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A bad day for the Mighty Dodge!

chargervert

chargervert

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I was driving my Mighty 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 4x4 home from work after another 14 hour day,and my left front tire blew out on the highway. I managed to get the truck over to the left sholder,and I figured I would change the tire and go home. Well thats not the way things went. When I got to the side of the road,the truck wasn't running,and when I went to start it,I got nothing, The lights worked,but nothing on the dash lit up when I turned the key. I put the flashers on,and they worked, so I got out of the truck,to check the battery connections,and I noticed that my drivers side running board was missing. I looked out in the road and saw the running board just as a car hit it and it flew in my direction. It skidded across the pavement,and I stopped it with my foot,and threw it into the bed of the truck. Then I looked in the wheelwell and noticed that the tire ripped the wiring out of the underhood fuse box! I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put a plastic well liner between the tire and the fusebox,but they get a fail for execution! Now I don't know if I can fix it or if it will need a new harness and fusebox. This is the first time that the Mighty Dodge ever needed a tow. It usually tows everyone and everything else. To add insult to my injury,I bought four brand new tires and wheels from a 2018 Dodge Ram last summer,and I took them off for the winter and put my old wheels and tires back on for the winter,to protect my new ones from the winter salt. The old ones were 4 year old Radial T/As that had about a third life left. So my fellow Dodge Ram owners,keep in mind that if you get a blow out on the left front,it can take out your fusebox and wiring harness!
 
Last edited:
These are the old wheels.
20180520_154722.jpg
 
These are the new wheels. I think once I get it fixed, i'm going to fab up a 1/4 inch steel shield for the fusebox!
20180520_194743.jpg
 
That sucks

I hope it's the lesser of the 2 fixes

good luck & happy MoParing

If it's any consolation
I like the new wheel/tires combo :thumbsup:
 
I dunno what Dodge engineers think when placing critical components in vulnerable areas. Just take your time in soldering up all the joints and depending on what the fuse box looks like, you might get lucky on ebay. This last July, we had an early morning rain which flooded the streets in low areas, and the Wife went over to a friends house in the Caravan to feed their animals while out of town. Told her not to go,,, but you know.. common sense doesn't grow on trees. She flooded the engine(water) and when I went over to tow it home, there was only about 4 to 6 inches of water in the road. The damn intake duct routes through the inner fender and extends down to the lower splash shield...sucked up the water like a vacuum hose. Found rings and piston parts in the oil pan... what a lack of thought. Junk yard engine...I meant recycled engine, is in now and found the ecm on the other side of the van in the same spot...genius. The engine sounds a little louder now that the 15 lb. water suction tube and assortment of sound dampening gadgetry has been thrown in the garbage.
 
That really bites & I hope it's not a tough fix. Hard to believe that the tire would have taken out the running board....must have been pretty violent!

However, we need pictures of the carnage.
 
i just picked up a wrecked dodge guy hit a power utility box on the side of the road,
same thing happened to it.
plastic fender tore loose and went under the tire even.
really crappy design from factory.
speaking of crappy designs,those arms that hold your front end under there?
they are made out of tinfoil..youve been warned.

kinda reminds me of the earlier caravans and little sundances and so forth,
the computers were in the pass side kick panel,
the water flings up inside the fenders and would run down the antenna cable and drip Right on the computers.

or Gm-s infamous body plug connectors,
that mount under the vehicles and get sprayed with road water constantly.
or their computers that they mount under the hood and get corroded severely.

ps,to the Op.i Really like those wheels :thumbsup:
 
Glad your ok.
A truck tire that grenades at highway speed will really F-ck things up. Ive had it happen on an 18 wheeler and it totally destroyed the rear ladder and light assy on the trailer. They were aluminium not plastic.
Is your running board worth salvaging.
 
This happened to me on my "09 RAM 1500. 65mph in fast lane of 3 lane freeway. Low pressure light came on and before I could even look in the mirror to move over it blew. It was a NASCAR type thing! I never did find the entire pass side headlight bucket/assy! The right fender was trash, it ripped the wire harness CONNECTION apart! I had ZERO power, no power steering or nothing doing 65 in the fast lane with NO middle divider to p ulkl off onto. FINALLY I was able to get to the shoulder , could not believe people would not yield for me as the problem was VERY obvious.
Anyway, $5000 later and an entire new harness, that truck was good as new.
I too am amazed such a critical piece of sensitive equipment would be mounted in a wheel well!
 
