wait 2/weeks+ for a service opening) and they claimed they replaced the front left caliper because it was defective and not retracting. Makes sense because the interior of the wheel was COATED in brake dust and none of the others are in the slightest. But here's another kink...after picking up the truck and driving it for one day. The issue remains just as bad as before and maybe even a little worse. Also, brake fluid was slung all over the wheel, inner hub, tire outer walls, inner fender well and surrounding (not on paint luckily). The wheel is now permanently ruined from the fluid and I'm fighting the dealer to replace with new. I am scheduled to drop off the truck again tomorrow morning to have them investigate further after I took a tech on a test-drive and clearly demonstrated the issue remains present. Anyone else ever dealt with this?

Issue# 2: Hood is poorly aligned / mis-aligned
After I got the truck home, I was walking by and thought my hood was not shut all the way. I came to find out it was but there was just a significant gap on the front left but the front right was OK. I tried adjusting the little riser screws up front to correct but I could not improve it. I took it to the dealer later and they adjusted them to get it as good as they could, but now it's just equally high on both sides instead of just on one side. The front of the driver side is not even resting on the bumper because it's too high. Also, the front left (driver side) is not aligned with the front of the fender well. It's off by about 1/8" which makes me feel like the driver side needs to be moved rearward some and also the entire hood needs to come down in the front to level off with the fender wells. Anyone have any advice? My dealer claimed they could not make it any better with the riser screws. I'm wondering if I need to unbolt the rear mounts and adjust myself.

Thanks for any help.

 

[CLOUDL1GHT]

Issue #1 definitely looks like a sticking caliper. Whoever replaced it may have used another defective part and it sounds like they did not tighten the brake line down tight enough and it flung the fluid everywhere

Issue #2 you need to loosen the bolts and adjust it yourself. Sounds like they are too lazy to do that for you

It sucks you are having so many problems man. This is why I never use the dealer, try to do everything myself, and have a mechanic that I trust and just pay the extra to have him fix it for me.

 

[SWsabre]

I had a brake pull issue with my new Ram (purchased 5/2/15), took three visits to the dealership to make it right.

1633 Miles, pulls to the left when braking. Work done: switched front tires side to side, adjusted wheel alignment, replaced front brake pads, resurfaced front rotors.

After this it pulled to the right when braking, took it in at 2338 miles. Work done: bled brake system, switched tires front to back.

Now it pulled really hard to the right while braking, took it back again at 2626 miles. Work done: replaced front rotors, replaced front brake caliper adapters.

After this third visit it drives and stops straight, I now have about 5700 miles with no further brake issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[jordang1102]

I had a brake pull issue with my new Ram (purchased 5/2/15), took three visits to the dealership to make it right.

1633 Miles, pulls to the left when braking. Work done: switched front tires side to side, adjusted wheel alignment, replaced front brake pads, resurfaced front rotors.

After this it pulled to the right when braking, took it in at 2338 miles. Work done: bled brake system, switched tires front to back.

Now it pulled really hard to the right while braking, took it back again at 2626 miles. Work done: replaced front rotors, replaced front brake caliper adapters.

After this third visit it drives and stops straight, I now have about 5700 miles with no further brake issues.

Hope this helps.

Yikes, that sounds like a terrible experience. My truck is now at the dealer for the 4th time since purchase on 05/25/15. This is the 2nd time for this braking issue. I'm also having them address the damaged driver front wheel (from brake fluid during last repair attempt) and also the floppy driver sun visor on the interior which hangs about 1" low no matter what I do.

I sure do hope these issues all get corrected this week and the wheel is replaced. Otherwise, I'm certainly never buying one of these again and I'm going to do everything I can do sell it and replace it with a GMC or Ford as soon as possible.

This is so dis-heartening. I've worked really really hard to pull myself up to a place where I could finally purchase a really nice truck that I'm very proud of, and yet it has been my most miserable vehicle experience to date. I don't get it though...so many things I've read says these are great trucks.

 

[WaterBoy1]

It's been said many many times, on this and other manufacturer forums. ALL of them have issues. It's the nature of items with as many parts as our trucks.

I know that doesn't help your situation any, but it's worth mentioning if you're going to be looking at other manufacturers.

I feel for you and these issues you're having. I'm VERY OCD when it comes to things like that. I had a TPMS issue with mine that took 4 trips to the dealer to fix. In the end, now that it is fixed, I absolutely LOVE this truck (and I've owned/driven ALL of the big 3).

Hopefully these issues get resolved for you, sometimes it just takes a few tries for the service department to get a handle on it. Once it's done though, you can go back to enjoying the feeling of driving around in that beautiful truck!

 

[jordang1102]

It's been said many many times, on this and other manufacturer forums. ALL of them have issues. It's the nature of items with as many parts as our trucks.

I know that doesn't help your situation any, but it's worth mentioning if you're going to be looking at other manufacturers.

I feel for you and these issues you're having. I'm VERY OCD when it comes to things like that. I had a TPMS issue with mine that took 4 trips to the dealer to fix. In the end, now that it is fixed, I absolutely LOVE this truck (and I've owned/driven ALL of the big 3).

Hopefully these issues get resolved for you, sometimes it just takes a few tries for the service department to get a handle on it. Once it's done though, you can go back to enjoying the feeling of driving around in that beautiful truck!

I know you're right, but it's damn hard to not complain right now and miss my old truck that was fine. I also don't like how they don't provide me with a loaner vehicle when my Chevy dealer did every time, no question.

