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2009 Dodge Ram 3500 Problems and Recalls

Owners filed 105 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Dodge Ram 3500, most often about the steering (66% of complaints, typically around 48,000 miles). It is 11th of 13 Ram 3500 model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.

⚠ Safety advisory2 recalls for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Complaints105
Recalls5
Crashes reported6
Fires reported2
Injuries reported1

Most common 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 problems

  1. Steering

    69 complaints · 66%

    Half of these problems showed up before 48,000 miles. Parts named most often: linkages.

    The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. While decreasing speed at 2 MPH, the contact stated that the left outer tie rod fractured while pulling a trailer. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the left outer tie rod needed to be replaced and performed the repairs.…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2011, at 48,220 miles
    The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign id number: 13v529000 (steering) and was unable to have the vehicle repaired because the required parts for the repair were not available by the authorized dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the issue but did not provide a…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2014, at 48,600 miles
  2. Suspension

    12 complaints · 11%

    Half of these problems showed up before 60,000 miles. Parts named most often: front.

    Driving on highway 101 in a northern direction driving in my lane and upon hitting a pot hole my truck went into a violent shuttering and shaking to the point of losing control of my vehicle pulling to the side of the road and coming to a complete stop in the emergency lane,then starting back up to drive until the…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 59,856 miles
    The Dodge 3500 was east bound in interstate 40 west of cookville, tn. The Dodge was pulling an enclosed car trailer loaded with a 1955 chevy show car. The Dodge had just passed an 18 wheeled vehicle and was in the left lane. When the pavement changed, a slight bump, the front tires of the Dodge began to bounce out of…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2012, at 67,000 miles
  3. Air bags

    12 complaints · 11%

    The contact owned a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the contact crashed into another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact and the passenger did not sustain any injuries. The passenger in the other vehicle was injured and required medical attention. A police report was filed. The…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2014, at 48,000 miles
    I was e/b hwy 26 around manning, or at approximately 50-55 MPH (posted 55). As I was passing a fruit stand on my right, I heard a loud bang and the vehicle jerked to the right jumped the curb and I veered to the right to avoid the steel guard rail and drove into a drop off about 20 feet below the roadway and struck a…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 30,000 miles
  4. Electrical

    6 complaints · 6%

    Half of these problems showed up before 42,000 miles.

    The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the engine stalled without warning and the contact began to smell something burning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the fuse block had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2014, at 35,000 miles
    The contact owns a 2015 (na) Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that the ABS warning light illuminated while driving and all the lights on the instrument panel illuminated. The transmission emitted a clicking sound and the vehicle reversed with the gear in drive position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 3,000 miles
  5. Brakes

    5 complaints · 5%

    The contact owns a 2015 (na) Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that the ABS warning light illuminated while driving and all the lights on the instrument panel illuminated. The transmission emitted a clicking sound and the vehicle reversed with the gear in drive position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 3,000 miles
    The contact owns a 2013 (na) Dodge Ram 3500. While driving 60 MPH, the vehicle had a trailer connected to the latching system. The vehicle had four different trailer options, of which the heavy electrical overhydraulics option failed. The contacted stated that the computer software did not recognize the vehicle was…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 25,000 miles
  6. Visibility and wipers

    4 complaints · 4%

    Parts named most often: windshield wiper/washer.

    The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the window wiper motor failed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 26,000.
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2013, at 26,000 miles
    The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500. While attempting to utilize the windshield defrost function during inclement weather, the defroster and windshield wiper function became inoperable. The failures occurred intermittently without warning. The vehicle was diagnosed and repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2016, at 69,000 miles
  7. Transmission

    4 complaints · 4%

    Parts named most often: axle assembly.

    The contact owns a 2015 (na) Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that the ABS warning light illuminated while driving and all the lights on the instrument panel illuminated. The transmission emitted a clicking sound and the vehicle reversed with the gear in drive position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2015, at 3,000 miles
    Two issues: 1: knocking sound when turning at parking lot speeds. I've replaced bushings, linkages, ball joints, and nothing helped. I replaced wheel hub assemblies and the knocking is reduced, but not fixed. Shop owners that drive the same truck say they've spent thousands of dollars on their own vehicles and can't…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2017, at 128,000 miles
  8. Lights

    3 complaints · 3%

    When using the left turn signal, both signal lights would become active on the tail lights, but only show left turn on the dash. When using the right turn, no light would work at all. Turned out to be the turn signal multifunction switch, which after searching also can affect the head lights working or not, and…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2016, at 84,500 miles
    High beam and or low beam lights quit or go off from time to time. Dealer said its a "tipm" computer. At a cost of over $800.00 to replace or $100.00 to flash the computer to repair? Can only be flashed 3 - 4 times before it has to be replaced. All the wiring and connections are good. Dealer said it was probably…
    Owner report to NHTSA, 2017, at 130,000 miles

Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.

