1996 Dodge Ram 2500 problems
Owners have filed 365 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Dodge Ram 2500. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 25% of complaints. After that come transmission (10%) and electrical system (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 365 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 21 and 18
- Injuries and deaths
- 8 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 136,000 miles 94 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 | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 8 |
| 200k+ miles | 27 |
What the data shows
Among the 94 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 136,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 21 complaints mention a crash; 18 complaints mention a fire; 8 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 21 model years of the Dodge Ram 2500 with enough data (184 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.
Rear brakes failed, and vehicle pulled either to the right or left, incident occurred at any time and at any speed. The dealer could not duplicate the problem. It resulted in three accidents.
Driving truck down the road, stopped at a stop light and noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. Got out of truck, pulled hood up and noticed that the fire retarding pad was on fire. Truck had to be towed to a mechanic, has not determined was caused the fire.
Vehicle was hit from rear. Metal in head rest penetrated the back of drivers scalp and caused severe trauma resulting in swelling in the brain.
Recall 97v084000 concerning transmission cooling line. While pulling a 5th wheel trailer up a incline at 30 MPH vehicle stopped while in motion, and white smoke came from under the hood. Vehicle was towed to a repair shop. Dealer was notified. Dealer informed consumer that this vehicle was not covered under that recall.
I drive quite a bit during the night time with my vehicle. There seems to be a very serious issuse with the wiring over heating at the headlight switch. I have replaced 5 ... Going to be 6 headlight switches. There is a dangerous amount of head being put out at the switch itself. So much that it actually melts the pigtail at the light switch connection. The light switch itself is destroyed. Its bad especcially when driving down the road and your headlamps, marker lights and dash light all go out.