This car has been a safety nightmare. From steel brake lines rusting through (and the vehicle losing it brakes), to upper ball joints almost separating to steering wheel drive shafts where the u-joints almost separated. These are not items that should fail like this. I spent part of my career looking after global product liability for cummins engine and I am stunned at the poor quality chrysler has used in critical components.
1998 Dodge Dakota suspension problems
217 complaints (40% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 64,000. 1 crash reported.
- owner complaints
- 217
- of this car's complaints
- 40%
- typical mileage
- 64,000
- crashes
- 1
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Front: control arm: upper ball joint137
- Front: control arm: lower ball joint105
- Front18
- Rear12
- Front: control arm11
- Front: wheel bearing7
- Front: control arm: lower arm5
- Front: shock absorber4
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Dodge Dakota suspension problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 1998 Dodge Dakota suspension
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Upper ball joint separation
Daimlerchrysler corporation (dcc) is recalling the target population of approximately 600,000 my 2000 through 2003 durango and dakota vehicles with four-wheel drive to replace the front suspension upper ball joints with redesigned parts that do not have the joint integrity concerns and have substantially improved joint retention capacity (the federal safety agency recall no. 04v‑596).though dcc does not admit to a safety-defect in the subject components, odi believes that the facts in this investigation show otherwise.because of the low rates of separation incidents in the remaining subject vehicles, a safety-related defect has not been identified in those populations and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that no safety-related defect exists in those vehicles.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.for additional information, see the attached closing report.
EA03023
What 1998 Dodge Dakota owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Cant get info...how too make any one fix recalled parts.
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.
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge dakota. The ball joints have completely worn out and also has a very noisy lifter in the vehicle. The vehicle drifts in and out of lanes at any speed; however, the failure was noticed while driving 10 MPH. The contact has not taken the vehicle to the dealer. He was informed of a recall on the previous year's model, but his VIN was not included. The recall number was unavailable. The current mileage was 93,500 and failure mileage was 82,000. Updated 03/14/08. *lj the shifter didn ot stay in park
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.
Tl* - the contact owns a 1998 dodge dakota, whose left lower control arm on the front driver side broke off due to defective welding. The contact's dealer advised him that the vehicle was beyond the warranty period and not repairable. Per the contact, the lower suspension bolts fell off the vehicle while driving 25 MPH. There was no collision at the time of the failure. *ak updated 2/2/2007 -
Ball joints seperated...costing me over $1000 in repairs...and now they have failed again....also control arm bushing is failing.
Upper and lower ball joint failures @ 58,500 miles.
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.
Dt: 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.
Questions about the 1998 Dodge Dakota suspension
Does the 1998 Dodge Dakota have suspension problems?
Owners have filed 217 complaints about the suspension of the 1998 Dodge Dakota, 40% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 1998 Dodge Dakota suspension problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 64,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 1998 Dodge Dakota suspension?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Dodge Dakota have bad suspension?
The Dodge Dakota model years with the most suspension complaints are 1999 (342 complaints), 2000 (282 complaints) and 2001 (236 complaints).
Other 1998 Dodge Dakota problems
Brakes 80Transmission 74Engine 64Steering 47Airbags 32Seat belts 20Visibility 20Body 19Electrical 19Tires 18Fuel system 12Lights 11Acceleration 9Wheels 3Locks 2Seats 2Driver assistance 1
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