I was driving my 05 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 traveling on the interstate doing 55 mph when I heard a whining noise that grew real loud. As I attempted to pull over to the median the truck locked up and skidded to a stop just missing the guard rail. I got out and looked under my truck and saw the drive shaft had broken off from the rear end/differential and oil was pouring out the differential casing from the exposed hole where the drive shaft had been attached. If this had happened on the drive lanes I think there would have been a collision with other vehicles that may have been behind me. I had it towed to the repair shop that had repaired the rear end in 2010 at a cost of $906.93. The truck would not roll forward on to the tow truck but would roll backward making it difficult to load on the tow truck. I went online and read many complaints about the same problem I am having. These complaints are not year specific and covered vehicles ranging from the late 90S and practically all 2000 model years. Some of the divers nearly had accidents. Apparently Dodge is well aware of this on going problem but refuses to make a recall. I think someone is eventually going to get hurt or killed. I for one am getting rid of it as soon as it is fixed. I don't feel safe driving it anymore. Some people have had repairs for this problem only to have it reoccur shortly after the repair. Thank you for your time and assistance...updated 01/07/15 the pinion seal and axle seal were replaced

- Palmyra, IN, USA

1st incident 2/21/13: Driving on a 4 lane highway w/center left turn lanes at 40 when a car cut across from the right to make a left turn. Hit the brakes causing the front to lock up (rear ABS only). Truck started stopping, but continued moving forward against the front brakes and into the car. Truck left unusually long skid marks. Police and insurance reports made. Damaged to front bumper. 2nd incident 3/5/13: Driving at 40 on curved section of highway with 2 lanes in direction I was going and 1 lane on opposite side separated by large grass medium when a car pulled out from the left hand U-turn in the medium. Hit the brakes causing the truck to slide straight through curve onto grass shoulder. Truck came to complete stop and heard the right rear spinning in the dirt. Put my left foot on the brake to hold truck from moving. I checked to make sure I was not on the gas. It spun for several seconds before stopping. Truck left normal length of skid marks. Did not smell burnt brakes in rear; possibly not engaged at all. I am currently looking to see if I can test the braking at a local dirt track to verify this issue, and to have outside observation of the occurrence. I have replaced all four disk brakes with high performance brake rotors and brake pads to assist with better braking in the last week. I will post the results here once I can arrange the test. Have not had any problems with normal or heavy braking; only emergency braking. First incident resulted in an accident, luckily no injuries. The drive wheel was in the dirt for second incident; there was not an accident. This is a very serious safety issue, and may be the cause of other accidents and not reported because driver could not realize it happened. It appears to be the problem where the ABS system causes excessive heat build up resulting in computer malfunction.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that when releasing the emergency brakes he noticed that the plastic cover fracture. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the plastic was very weak and the break lever release cover needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they repaired the vehicle under warranty the first 3 times. The failure mileage was approximately 12,186 and the current mileage was approximately 49,779.

- Metford, OR, USA

Engine stalled without warning while traveling at slow speeds causing loss of brakes and steering control. This has happened numerous times while both traveling straight and turning. It has been a very dangerous issue to deal with.

- Houston, TX, USA

The front brake will lock up on one side causing the rotor, caliper hub and wheel to become so hot it starts smoking. After it cools of it will release the locked up caliper and become drivable again. This will be fine for a while and then the other side will do the same thing.. this has to be very dangerous overheating all the front end components to these very high temperatures. There have been others with this problem on a forum ( vtcoa.com ) I am a member of. There needs to be a Dodge recall on all the effected overheating parts before it causes a major accident if it hasn't already. The other problem is the power steering hoses keep leaking or blowing out. This is another real hazard to safety. Have you ever tried to steer a 3 ton truck with no power assist, not easy by any means. These two things are an accident waiting to happen and should be corrected by Dodge before someone gets killed.

- New Port Richey, FL, USA