spoke with nhtsa, told that if a lot of people file formal complaints about the cracked dashes that THEY WILL open an investigation.....cracked dashes may lead to ripped airbags on deployment(safety issue) to file a compliant go to this website.


http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/




p.s. mods maybe you should put this up in the announcement area? this cracked dash problem is ridiculous aand has to be dealt with.

 

Are you serious!? That's some awsome news!! So we go to the link and just fill in the information? Am I right on that?

 

i would do that exept that i would feel like i was screwing dodge. i like having american car makers and i dont see this helping them. my truck is 8 years old and i dont think it's entirly there fault. it just happend this year

 

Dont feel bad. First, they would screw you in a heartbeat. Second, the money goes to Germany now.

 

Last I checked, they still built most of the Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep vehicles in the United States. That's a lot of factories and a lot of jobs...a lot of people's lives right there. Doesn't matter where the money goes, Americans still have a stake in it. Sure, a dash recall wouldn't be a real big deal...but think if they found something like this on every one of their vehicles. Or even worse, two or three things for every vehicle. That would start to hurt the company...and in turn the workers it employs. The auto industry is already a bit shakey.

Just trying to shed some light on the fact that just because they merged with Diamler-Benz, doesn't mean they aren't an American company anymore.

As for the issue, my dash is cracked too. But my truck is over 10 years old. And I know it sat out in the sun most of those 10 years. You can't expect them to fix something like that after that length of time, especially if the truck was exposed to direct sunlight or extreme cold. A lot of people don't know this, but most dashes deteriorate (ROT!) over time, and sun only makes it worse. It just so happens that the one in the Ram also cracks. And besides, my truck only has one air-bag (duals weren't available until 98 I believe), so it's not like it would cause a safety issue for my truck (or anyone with a 94/95/96/97). The only air bag is in the steering wheel. A crack in the dash wouldn't interfere with the deployment there.

In my opinion, it's a purely cosmetic issue...and not worth a safety recall campaign. The areas where I've seen them crack wouldn't interfere with air bag deployment anyway.

 

what^. dashboards cracking because of neglect is one thing, but the truck I have, the trucks alot of us have. Have been well taken care of and they still crack. I went to a dealer and the service departement even admitted it had something to do with a particular vendor(whatever that means). In other words, they know there is a problem with their dashes in 94-01 rams, they just don't want to fix it. I can't recall seeing any car in my life time with dashboards that crack so easily. Can you? check around look at every car you can that is at least 10, 15years old...the only ones cracked are gonna be 94-01 rams. I can't think of seeing any japanese, european or other american cars or trucks were the problem is so wide spread. You might find one or two cars that have been in wrecks. You might find one or two cars that have been negelected. I guarantee you'll find MANY 94-01 rams with cracked dashboards. IT IS A DEFECT and any GOOD company should try to remedy the problem. If they have any pride in their product they should be eager to fix the problem.
Why worry about making a company fix a DEFECT. You paid good money for your truck and they(dealers) had no problem taking that money.


P.S. loving your vehicle, doesn't mean you have to worry about the companies bottomline....that is a strange way to feel[sm=confused06.gif].

 

My truck is a 2000 and it cracked after just two years (in 2002 sometime). I mean this wasn't a new issue, if they knew dashes were cracking why the heck didn't they switch vendors to one that would make higher quality dashes. When I bought the truck from them I expected more, and didn't feel like I needed to worry about a dash.

Yes I understand about older trucks, but mine is only an 2000.

 

my truck has never been garaged all. and this time of year the sun heats up the dash i felt it today and it was actualy warm without me driving it and at night it gets realy cold and that means that it's probly expanding and contracting everyday. my crack is right on top of the tack twords the front of the windsheild and there is no way it would cut the air bag. If you feel diffrent you can go ahead and complain i'm 17 i paid 3500 for my truck second owner it's not dodges fault it's mine and the guy before me he took bad care of the truck and i'm paying the consaquence. i was just saying why i didnt want to complain.

 

I mean don't get me wrong, I would hate for Fing Toyotas and Nissans and all them Japanese makers to be all we have here in the states.... Although that Nissan Titan looks pretty good, lol

 

So what do you do file a new complaint or search for ones already there? What gets me on this is when I asked Dodge about the dash they said they never heard of any doing this. Which after being here I have a hard time believing that I am the only one who ever asked them about my dash cracking.