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Transmission and drivetrainPart report

2021 Ram 1500 Transmission and drivetrain Problems

Complaints
99about this part
Share
14%of 683 total for the year
Median mileage
28,000miles
Trend
RisingComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are at least 25% higher than in the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 99 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2021 Ram 1500, 14% of the 683 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 28,000 miles. 1 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“I parked my truck, shut off the engine, and exited and went inside. I was walking my dog several minutes later and seemed to notice my truck moving backwards. I saw the fresh tracks in the snow in front of my truck and realized that it was rolling backward on my driveway. I got in, pressed the brakes to stop the rolling and tried cycling the power. My keys were inside so I rushed in to get them and then back to the truck. It started without changing the shift selector knob, so it had definitely been requested to engage park.”

NHTSA complaint #11383816, filed 2020-12, 500 miles

“On two separate occasions while within 5 minutes of starting the truck while moving forward on a city street both times it initiated on a turn the truck turns off and tells you put the vehicle in park to restart. The emergency brake is also illuminated. The truck has less then 200 miles on it.”

NHTSA complaint #11408118, filed 2021-04, 150 miles

“I put the car in drive and heard a loud bang. When I went to move it sounded like metal scraping. It turns out the front differential cracked and came loose making the truck inoperable. The truck was not off road and has been well taken care of. The part is three weeks on back order for a new front axle because this is happening to many of the RAM trucks.”

NHTSA complaint #11690517, filed 2025-09

“The parking brake started displaying not available on the heads up display. It did this several times within 5 minutes. When I was coming to a stop at around 5 mph the vehicle shifted into Park and set the parking brake and stopped. The engine stopped as well. I had to restart the vehicle to get it going and the check engine light was on after that.”

NHTSA complaint #11463384, filed 2022-05

“There is clunk coming from the rear of the vehicle when I put into Drive or Reverse. The noise is also present when I deaccelerate and it is very present when I am towing my boat which is i the legal towing capacity of this vehicle. It also has developed a vibration since this has started and has steadily gotten worse over time.”

NHTSA complaint #11542875, filed 2023-09

Related recalls

Related service bulletins

Transmission and drivetrain: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
20261010%
20254913%
20241519%
20232814%
202210617%
20219914%
20206310%
201920714%
2018609%
20179811%
201620213%
201522615%
201419211%
2013867%
2009924%

Other parts of the 2021 Ram 1500

Engine
276 complaintsElectrical system
198 complaintsOther or unknown
104 complaintsFuel system
96 complaintsBrakes
75 complaintsForward collision avoidance
52 complaintsSteering
50 complaintsBody and structure
33 complaintsVehicle speed control
30 complaintsAir bags
27 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
27 complaintsElectronic stability control
16 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2021 Ram 1500

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 28, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology