NHTSA Complaint #11473733 — 2017 RAM 2500

Recall for the drag link on this series of 2500 trucks calls for welding an adjustable part of the steering linkage - the drag link jam nuts, rendering that part non-adjustable. Once welded, to then perform an alignment the welds would need to be carefully ground off, alignment work performed, and then once again everything re-torqued and welded back in place per the recall advisory steps. Also consider the effects of welding, grinding, and welding again and again over the life of this HD truck. An alignment is critical to towing thousands of pounds, pulling to the side and overcorrecting while towing a load because a simple alignment is no longer possible is arguably just as dangerous as the original issue attempted to be mitigated (loss of steering). The correct fix for this safety issue is to replace this drag link component, not render the truck unusable. A new drag link without this issue has been engineered and made available for sale, but my VIN says its not eligible for it as a covered recall repair. This is an OEM design failure with a short-sighted workaround that renders the vehicle useless over time; seems ridiculous for the customer to be financially responsible for this failure. Attached photo is of the welded, "recall completed", drag link on my now horribly misaligned truck.