2006 Dodge RAM 1500
This year drew an ordinary 817 complaints for a Dodge RAM 1500 — the model's median is 566. What they were about is the unusual part: 9.1% of them mention bearing, against 3.2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 817 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 566 |
| Involving a crash | 44 |
| Involving a fire | 9 |
| Recalls | 12 |
| EPA combined | 14 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- bearing — 9.1% of this year's complaints, against 3.2% across the model's other years (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: bearing, suspension, front wheel, wheel bearing.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH THERE WAS A HUMMING SOUND AND A VIBRATION IN THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE MECHANIC STATED THE FRONT WHEEL BEARING SUSPENSION UNIT HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE VEH…
THERE THE STEERING KNUCKLE BROKE. A LOCAL MECHANIC CONFIRMED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WAS SQUEAKING. THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO REPLACE THE FRONT HUB AND BEARING UNITS AT NO CHARGE SINCE THE VIN WAS NOT A PART OF THE RECALL. NHTSA R…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V352000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V313000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V795000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 07E104000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 13V528000 STEERING
- 10E013000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 10E040000 WHEELS Fixed free of charge.
- 05V461000 POWER TRAIN
Showing 8 of 12. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge RAM 1500 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2006 Dodge RAM 1500? What happened to yours?
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