2012 DODGE RAM 3500 — Complaint #2065689
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT filed February 14, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2065689 (ODI reference 11642736) concerns a 2012 DODGE RAM 3500 and was filed on February 14, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 29, 2024. The vehicle had 215,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Tennessee based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint, 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 3500 cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint 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 2012 DODGE RAM 3500 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2012 Ram 3500. The contact stated that while driving uphill at 55 MPH, the contact became aware that the vehicle was not exceeding 55 MPH. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to the destination. The vehicle was parked; however, upon inspection, the contact became aware that there were damages on top of the front driverâs side ball joint, the rear driverâs side axle leaf spring shackle, and the driverâs side overload spring. Additionally, there were metal fragments found in the engine oil, and a diagnostic scan retrieved DTC: P0087, P0471, U029D. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was inspected; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 215,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2065689 |
| ODI Number | 11642736 |
| Date Filed | February 14, 2025 |
| Failure Date | November 29, 2024 |
| VIN | 3C7WDTCL9CG |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2012 DODGE RAM 3500
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.