1996 Dodge Ram 1500 problems
Owners have filed 407 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Dodge Ram 1500. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 14% of complaints. After that come transmission (12%) and engine (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 407 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 22 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 4
- Typical mileage
- 112,000 miles 108 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 3 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 24 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 16 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 18 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 18 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 8 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Among the 108 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 112,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 22 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported; 4 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 17th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Dodge Ram 1500 with enough data (174 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
This truck burned from the back end my son was driving and went off the road on the right side and when he returned to pavement the truck went sideways down the road and then went off on the left side and crashed and burned, burning my son and a friend to death. What was so bad I received a recall notice of a problem with the rollover valve approxomately 2-3 weeks after the accident happened.
1996 dodge ram 1500 ran of the road through a guardrail and into a wooden light pole, and drivers side air bag did not deploy.
Vehicle caught on fire after a new fuel rollover valve was installed as per manufacturer's recall 748. Driver suffered injuries, and vehicle was totaled.
After truck's engine was started the gear selector was placed in reverse so as to back out of garage. A loud noise was heard. The gear shift selector was returned to p. As this happened the truck lurched forward striking the garage wall. The buiding and truck were damaged.
I own a 1996 dodge ram 1500 with the 5.2 liter engine. The engine oil light would flicker when stopped at a stop sign in drive. I took it to the dodge dealership and they said that the engine would have to be replaced due to the wear. I have used mobile 1 synthetic oil since the breakin oil and never let the oil in the vehicle over 4,000 miles. Each time the oil filter was also changed. The vehicle has 106,000 miles on it and the engine replacement is costing me $4.700.