Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 2014 RAM 1500
When control arm, ball joint or bushing failure gets reported
Owners of the 2014 RAM 1500 report control arm, ball joint or bushing failure at a median of 30,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 108,000 miles. It is the 39th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 80,859 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
55% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,141 miles | 23,500 miles | 32,000 miles | 56,900 miles | 88,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $400–$2,200 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 7 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2017 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 2014 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
Backing out of parking spot when driver side lower control arm shattered. Wheel was unable to support the weight of the truck or any steering movements without causing further damage to the suspension or truck body. Cause was a defect in the aluminum molding. *tr
Backing out of parking spot when driver side lower control arm shattered. Wheel was unable to support the weight of the truck or any steering movements without causing further damage to the suspension or truck body. Cause was a defect in the aluminum molding. *tr
I was driving along on route 220 near lock haven pa in which they are doing construction there is uneven payment pot holes etc I was doing 45 MPH at the time due to construction zone when I hit a pot hole I heard a loud pop noise so I immediately pulled over looked at my truck didn't see anything so I continued driving apon arriving at my home ten mile up the road I noticed steering was funny once in my driveway I looked over my truck again to my surprise I found a crack on the knuckle at the upper ball joint the knuckle had cracked right at the upper ball joint on the casting seam I called dealership and they said they haven't heard of such a thing after hrs of arguing with them to fix it I had it towed to the dealership where they had the truck for a week and told me it wasn't covered under warranty keep in mind I only had the truck for 2-3 months and it should of been covered I know dodge has had issues in the past with suspension problems and I find it a great concern as this could of caused a serious crash very disappointed with dodge at this point I'd rather not even keep the truck as I feel it's not very safe
Also reported on the 2014 RAM 1500
Other steering problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Other electrical problem
Other fuel system problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 control arm, ball joint or bushing failure happen on the 2014 RAM 1500?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 30,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 2014 RAM 1500?
12 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