1998 Dodge Ram Club Cab

Routine

Owners filed 12 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the air bags › frontal. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Steering2
000
Air Bags › Frontal2
204
Vehicle Speed Control1
000
Tires1
000
Structure1
000
Steering › Column1
000
Service Brakes, Hydraulic1
000
Power Train › Automatic Transmission1
000
Fuel System, Other › Storage › Fuel Gauge System1
000
Engine and Engine Cooling1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Service Brakes, Hydraulic
Filed Aug 21, 201112 milesFL

I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY PICK-UP SINCE DAY-1.MY ROTORS WERE WARPED FROM THE BEGINNING(THIS BEING A BRAND NEW VEHICLE). THERE WAS A RATTLING NOISE FROM MY ENGINE; I THOUGHT WERE THE VALVES. SIX YEARS LATER I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. IT OVER HEATED MY ENGINE,TRANSMISSION, AND RADIATOR. I WAS PAST MY WARRANTY PERIOD SO IT COST ME OVER 3,000 DOLLARS BECAUSE OF A DEFECTIVE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. THE YEAR BEFORE AND AFTER MY MODEL WERE ON RECALL,QUIT PUZZLING OR DENIAL FOR PROFIT. I AM NOW ON MY FOURTH RADIATOR WITH ONLY 116,000 MILES. MY TRANSMISSION HAD TO HAVE MAJOR WORK DONE ON IT FROM THE HEAT CAUSED FROM THE CAD PLUGGING UP. THIS CAUSED DAMAGE TO MY RADIATOR,WATER PUMP,VALVES,PISTON RINGS,AND SEALS. I HAVE SPENT THOUSANDS OF OUT OF POCKET DOLLARS BECAUSE OF THEIR DEFECTIVE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. I LOVE MY TRUCK BUT I AM PISSED THAT A SIMPLE PART RUINED SO MUCH OF MY TRUCK,ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY RECALLED THE SAME PART IN THE YEAR PRIOR TO MINE AND THE YEAR FOLLOWING. SEEMS REAL FISHY TO ME. ALSO,I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS AN ADVERSE EFFECT OR NOT,BUT I HAVE BEEN HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH MY BRAKES. I HAVE HAD MY CALIBERS REPLACED TWICE,MY ROTORS IMMEDIATELY UPON PURCHASE,AND MY REAR BRAKE CYLINDERS. ALL WITHIN 116,000 MILES. I JUST REPLACED MY ROTORS AGAIN RECENTLY. ALL OF THIS SEEMS REALLY PREPOSTEROUS TO ME IN THE 21ST CENTURY. I HAD A 1976 GRAND PRIX BACK IN THE 1990'S AND HAD LESS PROBLEMS THAN THIS PICK-UP. I AM E-MAILING YOU BECAUSE I AM SICK AND TIRED

Tires
Filed Aug 4, 201193,250 milesCA

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 DODGE RAM CLUB CAB WITH COOPER FUTURA DAKOTA H/T TIRES, LINE SIZE 33X/12.5/R15. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, THE CONTACT HEARD A NOISE COMING FROM THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE. THE CONTACT MERGED ONTO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD AND STOPPED THE VEHICLE. AFTER INSPECTING THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE TREAD OF THE TIRE HAD SEPARATED BUT THE TIRE WAS NOT FLAT. THE CONTACT REPLACED THE TIRE WITH THE SPARE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT TO MAIL THE TIRE IN FOR FURTHER INSPECTION. THE DOT NUMBER WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE OF THE VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF FAILURE WAS 93,250. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE OF THE TIRE WAS 4,800.

Structure
Filed Apr 6, 200954,000 milesFL

MY 98 DODGE RAM PICK DASH IS COMPLETELY FALLING APART I'VE SEEN MANY OTHER DODGE TRUCKS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM THE WIRING IS EXPOSED IN THE DASH AND APPEARS TO BE A SAFETY HAZARD IF YOU WHERE TO BE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR

Engine and Engine Cooling
Filed Jun 30, 2006181,000 milesOK

ENGINE WOULD NOT THROTTLE DOWN ALMOST CAUSED ACCIDENT. HAS HAPPENED ON THREE DIFFERENT DAYS BEGINNING 06/17/2006. CURRENTLY DRIVING OTHER VEHICLE UNTIL PROBLEM IS RESOLVED. *JB

Steering
Filed Sep 1, 2003OR

STEERING WANDERS. *AK

Air Bags › FrontalCrash2 injured
Filed Dec 15, 2002AL

WHILE PASSING A VAN ON 4 LANE HIGHWAY WAS HIT BY ANOTHER VAN THAT RAN STOP SIGN AND PUSHED FRONT END OF 1998 DODGE CLUB CAB P/U INTO THE FRONT SEAT AREA. MY VEHICLE WAS TOTALLED RESULTING IN INJURIES TO MYSELF AND STEP SON. NEITHER AIR BAG DEPLOYED. INFORMED CHRYSLER OF ACCIDENT AND THE RESULTS(INJURIES) AND THEY MORE OR LESS LAUGHED AT ME BECAUSE THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAD ALREADY SOLD MY VEHICLE FOR SCRAP. WITHOUT THE VEHICLE THEY SAID THEY COULD DO NOTHING FOR ME. I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH AIR BAGS ON THIS CHRYSLER PRODUCT. I INFORMED CHRYSLER THAT I HAD PICTURES OF THE TRUCK BUT THAT WASN'T SUFFICIENT FOR THEM. THEY ARE SORRY PEOPLE IF THS IS THE WAY THEY TREAT CUSTOMERS AND DO BUSINESS.

Steering
Filed Sep 19, 2001PA

DURANGO RADIAL A/T 285/75R16

Air Bags › FrontalCrash2 injured
Filed Apr 18, 2000WY

NO DEPLOYMENT OF AIRBAG DURING COLLISION CAUSED CONSUMER TO HIT HEAD ON STEERING WHEEL UPON IMPACT RESULTING IN A MILD CONCUSION. NLM

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Aug 23, 1999AZ

VEHICLE JUMPS OUT OF DRIVE GEAR INTO NEUTRAL DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS, DUE TO DESIGN OF VEHICLE'S V-10 WHICH IS SO HEAVY CAUSING THE FRAME TO FLEX AND THE TRANSMISSION IS DESIGNED WITH NO "DETENT" TO KEEP THE VEHICLE IN DRIVE (DESIGN FLAW). MJS

Vehicle Speed Control
Filed Feb 1, 1999CA

SPEED CONTROL SERVO FAILED. YH

Steering › Column
Filed Feb 1, 1999CA

TILT COLUMN JOINT GETS LOOSE. YH

Fuel System, Other › Storage › Fuel Gauge System
Filed Feb 1, 1999CA

FUEL SENDING UNIT FAILED. YH

12 of 12 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1998
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20026000Routine
19999000Routine
1998 — this page12000Routine

Compare every Ram Club Cab year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.