Most common 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 problems
Share of the 582 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Dodge Ram 2500 complaints by model year
Best Ram 2500 years: 2002, 2000, 1998. Years to avoid: 2006, 2003, 2004. Compare all years →
2004 Dodge Ram 2500 recalls (6)
Air bags
Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2004-2005 Dodge Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500, 2004-2005 Dodge Durango, 2005 Dodge Dakota, 2005 Dodge Magnum and 2005 Chrysler 300, 300C and 300 SRT8 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity.
Remedy: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. For vehicles that were sold, or are currently registered, in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S.
Steering › Linkages › Tie rod assembly
Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2003-2008 Dodge RAM 2500 4x4 and 3500 4x4, model year 2007-2008 Dodge RAM 3500 4x2 Cab Chassis and model year 2006-2008 Dodge RAM 1500 Mega Cab 4x4 trucks manufactured February 12, 2002, through February 13, 2008. The left tie rod assembly may break.
Remedy: Chrysler notified owners and launched its recall campaign in January 2014. Owners may contact Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753. Chrysler's recall campaign number is N62.
Steering › Linkages › Tie rod assembly
Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 Dodge Ram 2500/3500 4x4, manufactured from February 14, 2008, through March 28, 2011; model year 2008-2011 Dodge Ram 3500 cab chassis 4x2, manufactured from February 14, 2008, through March 28, 2011; and model year 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 mega cab 4x4, manufactured from February…
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the tie rod ends for relative orientation and replace the left outer tie rod as required and perform a front end toe alignment as needed. This service will be performed free of charge.
Power train › Automatic transmission › Lever and linkage › Column shift
On certain pickup trucks equipped with diesel engines and automatic transmissions, in an attempt to exit the vehicle quickly without shutting off the engine and removing the key, the driver May inadvertently leave the automatic transmission shift control in indicated reverse.
Remedy: Dealers will perform a software modification to equip these vehicles with an out-of-park alarm. Owners May contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Equipment › Other › Labels
The vehicle certification label on some pickup trucks lists incorrect tire, wheel, and recommended inflation pressure information which does not conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 120, 'tire selection and rims for vehicles other than passenger cars.'
Remedy: Owners will be provided with vehicle certification label overlays containing the corrected information relative to vehicle tire and rim size, and recommended inflation pressure. This recall began on May 5, 2004.
Power train › Automatic transmission
On certain pickup trucks, the transfer case to transmission attaching fasteners May not be tightened correctly. This could cause the transmission adapter or transfer case housing to crack and leak fluid.
Remedy: Dealers will retighten the transfer case to transmission fasteners. Owner notification began on December 22, 2003. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-992-1997.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 8 possible defects involving the 2004 Dodge Ram 2500:
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Clutch Interlock Switch Malfunction
On December 16, 2104, Chrysler Group LLC submitted a Safety Recall Report to NHTSA describing a defect in the clutch ignition interlock switches in approximately 66,819 model year (MY) 2006 through early-2007 Dodge Ram Trucks, Dodge Dakota, and Mitsubishi Raider vehicles equipped with manual transmissions and built between July 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006 (NHTSA Recall No. 14V-795, Chrysler Recall No.
ENGINE STALL
On May 16, 2005,odi opened preliminary evaluation pe05-027 to investigate complaints of engine stalling in model year 2004-05 Dodge durango suvs and Ram 1500 series pickups equipped with the 5.7l v8 engine.information provided by daimlerchrysler during pe05-027 indicated that a large percentage of the complaints are related to an idle undershoot condition that May cause the engine to stall during turning…
FALSE PARK
There have been 50 complaints to odi and daimlerchrysler alleging incidents of reverse powered rollaway in subject vehicles that were parked with the engine running and the parking brake disengaged.the incidents are alleged to have resulted in 42 crashes and 3 injuries.
