1997 Dodge Ram 1500 body & structure problems

Owners reported body & structure problems in 70 complaints for the 1997 Dodge Ram 1500, 15% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

Complaints: 70 15% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage: 100,000 miles 36 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires: 1 and 0
Injuries and deaths: 1 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When body & structure problems show up

Based on 36 complaints that include mileage. 19% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.

View the numbers

Mileage	Complaints
0k to 20k miles	2
20k to 40k miles	2
40k to 60k miles	3
60k to 80k miles	4
80k to 100k miles	6
100k to 120k miles	6
120k to 140k miles	4
140k to 160k miles	3
160k to 180k miles	3
180k to 200k miles	2
200k+ miles	1

What the data shows

Of the 36 body & structure complaints that report mileage, the median is about 100,000 miles, and 19% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 1 crash, 1 injury.

What owners wrote

1997 dodge ram 1500 dashboard shattered under consumers hand. The consumer also wanted to add that chrysler pt cruiser has the same dash problem. Updated 03/08/10

January 1901 Injury

I have a 97 dodge ram that started cracking around 2004 and has steadily gotten worse and worse. As a result I have a terrible looking interior and I believe my electrical problems are a testament of the dashboards exposing my electrical wiring to the sun. The only way to halfway fix it I've found is to mount formica squares(not cheap mind you) over the wholes with mounting squares, though it looks terrible.

Reported at 40,000 miles, January 2004

Body & structure problems in other years

Body & structure problems across all Dodge models