This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My tires have been wearing on the outside for over a year now, I had the truck looked at and all ball joint uppers and lowers are bad. This truck only has 90,000 miles and has been driven to and from work for the last 5 1/2 years that I have owned it. The front passenger side is ready to give way.
I was advised today that my 1998 Dakota is plagued with the same issue that has been around for quite a while. The upper and lower ball joints are garbage at about 75,000. Fortunately I drove my wife's car by a stroke of luck and they gave me a lot of noise. So I caught it before a wheel fell off. Dodge should be recalling or at least replacing free of charge all ball joints that failed. Not just the 2000-2003 model numbers.
We own a 1998 Dodge Dakota sport 4X4. It currently has 144K kilometers. We just installed our 3rd set of upper ball joints, and have replaced the lower ball joints twice. We expect to replace the lowers again before next year. We know when the joints need replacing, when the vehicle becomes difficult to keep within a lane at highway speeds, due to excessive play in the steering. I see from the internet that Chrysler has issued a recall for 2000 and later models. This is insufficient, as many people on the internet are experiencing the same issue in models as late as 1996. I believe this issue is well known in the industry, one person or family getting killed by this defect for there to be an official recall is not good enough. Our vehicle maintenance is paid by our company, however a family that may not be able to afford such expensive replacement on a regular basis, may be putting themselves in jeopardy.
The contact states every year when he takes vehicle to be inspected they inform him the upper and lower ball joints need to be replaced. The ball joints have been replaced three times. The replacement takes place approximately every 20, 000-25,000 miles. A local mechanic said it was the design of the ball joints that caused the problem.
- Wheeling, WV, USA
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Walking back to my parked "98 Dodge Dakota, after dining out with family, I noticed that my front passenger side wheel was cock-eyed while the driver's side wheel was pointing straight. I had the local Dodge dealer/service department check it out and they discovered that 3 out of 4 ball joints were bad. The service manager said that it was a very dangerous situation and I shouldn't have been driving the vehicle. I was appalled to hear that since I had no indication that I or my passengers were in any danger: The truck never pulled to one side, and it didn't steer funny, or give me any reason to believe that something was so terribly wrong. The service manager urged me to replace all four ball joints, which I did at a cost of over $773.81. I think Dodge needs to recall the '98 Dakotas' ball joints. There's no reason a vehicle with only 73,000 miles on it should have 3 out of four ball joints go bad to the point that the wheels are coming off.
Ball joints failed, passengers side came loose and the wheel feel off and the transmisson had to be rebuilt due to cheap internal parts. But if you own a 98 Dodge Dakota have your ball joints checked they are a hazard and someone is going to get killed, if they already have not....
The consumer had a 98 Dodge Dakota, took to tire shop, truck could not be aligned because it had defective ball joints. Contact called the daimler Chrysler, who informed him that there was no recall on this vehicle after repairs were done vehicle had steering problem. There was a noise in the steering column. Then, at repair shop owner was informed there was a defective steering gear, and would cost $800. Owner did not repair steering and vehicle veered to the right/left. Tire company stated the crown of the road caused vehicle to pull to the left/right. Tire shop indicated they could repair the problem, but there were 500 steering gears on back order. Owner felt there was a problem with the steering gear otherwise there wouldn't be 500 steering gears on back order.
II had noted a clunking sound when turning into my driveway and at other times involving turning or driving over speed bumps or turning up an incline, also the steering feel had become vague. During my annual state insp. The mech stated that the upper ball joints on both sides were complely worn out, and as such could not pass it without repair.
The contact owns a 1998 Dodge Dakota. The front end upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced. Chrysler said that there was no recall. Also front end was aligned and the brake front rotors had to be turned.
While driving 45 mph front passenger wheel felk off. Driver pulled over, and the vehicle was towed to a garage for inspection. Mechanic determined that the upper and lower ball joints broke, and needed to be replaced.
On my 1998 Dodge Dakota I experienced a "klunking" sound in the front end. Found out at 84,000 miles that the ball joints were bad and contributed to wheel bearing and hub assembly problems. Repair bill was $738.95. I had the repair performed at my local Dodge dealer "morgan Dodge" in durham, nc. The dealership told me the repair was necessary and the vehicle was unsafe to drive without the repairs. The oem replacement parts are on national backorder and the dealership had to use aftermarket parts for the ball joints. I have contacted Dodge and they said the vehicle is out of warranty and "is not subject to any recall" so they can not assist me.
Dodge Dakota 1998 consumer replaced ball joints. The consumer replaced the upper ball joints at 31000 miles and both the upper and lower ball joints at 43000 miles. The technician indicated that the lack of grease fittings on the original design created and excessive wear problem.
Vehicle would vibrate and make a clanking noise while driving at any speed. Vehicle was taken to a repair shop, and mechanic determined that the upper ball joint on the right side needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified, and informed the consumer that their vehicle was not covered under that recall.
Noise from front end, had checked out and mechanic found left side ball joints (upper and lower) were prematurely worn. I had them replaced at my expense. I saved the old parts. Now the passenger side nedds to be replaced. Again the dealer tells me the recall does not apply to my car.
Consumer noticed front tire on Dakota was having alignment problems due to front ball joints. The technician informed the consumer that the front ball joints were bad and needed to be replaced
I own a 1998 Dodge dokota truck and had to have the ball joints replaced in November, 2003. I have heard they are recalling the dokota's starting in year 2000. What about the ones before that year. I have receipts where it cost me $753.71 to have this work done.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Massillon, OH, USA