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
ENGINE STALL
Analysis of the complaint, field report and warranty data shows that the majority of stalling incidents in the subject vehicles appear to be related to the engine calibration concerns that daimlerchrysler addressed with service bulletins releasing revised PCM software.analysis of the complaints and odi's survey of owners of vehicles that received engine management software updates under TSB #18-013-05 show that…
FALSE PARK
The subject vehicles are heavy duty pickup trucks with diesel engines and automatic transmissions commonly used for commercial and work purposes.a column mounted shift lever is used for gear selection and an electronic PRNDL on the instrument panel provides gear position information to the driver.the subject vehicles are also equipped with a brake-transmission shift interlock that prevents the shift lever from being…
Chrysler's execution of 13V-528 & 529
RMD opened this audit query (AQ) investigation in order to better understand and evaluate Chrysler's process(es) for timely and efficient execution of its safety recall campaigns, including its oversight and management of its parts division Mopar.Prior to opening this investigation, RMD had raised concerns with the company related to its execution of two safety recalls, 13V-528 and 13V-529, both of which involved…
What 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 owners say
Steering all 140 →
My vehicle had wat is known as the 3rd gen steering assembly. Which is known and reported by multiple consumers to cause wat everyone calls a death wobble " Death wobble happens in Jeeps, 4x4s, and trucks when rapidly rotating steering wheel components cause your steering wheel to move rapidly from side to side. This causes your vehicle to feel like it's about to fall apart and you want to hold onto the steering wheel for dear life." Which cause me to nearly crash multiple times and the only way to get it to stop is to slow to speeds below 30. So I did research on how to correct this problem I found the only true fix would be to redo the whole assembly with the 4th gen assembly. Now that my issue is fixed I'm now worried about other drivers of the same vehicles safety. And wonder why no recall was made even though the dealer know of the issue thus coming up with the 4th gen assembly.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram. The contact was informed that the vehicle had four notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 13V528000 (STEERING), 16V352000 (AIR BAGS), 15V313000 (AIR BAGS) and 09E001000 (STEERING). However, the parts to do the recall repairs for both air bags are not available. Two local dealers were contacted and confirmed that the recall parts were on back order and it was unknown how long it would take for them to be delivered. The recall part for the passenger side was the part that is on national back order. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Transmission & drivetrain all 110 →
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500. While the vehicle was in park, the gears independently shifted into reverse at a high rate of speed. As a result the contact crashed into two vehicles and the rear bumper was damaged. There were no injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic for further diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000. Updated 05/31/17 consumer stated vehicle was running but in park mode. On a level street at the end of a culdesac. Vehicle slipped out of park and accelerated backwards into 2 other vehicles. Found out recall was done for this problem between 2004 and 2005. I don't believe this vehicle was ever recalled. Updated 6/28/18
I own a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 xlt and on 03 25 06 I put my truck in park motor running to get a ice chest on patio. Turned right back around and truck was gone. It was backing up hill still in park. I ran hollering to keep someone from getting hit. A maintenance man of the park jumped in and pushed the brake down with his hand it was still in park. While I turned the key off. Well a 100 yards later the whole left side of the truck was damaged as it ran into a park model trailer and damaged the right side of the park model home if looking from front. It damaged the side panels of the trailer while putting a large hole in it along with the skirting. And possibly moving the trailer to the left. I believe that this is a serious problem and needs something done. It was a miracle no one was hit as we live in a very active 55 plus community and live on one of the busiest streets in the park. …
Suspension all 106 →
dodge death wobble. this death wobble started prior to my 100000mile warranty expired, but by the time i drove the truck home, it was over the milage. After a lot of bs and a fee, Dodge "fixed" my problem. ( for a while) They have refused to re-repair their bad design since. .I've spent many hours and money temporarily repairing their front end design. If i hit a bump in the road while exceeding 55 mph the truck violently shakes and i cannot control the direction. I went off the freeway in Salt Lake this last weekend after putting new tie rods (again) on the front end. You know what this is ! Dodge has never remedied this situation. !
When driving over some overpasses on highways the "bump" causes the whole front end to shake and makes steering very hard to maintain. I have heard this called "the Dodge death wobble" and has been reported by many other Dodge Ram owners. I have had all of the ball joints and tie rod replaced. This is a highly disturbing occurrence when traveling at a speed of 65-70 mpr on a highway. This has happened to me more than once and is a very scary feeling, thinking my front tires are coming off. Is there a recall to correct this?
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 a good car?
Based on 582 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2004 Ram 2500 rates use caution: 1.4× as many complaints as a typical year of the Ram 2500 at the same age. It is one of the Ram 2500 years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2004 Dodge Ram 2500?
The steering — 140 complaints, 24% of all complaints for this model year, most often about gear box (other than rack and pinion). Next are the transmission & drivetrain (110) and suspension (106).
How many recalls does the 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 have?
There are 6 recalls for the 2004 Dodge Ram 2500, the most recent from December 3, 2014 (air bags). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Dodge Ram 2500?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2002, 2000 and 1998. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2006, 2003 and 2004. See the full Dodge Ram 2500 years comparison.
At what mileage do 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 70,000 miles; 36% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.