The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is holding an investigation to look into claims that certain vehicles could pose a serious crash risk to drivers all across the nation.

According to an official report issued by the federal agency and a news article published by the Consumer Reports, all units of the 2009 through 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 4WD full-sized pickup trucks could be running the risk of being recalled if reports of incidents associated with these vehicles’ wheels were really caused by a defective part present in these pickup trucks.

The news articles covering this investigation have demonstrated that the carmaker Dodge received at least eight reports of incidents associated with these vehicles. In one of these incidents, the rear wheels’ lock-up system was activated unexpectedly, which caused the motorist to lose control over the vehicle and crash against a wall.

Although no injuries have been reported as a result of any of the incidents, the Office of Defect Investigations decided to look into these complaints because if proven to stand for a real issue with these vehicles’ wheel lock-up systems, the company will have to issue a recall for all units of the Ram 1500 trucks.

Until all investigations are completed, consumers will be kept in the dark regarding the severity of the issue these full-sized pickup trucks could be experiencing.

All vehicles being investigated are equipped with an automatic transmission and models potentially affected include regular, crew cab and quad cab trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has learned of at least 12 incidents associated with these vehicles so far. If you or a loved one owns one of these potentially hazardous trucks and you experienced a similar issue related to the vehicle’s wheel lock-up system, contact the federal agency at once.

In some of these incidents, drivers reported that the vehicles’ driveshaft was also broken as a result of the wheel lock-up activation, and, in one case, the driveshaft punctured the fuel tank of the truck.

According to the news, this issue could be related to the vehicle’s rear differential pinion nut that could be coming loose unexpectedly, which may have led to the loosening of a major component of these vehicles’ rear assembly. Hopefully, the federal agency will identify the issue that may have caused these incidents quickly to avoid other similar accidents in the future.

If you would like to learn more about this investigation, click here for the original investigation announcement issued by the Consumer Reports.