1996 Dodge RAM 3500 Brakes Problems

“I purchased this truck in 2003 and the dash was cracked. It shakes and rattles whenever I hit any bumps in the road. Dodge will do nothing but try to sell me another dash at a sky high rate. I'm afraid the dash will completely fall apart while my wife or I am driving down the road. I am now experiencing a vacuum problem with some lines under the dash caused by this since the dash moves so much. My ABS light is on, my cruise control doesn't work and the airconditioning only blows out of the defrost vent.”

“When this problem first happened in 1998, we took it to the Dodge dealer here in cheyenne, wy and they said the calibrater was bad and fixed the right side only. When it started pulling on the left side, it was worse. My wife was driving home on the frontage road when a car stopped short in front of her to make a turn and she had to slam on the brakes hard and it jerked her into the lane of oncoming traffic and there was almost a head on collision. We took it to our master mechanic at another dealership and he told us this is an on going problem with these trucks. …”

“The contact owns a 1996 Dodge RAM 3500. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle slowed down after several attempts. The brake warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was driven onto the side of the road and towed to the contact's residence. The failure was related to rust in the brake line system. The failure occurred on two separate occasions. The vehicle has not been repaired; however,the contact will perform the repair himself. The failure mileage was 103,753 and current mileage was 104,000.”

“Brakes pull to right, calibers and pads have been replaced. Rear brakes don't seem to work well antilock allows you to roll to far. Steering column goes bad after warranty is up ( 100,000 miles ). Fuel pump shut down solenoid and relay have also gone out on both of my trucks. Automatic transmission failures have occurred on both trucks at the 70000-75000 miles .”

“Front brakes have gone out for the fifth time while driving at 65mph on highway on wet and dry pavements. The brakes go down to the pedal. Several dealers have mentioned that a bulletin was put out 28-mar-97, but no recall has been issued. In addition, back brakes are inoperative because wheel cylinders on back are too small.”