2003 DODGE RAM 1500 — Complaint #1142568
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT filed December 29, 2014
NHTSA complaint #1142568 (ODI reference 10668675) concerns a 2003 DODGE RAM 1500 and was filed on December 29, 2014. The owner reports the failure occurred on December 26, 2014. The vehicle had 200,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Mississippi based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as power train:driveline:driveshaft, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same DODGE RAM 1500 cohort independently describe similar power train:driveline:driveshaft failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 DODGE RAM 1500 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE RAM 1500. WHILE MAKING A RIGHT TURN AT APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH, THE DRIVESHAFT SUDDENLY DETACHED FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE AND CAUSED THE REAR WHEELS TO SEIZE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 200,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1142568 |
| ODI Number | 10668675 |
| Date Filed | December 29, 2014 |
| Failure Date | December 26, 2014 |
| VIN | 1D7HA18N53S |
Similar POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT Complaints for 2003 DODGE RAM 1500
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the driveshaft detached. Due to the failure, the gear oil and rear differential fluid leaked out of the ve
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE RAM 1500. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO VIBRATE VIOLENTLY. THE CONTACT COASTED THE VEHICLE OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND NOTICED THAT THE
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE RAM 1500. WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, BLACK SMOKE EMITTED FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT WARNING. IN ADDITION, WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, AN ABN
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE RAM 1500. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 40-45 MPH, THE CONTACT HEARD A LOUD ABNORMAL NOISE. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE DRIVESHAFT DISENGAGED AND DETACHED FROM UNDERNE
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 DODGE RAM 1500. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, A LOUD NOISE CAME FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE AND THE REAR WHEELS SUDDENLY SEIZED. THE CONTACT WAS A CERTIFIED MECHA
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.