Parking brake failure on the 2013 RAM 1500
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When parking brake failure gets reported
There are 8 reports of parking brake failure on the 2013 RAM 1500, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 37th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 14,800 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
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,300 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 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 1,000 miles, and latest on the 2025 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2022 carries the most reports, with 200; the 2013 has 8. 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.
On a steep grade (boat ramp with an empty 700 lb trailer in tow) while backing in 2 wheel drive with the vehicle front facing up hill I placed the torqueflite 8 speed electronic dial transmission on my 4x4 truck into park, set the parking brake, turned off the ignition, let my foot off the brake, and the truck started slow rolling (creeping) down the steep grade. I then started the truck and pulled up the grade 2 feet and performed the same operation again with the same results. I then switched from 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel lock, put the dial to park, set the parking brake, turned off the ignition and after about 45 seconds the truck once again starting slow rolling down the hill and would have rolled into the river had I not jumped in and hit the foot brake. The last time it was rolling I could see both the front and rear wheels rolling and not sliding. It appears that the transmission never actually shifted to the park position even though the dial and dash light indicated that the transmission was in park. *tr
Vehicle was parked on a slight incline and in park. Parking brake not engaged. Unloading groceries with rt rear door open. The truck rolled backwards about 1.5 feet then stopped. This truck has the column shifter. Noticed complaints concerning rotary shifter. However, it rolled on its own while the shifter was in park position. Temperature was around 25 degrees and clear. Left tires were on dry pavement. Right tires on snow. Truck did not slide as it left very noticeable tire tracks.. First time we have experienced this issue. Now we are very leary of the truck rolling unattended... Thanks
"brake transmission shift interlock" I recently received my latest recall (this recall makes 4 in total since initial purchase of my 2013 ram 1500). This latest recall is t79, and the previous 3 were: t25; r36; r23 all recalls are due to safety related issues on my ram. This latest recall (t79) is the most concerning, because the vehicle can actually roll away while in the park position, without emergency brake engaged. I received recall t79 in early february 2018, and as of today 03/21/18, parts are still not available at my local fca dealership to fix this dangerous safety issue. For this reason my truck stays parked and only has approximately 14,800 miles, and my resale value has greatly been devalued. I do not feel safe behind the wheel of my truck and therefore I do not drive it. I feel I was mislead into believing I was buying a vehicle that was safe and fit to operate on the road, and this has not been the case. My truck is unsafe to operate due to this most recent recall t79, and I feel cheated out of a vehicle that I cannot even operate safely. I emailed fca, and explained to them that I felt I was mislead into purchasing…
Also reported on the 2013 RAM 1500
Other steering problem
Other electrical problem
Loss of power steering
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 8 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 parking brake failure happen on the 2013 RAM 1500?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 15,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is parking brake failure on the 2013 RAM 1500?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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