2003 Dodge Ram 1500: recalls and complaints

NHTSA advisory: do not driveCampaign 15V312000. NHTSA received the report on 26 May 2015. 385,686 units. Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator Module

Remedy of campaign 15V312000, in the NHTSA record

Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is completed. Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag, free of charge. The recall began on March 16, 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is R26. Note: This recall partially supersedes recall 14V770.

Do-not-drive advisory: A mark on a recall campaign in the NHTSA recall file. This site shows the mark as NHTSA sets it.

NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500. The campaign is 15V312000. NHTSA received the report on 26 May 2015. The NHTSA record gives the component Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator Module. NHTSA has 384 complaints on file for this model year. 3 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 29 Mar 2018. Recall file through 30 Sep 2026.

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

1 campaign. 385,686 units in total.

15V312000Received 26 May 2015. 385,686 units.
Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator ModuleDo-not-drive advisory
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain model year 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 trucks manufactured August 29, 2002, to July 25, 2003 to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger’s frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is completed. Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag, free of charge. The recall began on March 16, 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is R26. Note: This recall partially supersedes recall 14V770.
Report filed by Chrysler (FCA US LLC). Manufacturer campaign number R26. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 16 Mar 2016.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

384 complaints, 445 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

2003 Dodge Ram 1500
All 2003 vehicles

2003 Dodge Ram 1500: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	2003 Ram 1500	All 2003 vehicles	Ram 1500, all years	Mentions
Structure	188.8	51.6	202.5	84
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	148.3	83.2	84.2	66
Power Train	143.8	136.5	112.4	64
Engine and Engine Cooling	116.9	108.8	88.6	52
Electrical System	60.7	122.3	69.2	27
Suspension	58.4	62.1	75.3	26
Steering	40.4	42.7	52.7	18
Air Bags	36	45.8	59.3	16
Vehicle Speed Control	27	45.3	21.4	12
Visibility	24.7	56.8	32	11

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 22.

Complaints that report a crash: 37
Complaints that report a fire: 6
Injuries in the complaints: 30
Deaths in the complaints: 5
Date of the newest complaint: 29 Sep 2010

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2004, with 72 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500
Number	Type	Subject	Component	Opened	Closed	Campaign
EA21002	Engineering analysis	Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture	Air Bags / Frontal / Driver Side / Inflator Module	17 Sep 2021	Open
EA15001	Engineering analysis	Air Bag Inflator Rupture	Air Bags / Frontal	24 Feb 2015	Open	14V668
PE14016	Preliminary evaluation	Air Bag Inflator Rupture	Air Bags / Frontal	11 Jun 2014	2 Mar 2015	13V172000

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

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Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
NHTSA page of the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500The recalls, the complaints and the investigations that NHTSA shows for this model year.

Cite this page

Recall Register. 2003 Dodge Ram 1500: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/dodge/ram-1500/2003/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 30 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 29 Mar 2018
First complaint in the file: 1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file: Chrysler (FCA US LLC)

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500?: 385,686 units in 1 campaign. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Dodge Ram 1500 have for all model years?: NHTSA lists 29 recall campaigns for the Dodge Ram 1500, model years 1991 to 2012. 1 of them names the 2003 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 name most often?: Structure: 84 of 445 component mentions, or 188.8 per 1,000. For all 2003 vehicles the figure is 51.6 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 open?: 2 investigations have no closing date in the NHTSA file, of 3 that name this model year.