The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a "preliminary evaluation" into 260,000 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks after receiving consumer complaints of rear differential failures, according to a statement made by the safety administration.

NHTSA announced this week that it has received at least 15 complaints claiming that the rear differential locked up or the driveshaft separated at the rear connection to the differential in the pickups.

"Consumers report incidents of rear axle lock-up or driveshaft detachment from the rear differential caused by loose pinion nuts," NHTSA said in a posting on its site regarding the issue.

No reports of crashes, injuries or fatalities have been received yet by the NHTSA.

"The reports indicate that there was little or no noise or other warning prior to the lock-up and/or separation," the NHTSA said. "Seven incidents occurred at speeds of 50 mph or greater and two allege that the rear axle lockup caused the truck to go into a spin."

An owner of a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 posted on the NHTSA's website claiming he was "driving approximately 70 mph on an interstate when suddenly, the contact heard a loud thump."

"Immediately following the failure, the contact was able to safely coast the vehicle to the emergency lane. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic stated the pinion nut had fractured, causing the driveshaft to fracture off as well. The failure mileage was 103,000," the complaint reads.

Chrysler said it is cooperating fully with NHTSA regarding the issue.

Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa said the company would like to remind customers that this is an investigation, not a recall, according to an interview with Edmunds.

Make sure to check back for more information if a recall is announced by the automaker.

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