2003 Dodge Ram or 1982 Camaro?

[rroudy 98]

I am posting this to see if any others have noticed the amount of rattles from the dash, cup holders, roof panel, door panels. . or anything else.



Mine has 12,000 miles and has more rattles, and wind noise than my old 1982 Camaro with T-tops did! I felt very stupid for spending $1000 for that POC, so I now feel extremely stupid for spending $37,000 for the same noises. If this thing did not have the Cummins engine I would trade it today!



What kind of crap is Dodge pulling? They have focused too much on looks and not enough on real world product validation.



I don't need to tell anyone here how helpful the geniuses were at my local five star dealer were... . what a joke they are!

 

[y-knot]

Dodge has never been known for their build quality or quality control. They have been plagued in the past with numerous quality issues like paint peel, paint de-lamination,steering problems, brake issues,fit and finish problems, wind noise, water leaks, ect. There cars are no better, they have many of the same issues, along with several engine problems (head cracking and sealing) . Also the integrity of there air bag systems is less then average. And the dumpy gages they install in both cars and trucks should be illegal.

Problem is, people like ourself keep coming back for more. I and my wife bought new in 1997, I purchased a truck and by wife her second car both from Dodge. She ditched her car for a Honda, and claims she will never drive another American built car. I still have my Dodge, but I doubt if I will ever by another Dodge. I have purchased myself 5 new vehicles since the Dodge purchase in '97, not a Dodge product among them. In all honesty I am happy with the '97,Totally happy with the Cummins. I replaced the Auto trany, and did not mind that. But I can not understand why so many keep allowing Dodge to continue to sell such a lossy product. It also bothers me that all 4-door trucks come from Mexico, What did we gain?? Dodge got their cheap labor. We paid the same amount as the competition (Ford,Gm), lost job in America(good jobs, the kind you can feed a family with), and have the worst truck award, poor pain,poor finish,poor quality. I people in Louisville Kentucky can build a much better Ford truck then the Mexicans in Mexico, Why?? The Fords are the same price as the Dodge. So is the Chevy. Both are built in the USA, and so is their Engine. I have to applaud Ford, they might have a few problems now, that will be straightened out. But they do build American, with American people, for Americans.

 

[NSperduto]

I'm not sure about the rattles and my 98 Dakota has 160k and other than a couple of things early on, it's been stone reliable.



My 2000 windstar on the other hand is a piece of crap, everything rattles, the doors still don't line up after 4 trips to the dealer, pwoer seat track replaced 4 times, transmission replaced twice and I can keep going on in the list, but I don't feel like typing that much.



I know GM has a plant in Canada and Ford has a plant in Mexico, so don't give me "But they do build American, with American people, for Americans. " when I do a quick websearch and read this.

"The all-new 2006 Ford Futura, a cutting-edge mid-size sedan that continues Ford's aggressive revitalization of its car lineup, will be built at the Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant in Sonora, Mexico, beginning in 2005, the company announced today. "



Nick

 

[Crunch]

Originally posted by rroudy 98

Mine has 12,000 miles and has more rattles, and wind noise than my old 1982 Camaro with T-tops did! I felt very stupid for spending $1000 for that POC, so I now feel extremely stupid for spending $37,000 for the same noises. If this thing did not have the Cummins engine I would trade it today!

My `03 2500 is approaching 14,000 miles and I am not experiencing the rattles you are. I've noticed only two "noise" issues: One is the wind buffetting the driver's side door when out on the Interstates. The other is a clanking sound from the bed area when I hit bumps, I'm not sure, but I believe that sounds is my spare tire moving. Beyond that I have been nothing short of amazed at the quality of my truck... so far. I'm still leary about new vehicles, and wish the sheet metal in the body was a bit thicker, but as someone who has hated new vehicles for the last 25 years, I am definitely impressed... so far.



There are other threads regarding the wind noise, but I've noticed that if I pull in on the upper left corner of the driver's side door (upper left while sitting in the driver's seat) it goes away. My guess is that the door flexes at highway speeds and the seal develops a gap between it and the door frame.



And, like you said, your Dodge has a real engine in it, while your 1982 Camaro had a 305 girlie engine in it. You're still coming out ahead on this.

 

[LightmanE300]

7600 miles on my 04 with zero rattles or noises, knock on wood. Impressed so far. . !

