2009–2024 · Platform code DS
The generation that moved the 1500 to a coil-spring rear suspension rather than leaf springs, with an air suspension available as a factory option. A 2013 revision replaced the older V6 and V8 with the 3.6L Pentastar and brought the eight-speed automatic; the 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 followed for 2014. From 2019 this truck was sold alongside the new fifth generation under the name Ram 1500 Classic, so the model name on a listing does not on its own tell you which of the two you are looking at.
By engine and transmission
Complaint and recall counts from NHTSA, retrieved 2026-08-11. A complaint count is not a failure rate — it scales with how many were sold and how much attention a problem drew.
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The alternator charges the battery while the engine runs and powers everything electrical. Both are consumable parts with a service life, and on a used car at least one of them has usually been replaced already — or is due.
The compressor is the pump in the air conditioning loop. When it seizes it can send metal debris through the whole system, which turns a component replacement into a system job.
Bushings, ball joints, link rods and strut mounts are rubber and grease components that wear continuously. They rarely fail suddenly; they get gradually noisier and vaguer, which is why a test drive on a rough road tells you more than one on smooth pavement.
A turbocharger runs at very high speed on an oil-fed bearing, driven by exhaust gas. Its condition is tied directly to the engine's oil history, which makes service records more informative here than on most components.