1997 Dodge Ram 1500 problems
Owners have filed 468 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Dodge Ram 1500. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 15% of complaints. After that come brakes (12%) and transmission (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 468 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 36 and 16
- Injuries and deaths
- 46 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 95,000 miles 189 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 | 19 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 20 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 24 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 25 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 22 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 20 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 23 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 6 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 9 |
| 200k+ miles | 9 |
What the data shows
Among the 189 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 95,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 100,000 miles (36 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 36 complaints mention a crash; 16 complaints mention a fire; 46 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Dodge Ram 1500 with enough data (178 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.
I bought this truck from a used dealer in tupelo, ms on july 5, 2004. On august 27, 2004, my husband and I were driving around 65-70 MPH down a 4-lane hwy in ms when I heard a weird noise from the front end. My husband was driving and as he started to slow down to get off on the shoulder, the front passenger side wheel bearing sheared the studs off and my tire went sailing off the truck, slamming the front end down onto the ground.
While driving at 65 MPH accident occurred due to wheel disengaging from vehicle. There were 2 injuries. Consumer adds that the tire was so hot that a fire had started in the median.
On december 14 2005 my son was driving my dodge ram 1500, he tried to stop and the ABS system locked and he rear ended the car in front of him. The engine stalled and he had no control over the vehicle. The truck slid approximately 20 feet. There was a child injured in the car that he hit.
While driving, mounted spare tire dropped from under the pickup truck onto the highway the cable storage suspension failed.
Hard brake line for rear brakes broke where corroded when I depressed the brake pedal causing me to loose brake pressure and caused my brakes not to work narrowly avoiding an accident.