Many cars these days are made this way. The ever popular Ford Taurus has the intake routed to the left fenderwell. They are supposed to have a flapper that goes shut when introduced to deep water. Kills the engine.
You can thank your EPA for the plastic panels, etc. Gotta save every ounce they can to meet epa gas mileage requirements.
 
It sucks a blown tire got your wiring. Its good you are ok. Sometimes in traffic things can go bad. Have a better day today. I had a late 70s Trailduster that had a blowout at about 80 mph with mismatched used tires I barely kept it from rolling over. I was young and broke and used used tires all the time.
 
I've been bitching about plastic fender liners since day one. All this ******* plastic in vehicles today & they outweigh the all steel land yachts of days of yon. WTF?!
 
the mississippi madman said:
They out weight older cars because the average car these days has over a mile of copper wire running through them
Click to expand...
Not to mention extra crash supports, air bags, insulation out the ying yang and every do dad you can imagine! My little Chevy Cruze outweighs my 69 Charger!
DCCoronet said:
I dunno what Dodge engineers think when placing critical components in vulnerable areas. Just take your time in soldering up all the joints and depending on what the fuse box looks like, you might get lucky on ebay. This last July, we had an early morning rain which flooded the streets in low areas, and the Wife went over to a friends house in the Caravan to feed their animals while out of town. Told her not to go,,, but you know.. common sense doesn't grow on trees. She flooded the engine(water) and when I went over to tow it home, there was only about 4 to 6 inches of water in the road. The damn intake duct routes through the inner fender and extends down to the lower splash shield...sucked up the water like a vacuum hose. Found rings and piston parts in the oil pan... what a lack of thought. Junk yard engine...I meant recycled engine, is in now and found the ecm on the other side of the van in the same spot...genius. The engine sounds a little louder now that the 15 lb. water suction tube and assortment of sound dampening gadgetry has been thrown in the garbage.
Click to expand...
What year was it, I've got a 14 Town and Country... I'd rather fix it while it's an easy fix.

chargervert said:
I was driving my Mighty 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 4x4 home from work after another 14 hour day,and my left front tire blew out on the highway. I managed to get the truck over to the left sholder,and I figured I would change the tire and go home. Well thats not the way things went. When I got to the side of the road,the truck wasn't running,and when I went to start it,I got nothing, The lights worked,but nothing on the dash lit up when I turned the key. I put the flashers on,and they worked, so I got out of the truck,to check the battery connections,and I noticed that my drivers side running board was missing. I looked out in the road and saw the running board just as a car hit it and it flew in my direction. It skidded across the pavement,and I stopped it with my foot,and threw it into the bed of the truck. Then I looked in the wheelwell and noticed that the tire ripped the wiring out of the underhood fuse box! I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put a plastic well liner between the tire and the fusebox,but they get a fail for execution! Now I don't know if I can fix it or if it will need a new harness and fusebox. This is the first time that the Mighty Dodge ever needed a tow. It usually tows everyone and everything else. To add insult to my injury,I bought four brand new tires and wheels from a 2018 Dodge Ram last summer,and I took them off for the winter and put my old wheels and tires back on for the winter,to protect my new ones from the winter salt. The old ones were 4 year old Radial T/As that had about a third life left. So my fellow Dodge Ram owners,keep in mind that if you get a blow out on the left front,it can take out your fusebox and wiring harness!
Click to expand...
Man does that really suck, a simple tire blowout renders your truck useless! Unfortunately wire damage like that often pulls wires out of the connectors and destroys several inches of the wire making the fix a bit harder than just reconnecting everything. If you do decide to patch it up buy the shrink wrap with sealing glue in it like what's used on submersible pumps, you can buy it for smaller gauge wires as well and it will keep those connections corrosion free. Good luck
 
Thanks for the heads up! I have a '03 and just put a new set of Coopers on the front last year.
crossed.gif

20180912_130939.jpg
 
Years ago when I got 02 Ram, I remember looking underneath it and noticed how the harness came out of the drivers side floor. I thought for sure that the truck must have been in a bad wreck and someone threw it back together because it did not look at all factory the way it was exposed. But after checking a few other trucks, they were all the same. It ended up being an excellent truck, but some of the ways that vehicle manufacturers design stuff is just plain retarded.
 
20190205_102855.jpg
20190205_102823.jpg

This is what a blown inside duel does to an aluminium Timpte trailer.
Note the welds around the light assy in the bottom picture
Broke the bottom rung of the ladder and caved the light assy into the trailer so far that it almost touched the duels
 
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