The Ram 1500's 'Plastic' Upper Control Arms Aren't What You Think

In today's era of rampant clickbait, AI content, and unsubstantiated social media rumors, it's often hard to sort out which stories are real, which are false, and which lie somewhere in the middle. The automotive industry and media landscape are no strangers to this situation. If you follow the world of pickup trucks, you may have heard something about Stellantis using "plastic" upper control arms on the Ram 1500 pickup.

The current generation of Ram's bread-and-butter pickup has been on sale since the 2019 model year, and the Ram 1500 was recently given some substantial updates for the 2025 model year. This half-ton pickup is a massively important vehicle for Stellantis, and so a shoddy, unsafe, or failure-prone part would be a costly misstep for a company that's already dealing with its share of financial troubles.

So does the Ram 1500 actually use plastic control arms like the internet says? Not really. While there's a degree of truth in that statement, the control arms in question actually use a mix of lightweight composite and steel construction, with an exterior coating that makes them appear cheaper and more plastic-like than they actually are. Let's take a closer look to see exactly what's going on.

One of the reasons this whole internet rumor started is that, on the surface, the Ram 1500's upper control arms indeed look very much like they're made out of cheap plastic. But reporting and investigation by The Drive and others have shown that the appearance is misleading. That plasticky, milk crate-looking exterior is actually a coating designed to protect the control arm from corrosion. This type of coating is one of the common ways of protecting your vehicle from rust; in the Ram 1500's case, it just happens to be done at the factory.

Beneath the coating, the control arm itself has a hybrid construction that uses both steel and composite materials to create, according to a Stellantis spokesperson (via The Drive), a high-strength, low-weight part. Stellantis also claims that the Ram 1500's steel-composite upper control arm is more expensive to manufacture than a traditional steel or aluminum part, despite the cheap-looking exterior. Finally, Stellantis' spokesperson also pointed out that upper control arms take a much lesser weight load than the lower control arms, allowing them to implement this new form of lightweight construction for the Ram 1500 without sacrificing strength.

More than anything Stellantis can say, though, the biggest evidence against Ram 1500's so-called plastic control arms being an issue is that they aren't new. Stellantis confirmed that the same upper control arm has been used on the Ram 1500 since the 2019 model year, which went on sale during 2018. That means this part has been in service for over seven years now. If there were any major and widespread issues with Ram 1500 control arms breaking during hard use or wearing out, we would have known about it by now.

Finally, it's also important to note that while they can last for many years, control arms, like many of a car's suspension components, will wear out and need to be replaced over time. A control arm's longevity will depend on how and where a vehicle is driven, but most will likely last 100,000 miles or so. Fortunately, if you own a late-model Ram 1500 or are thinking of purchasing one, there's nothing to suggest that your upper control arms will give you issues beyond the expected wear and tear.