 

[Jumbo Jet]

My 2004 doesn't have any rattles. Only has 2,300 miles, but 600 of those were over one of the roughest roads in US while pulling a 9,000 lb. RV.



I was a diehard Chevy owner until I bought my 2000 Dodge CTD. My experience - the plastic crap in the Chevies squeaked and rattle with the best of them. My Dodges all have been much better. BTW - I owned a 1988 GMC, 1992 & 1997 Chevies. I have a friend with a 1997 Chevy. His Ext. Cab doors squeak and dash rattles.



Take all the plastic stuff out - get you a Mig welder - tighten it up!



Or, just turn your radio up!

 

[David Muench]

22,500 miles on mine, and the only rattle is the lever on the B&W gooseneck.

 

[whamby]

49,000 no rattles or noises other than my steering column gauge mount which I have never put the double sticky tape on.

 

[jtwcummins]

Mine is still rattle free as it approaches it's 7th birthday. Was built 9jan97 in mexico.

 

[curatchko]

Dude, this truck is quieter and has less rattles than any GM or Ford truck then I have ever been in!!!!!!



Must have a Friday lemon!!!!

 

[InThinAir]

hey Crunch! I have the same kind of clunk in my truck. I thought that it was the spare, but it is not. I haven't had the truck very long and it has been so ridiculously cold here I haven't even gotten underneath except to make sure the spare wasn't gonna fall out goin down the road. That spare was tight! So if you find out anything, keep in touch!



---Doug

 

[NSperduto]

Originally posted by curatchko

Dude, this truck is quieter and has less rattles than any GM or Ford truck then I have ever been in!!!!!!



Must have a Friday lemon!!!!

I don't know about lemons. My '04 is good so far and mine was built on the midnight shift in Mexico on a Saturday night. I thought for sure I wouldn't get out of the parking lot without something falling off.

 

[lil red cummins]

sorry to hear you are having problems.



mine is less than 2 weeks old and absolutely rattle and squeak free. the only noise i had was when the heater blower was on the third speed. it was a high pitched whistle. i tracked it down to the blower motor and resistor block mountings. they have no gasket from the factory and are hard plastic against plastic. i removed both items and put a bead of silicone around them and re-assembled. whole process took less than 10 minutes once i found out where the noise was. it is perfect now.



jim

 

[rroudy 98]

Sorry I put this in the engine/trans section.



The cup holder and the wind noise from the driver's door is the worst offender. I tried duct tape, but finally had to remove the cup holder (even the radio couldn't drown out the noise)



Unfortunately even when the radio is on low volumes the door panels rattle... . so it is very frustrating as I drive 350-400 miles a day!



There was recently a rattle behind the dash that started... I have not taken apart to look for yet.



I can tolerate problems, but when the snobs as the local five star dealer say "There is nothing we can do about that" is when I get really upset and post messages like this.



I can say the best thing about the truck so far is the engine... . the worst is having to deal with my dealership.

 

[Crunch]

Originally posted by rroudy 98

There was recently a rattle behind the dash that started... I have not taken apart to look for yet.

Don't take it apart yourself and jeopardize your warranty status. Take it to a different dealer, politely detail your problems and let them know you'll abandon your old dealer and that you'll bring your car in to them for service. Remember, your warranty is with DC, not the dealer from where you purchased the truck. Also, make sure DC hears about the old 5-star hoopty dealer.

 

[XcumminsX]

7000 miles no rattles... when bass is all the way up there is noise in the door.

 

[sellesd]

18,000 miles and the only rattle is when I leave an empty soda can in the cup holder.

 

[hdfxrsconv]

I've a 2003 quad cab that built just outside of St. Louis, MO - USA. I could not be happier with the truck! Extremely please with the quality.

 

[miller_wb]

I agree. I have many rattles coming from the dash, behind the radio, both door window controls. There are times I want to take machine guns and hand grenades to it. It is the only real disappointing thing about the Dodge. The Ford PSD I sold at 150K miles had less rattles than my Dodge at 13K.

 

[rroudy 98]

miller_wb... Glad I am not the only one, I guess that means the noises are not in my head. I am going to take Crunch's advice, put the cup holder back in and take to another dealership. I should have known when they left the plug out of the diff cover!