Other suspension problem on the 2012 Dodge RAM 2500
1 crash 1 fire 2 of the 15 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other suspension problem gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Dodge RAM 2500 report other suspension problem at a median of 35,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 50,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 38,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
56% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14,000 miles | 19,000 miles | 35,000 miles | 44,000 miles | 52,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 a fire are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1999, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 205,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 86; the 2012 has 15. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I left the truck running, I walked about 20 feet away while doing some cleaning on my property and when I turned around I saw what looked like the ground on fire. It looked like fire dripping down from underneath the truck and in no time the truck burned to the ground. What do I need to do at this point? Should I get an attorney? *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 2500. The contact stated that while at a dealer for a routine service, the technician diagnosed that the ball joints and track bar needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the contact stated that one month later, while driving at 60 MPH, there was a noise coming from the front of the vehicle. In addition, the contact was unable to control the vehicle as the steering wheel required excessive force in order to turn the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that a bolt needed to be screwed onto the track bar. The vehicle was repaired. The failure persisted and the vehicle was taken to a different dealer who stated that the front end needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 19,000. Updated 7/29/15*cn updated 10/2/2017*cn
3 different instances, while traveling from different road surfaces,cement to gravel, gravel to tar. Seems small difference in road height causes truck to shake violent,and lose control of steering ability.2 of 3 times ended up coming to a stop in ditch. Only after crossing both lanes.thank god there was nobody else on the road at the time. After the second time it happened I went on line to see if anybody else had this happen to them. What I found was that they did and they have a term for it [ the dodge death shake ]. The after market even makes parts to correct the problem. From new steering links ,steering boxes.and frame stiffeners. Makes a person wonder,if they have a term for it,and make products to stop it.what the hell you are doing about it?. And why do consumers have to pay thousands out of pocket, to repair an poorly designed product them selves? From lawsuits to lies and everything in between.
Also reported on the 2012 Dodge RAM 2500
Other steering problem
Other engine problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other fuel system problem
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other suspension problem happen on the 2012 Dodge RAM 2500?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 35,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other suspension problem on the 2012 Dodge RAM 2500?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed