1999 Dodge RAM 2500

I know I am not the only one that thinks this is a bad problem, in fact I have not met a person that has owned this era of Dodge Ram that has their Dashboard and the whole parts inside can have been falling apart. Mine has fallen and hit my legs and or lap. Now I don’t mean the whole dash at one time but I have glued, taped and put a dash pad over top to try to keep things from falling into the vents and blower motor or anything that is behind and under the top. This is a definite safety problem cause I never know when this will happen and happening more often. I bought this truck with 11 miles on it from Logansport Indiana, September of 1999. I had been looking for a 2 wheel drive with a Cummins 5.9 Diesel and found it there in Logansport we lived in Lafayette Indiana and hoped we would be able to travel and see this beautiful country. My Wife’s family started having medical problems and after we did what we could for them, then my family needed help and none wanted nursing homes so we put aside our wishes and took care of them. They took care of us even so to many on both sides didn’t want to take care of us and some didn’t even want us, luckily we knew what that felt like so we didn’t turn our backs when we were needed, (Golden Rule) All that aside we wanted to be able to take the Airstream 2002 we got in 2020 still wanted to travel. We sold Florida home and made sure 2500 Ran was mechanical sound and power train was checked, oil, transmission fluid changed put helper bags on leaf springs and drove to Indiana, sold our home we had bought in 78 and sold that house and pulled the Airstream to Tucson Az to find our forever home and think we might have finally got one and put our dream of travel aside. I was diagnosed with Miligant Myloma in Florida Cancer Center and went through Radiation and Chemotherapy in Port Charlotte Florida before the trip and now just went through Radiation here at Banner University Cancer Center and go see my Cancer Doctor at VA here to see

While wiping down the dashboard, I sliced my finger open on a piece of the dashboard which was sticking up. This dashboard is a brittle as a potato chip and had cracked but I didn't notice it since the crack was very near the windshield and the section that broke apart was at the defroster vent situated away from my viewpoint.

THE DASHBOARD HAS DISINTEGRATED CAUSING EXPOSURE TOO WIRING, INTERMITTENT DIAGNOSED AND UNDIAGNOSED PROBLEMATIC WIRING ISSUES WITH INTERMITTENT 'NO BUS' CAUSING LOSS OF POWER ON FREEWAY. DEALER UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO FURTHER DIAGNOSE ISSUE UNLESS ENTIRE DASHBOARD PLASTIC IS REPLACED UNFORTUNATELY IT IS THE SAME PLASTIC THAT NUMEROUS PEOPLE ACCORDING TO DEALER AND ACCORDING TO SEVERAL INTERNET SEARCHES THAT THE DASHBOARD PLASTIC WAS NOT MANUFACTURED PROPERLY CAUSING PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND FINANCIAL HARM TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DODGE /CHRYSLER OWNERS. WHEN MY TRUCK LOST ALL POWER I WAS DRIVING IN FAST LANE OF FWY. ALL POWER WAS GONE INCLUDING BRAKES AND STEERING. HAD TO USE MUSCLE POWER TO STEER AND LET VEHICLE SLOW ENOUGH TO USE FORCE TO BRAKE. MULTIPLE PEOPLE HAVE INFORMED THE NHTSA IN REGARDS TO THE DASHBOARD. THE NHTSA WOULD ONLY INVESTIGATE IF I HAD DIED.

WENT TO HAVE A FRONT END ALIGNMENT DONE BECAUSE THE TRUCK FELT OFF IN THE FRONT WHEN DRIVING.AND THE MECHANIC STATED HE COULDN'T DO IT AS THE FRAME IS ROTTED WHERE THE DRIVERS SIDE SWAY BAR BOLTS TO THE FRAME. IT IS RIGHT BEFORE THE STEERING GEAR BOX AND WAS TOLD IT'S A HUGE PROBLEM THAT THESE DODGE'S HAVE. TRUCK ONLY HAS 98000 MILES ON IT AND IT IS ALWAYS GARAGED. MAINTENANCE ALWAYS DONE AS STATED PER THE OWNERS MANUAL. IT'S NOT SAFE TO DRIVE.

DRIVING OVER A SPEED BUMP UNDER 5 MPH THE DASH BOARD CRUMBLED INTO SEVERAL PIECES. IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN IN A COLLISION THAT SHRAPNEL WOULD BE DEADLY. MY TRUCK ONLY HAS 99800 MILES ON IT. IN EXCELLENT CONDITION THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS ONLINE ABOUT THESE DASHBOARDS JUST FALLING APART. IT'S A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND DODGE NEEDS TO BE MADE TO RECALL THEM.

AFTER RELATIVELY SHORT LIFE, THE SEAT BELT CONTROL TIMER MODULE FAILS, LEAVING SEAT BELTS INOPERABLE - A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY HAZARD!! SEAT BELTS REMAIN IN A LOCKED POSITION, PREVENTING USE WHILE DRIVING. DODGE P/N 56043003AD. DODGE HAS RECEIVED REPORTS ABOUT THE PROBLEM ALONG WITH REQUESTS TO PURCHASE PART, FOR MANY YEARS BUT HAS CHOSEN TO STOP PRODUCTION OF THE PART. THAT WOULD NOT BE AS BIG AN ISSUE IF THEY HAD ENSURED AN ONGOING SUPPLY FROM THIRD PARTY VENDORS. AS IT STANDS, THEY HAVE CREATED A MAJOR SAFETY CRISIS FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF USERS OF THE LATE 90'S TO EARLY 2000'S TRUCKS.

THIS IS MY SECOND COMPLAINT REGARDING DASH BOARD. THE DASH STARTED CRACKING WITH JUST 30,000 MILES ON TRUCK, WHEN I PUT IN COMPLIANT TO NHTSA. NOW 109,000 THE ELECTRICAL, AIR BAGS, COMPUTER HARNESS WIRING ARE EXPOSED WITH A INTERMITTENT STALLING AND A GUESSING GAME FROM AUTHORIZED DODGE DEALERS AS TO WHAT MIGHT BE THE ISSUES. "UNDETERMINED ELECTRICAL SHORTS FROM CRACKED DASH A POSSIBILITY" "ABS SERVICE LIGHT STAYS ON, ALSO "UNDETERMINED BY DEALER", "CAN'T TRACK CODE" "DON'T DRIVE AS AIRBAG MIGHT DEPLOY BECAUSE DASH HAS DASH DEBRIS FROM CRACKS" PLUS HEARING "REFUSE TO SERVICE UNLESS REPLACE THE DASHBOARD" ALL THESE QUOTES WHEN TRYING TO TAKE TO GET THE TRUCK FIXED. MAIN COMPUTER HARNESS INTERMITTENT "NO BUS" CAN'T FIND SHORTS! STALLS OUT ON FREEWAY. THE GLOVE BOX EVEN HANGS ON ONLY ONE SIDE. UNSAFE IF AIRBAGS DEPLOY. SPLINTERING OF REMAINS CHARDS OF FAULTY DASHBOARD PLASTIC, STALL ON FAST LANE OF 14 FREEWAY IN CA HAD TO COAST TO RIGHT SIDE WITH NO POWER STEERING LUCKY THE BRAKES WORKED AND THE TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT. SHORT IN WIRE DUE TO EXPOSED DASH BOARD.