2009 Dodge Ram 3500 recalls

  1. Air bags: inflator module

    ⚠ Do not driveNHTSA 16V352000 · May 24, 2016 · 4,648,270 vehicles

    Risk: These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. These inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling. An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

    Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the chrysler, dodge, jeep and ram owners. Mitsubishi owners will be notified by their company. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on march 27, 2017. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is s43. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v-7700.

    Full defect summary

    Chrysler (fca US llc) expanded the affected population to include 73,712 2005-2009 ram 2500 trucks produced at the st. Louis north assembly plant. With this change, chrysler is recalling certain model year 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 ram 3500, 2007-2010 ram 3500 cab chassis, 2008-2010 ram 4500 and 5500 cab chassis, 2004-2009 dodge durango, 2007-2009 chrysler aspen, 2007-2012 jeep wrangler, 2008-2012 dodge challenger, 2005-2008 dodge magnum, 2005-2012 chrysler 300, 2006-2012 dodge charger, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in al, ca, fl, ga, hi, la, ms, sc, tx, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, chrysler is also recalling 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 r

  2. Air bags: inflator module

    ⚠ Do not driveNHTSA 15V313000 · May 26, 2015 · 4,077,169 vehicles

    Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

    Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the affected chrysler and dodge owners and mitsubishi will notify the affected raider owners. Dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began for chrylser on june 8, 2015. The recall for mitsubishi started on june 24, 2015. Chrysler and dodge owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Mitsubishi owners may call 1-888-648-7820. Chrysler's number for this recall is r25. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v817 in its entirety.

    Full defect summary

    Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 dodge ram 2500, 2004-2008 dodge ram 1500 and durango, 2006-2009 dodge ram 3500, 2008-2010 dodge ram 4500 and 5500, 2007-2008 chrysler aspen, 2005-2010 chrysler 300, 300c, 300s, and srt8, 2006-2010 dodge charger, 2005-2008 magnum, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.

  3. Steering: tie rod assembly

    NHTSA 13V529000 · November 6, 2013 · 271,733 vehicles

    Risk: A failure of the tie rod assembly may result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

    Fix: Chrysler notified owners on january 16, 2014 that dealers would inspect vehicles and replace the steering linkage assembly, if necessary. On or about february 27, 2014, chrysler ceased its recall remedy program due to parts quality concerns, and then re-initiated it on or about april 14, 2014. In july 2015, and under a consent order with NHTSA, the company agreed to offer owners three options for remedying their vehicles: perform the original remedy, offer to repurchase the vehicle at the fair market value plus 10%, or offer an additional incentive offer towards the purchase of a new dodge, je

    Full defect summary

    Chrysler group llc (chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 ram 2500 4x4 and 3500 4x4 trucks, 2008-2012 dodge ram 3500 4x2 cab chassis, and model year 2008 dodge ram 1500 mega cab 4x4. The left tie rod assembly may break.

  4. Steering: tie rod assembly

    NHTSA 11V350000 · July 6, 2011 · 242,780 vehicles

    Risk: This condition could result in the potential loss of directional stability in the left hand front wheel, increasing the risk of a crash.

    Fix: 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. The safety recall began on october 3, 2011. Owners may contact chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.

    Full defect summary

    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 14, 2008, through august 15, 2008, because the left tie rod ball stud may fracture. This condition tends to occur during low speed parking lot type maneuvers when the customer is making a tight turn. Additionally, model year 2003-2008 dodge ram 2500/3500 vehicles may have received the affected tie rod assembly as a replacement part during normal service.

  5. Steering: tie rod assembly

    NHTSA 09V005000 · January 9, 2009 · 32,782 vehicles

    Risk: This could result in a loss of steering control and the restricted ability to turn the vehicle in one direction increasing the risk of a crash without warning.

    Fix: Dealers will replace the steering linkage drag link inner tie rod end assembly, and inspect the steering linkage damper bracket free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before february 16, 2009. Owners may contact chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.

    Full defect summary

    Chrysler is recalling 32,782 my 2008-2009 dodge ram 2500, 3500 and 3500 cab chassis pickup trucks equipped with powers and sons steering linkage. The steering linkage drag link inner tie rod to pitman arm ball stud may fracture. Also the steering linkage damper attaching the bracket may yield and shift on the linkage.

Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.

NHTSA defect investigations

Questions about the 2009 Dodge Ram 3500

What are the most common problems with the 2009 Dodge Ram 3500?
By NHTSA owner complaints: steering (69 complaints, typically around 48,000 miles); suspension (12 complaints, typically around 60,000 miles); air bags (12 complaints).
How many recalls does the 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 have?
5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from May 24, 2016 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
Is the 2009 a bad year for the Dodge Ram 3500?
It is 11th of 13 Ram 3500 model years by number of complaints, with 105 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.

Other Dodge Ram 3500 years

Dodge Ram 3500 problems by year