You're absolutely right in that I think I'll begin to really like the truck if these things get resolved, though. My main issue right now is that the truck has been mostly just a very expensive inconvenience with back and forth trips to the dealer. If I can just get the darn thing "right" and begin just driving it normally and enjoying it daily like I intended to (which is why I bought new) then maybe my impressions will start improving.

 

[WaterBoy1]

Keep the faith, and keep us updated on your progress!

 

[Sir John]

I had your issue #2 on my new 2014 Sport. Took it back to the dealer and the body shop fixed it perfectly under warranty.

 

[RR7_905RAM]

Same here on the misaligned hood.

I can't see it from the drivers seat so not too concerned about it.
As John said it will be covered under warranty when I can be bothered going to the dealer.

 

[Jmhm17]

man.. 2015's seem to have a lot of issues. Did they **** the Union off again, like they did in 2013?

 

[QwikKota]

No issues like these on my 2015. The hood thing is odd and so is the fact you mention it's not touching the bumper. Do you mean the grill is not touching the bumper? On the new trucks the grill does not mount to the hood. Perhaps the grill is too high and won't let the hood go down which is why the adjusters do nothing. Old Rams/Dakotas the grill went up with the hood. At least on Dakotas it did.

 

[jordang1102]

No issues like these on my 2015. The hood thing is odd and so is the fact you mention it's not touching the bumper. Do you mean the grill is not touching the bumper? On the new trucks the grill does not mount to the hood. Perhaps the grill is too high and won't let the hood go down which is why the adjusters do nothing. Old Rams/Dakotas the grill went up with the hood. At least on Dakotas it did.

By bumper is was referring to those adjustment riser screws with the black hex bumper on the top.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[QwikKota]

By bumper is was referring to those adjustment riser screws with the black hex bumper on the top.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Gotcha. It might be the hood latch is too high not letting it go down all the way.

 

[jordang1102]

Gotcha. It might be the hood latch is too high not letting it go down all the way.

I've wondered the same about the latch too. My truck is currently at the dealer for warranty work but I'm going to play around with it when I get it back. (If you knew the service personnel and manager there, you'd understand why I'd rather do it myself.) I believe that loosening and adjusting the positioning of the hood on the rear mounts is going to be the ticket.

 

[14RAM4X4]

If you haven't filled out the Chrysler survey form, I would do it online and let Chrysler know of the issues you are having with the truck and the dealership. When I bought my jeep, I had several issues the dealer was not interested in addressing. I did the survey online and a few days later the dealership called me to bring in the Jeep and they got right on it. No more 2 - 3 week backlog and I had my Jeep back in 2 days.

 

[LilRamie]

Man front brake issue, miss aligned hood. I'd wonder if the dealer sold you a repaired test drive wreck with the issues your having any evidence? Also on the brake thing - did they test your abs sensors for malfunction?

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[Jerry1984]

Mine has only had the minor black paint issues that seem common. Besides that trouble free 13000 miles.

 

[Irrivirsible]

If I had to bring it back multiple times for braking I would be talking Lemon Law.

 

[jordang1102]

Update

Alright, I picked up the truck this afternoon and here's where I'm at.

Issue# 1: Pulls to left while braking
They replaced the driver side front caliper last attempt, and this attempt they were directed by Chrysler engineering to swap the rotors and pads from left to right and right to left. I hate this at first thought because it seems like a band-aid solution approach. However, upon test drive the truck stops straight so the issue seems to be resolved. I'm going to put some miles on it and hope that things remain OK, but will take it back if something else develops.
Also, during the caliper replacement performed during 1st repair attempt...brake fluid was slung all over the wheel (inside and exterior) causing pitting type damage. Before I came to pick up the truck today, they told me that they cleaned it and the Service Manager said it passes as OK (no replacement needed). I looked at it and nothing has changed. Showed the Service Manager again and pointed it all out and showed him zoomed in pics from my phone so he knew what to look for. He saw it all this time and took many pics himself to submit to Chrysler for request to replace with new. I hope this goes through easily because I don't want a fight.

Issue# 2: Hood
Not a damn thing. Cannot adjust in service they claim and I would have to make an appointment with their body shop which is down the road. I'll probably tinker with this myself to avoid another truck drop off.

Issue# 3: Sagging driver side sun visor
My driver side sun visor was hanging about 1" low and seemed to be getting even more loose by the day. They replaced with new and I'm happy.

Recall for Uconnect Security Firmware Upgrade:
They updated the software with the new firmware flash that just came out while they had it. I'm happy with this.

In summary, I'm hopeful that my issues are finally behind me and I can start enjoying this truck. I think some time behind the wheel without drop offs at the dealer is just what I need to begin to feel like this is "my truck" and not just a truck. Now I just have to make sure that wheel gets replaced. Trust me, I'm not being too ****. If I knew how to post pics on here I'd show you the damage.

Thanks to all of you for your input and for your "pick me ups" when I was feeling less than positive about the truck!

 

[Pull Ya]

Evidently those survey forms mean something to the dealership. I was told they go straight to Chy. and if they ain't good the dealer gets in deep ****. I was told when I bought my truck, that if for any reason I couldn't give an excellent score on the survey, they wanted a chance to make it right before I completed the survey for Chy. They seemed really concerned about bad marks. I got the impression they weren't just blowing smoke.
Jay