1998 Dodge Dakota: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Dec 8, 2017 · Brakes, Steering · 100,000 miles · ID

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.

Filed Dec 5, 2007 · Suspension · 90,000 miles · OH

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.

Filed Nov 20, 2007 · Suspension, Transmission · 82,000 miles · MD

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

Filed Feb 28, 2007 · Steering · 63,734 miles · VA

I am the owner of a 1998 dodge dakota. When I brought in this vehicle for the mandatory safety inspection in 2006 I was informed that the engine manifold bolts had broken and needed to be replaced for the vehicle to pass the safety inspection. Without replacing the bolts it would be unsafe to drive. Cost to me was $561.18. I had the required safety work completed. This year I brought the same vehicle in for the required safety inspection and was informed that the ball joints were warn and needed to be replaced or the vehicle would not pass the safety inspection. The vehicle has 63,736 miles on it. I talked with several repair shops and they informed me that ball joints should be warn out at this low mileage. I also went to the consumers affairs commission web site and there was numerous articles regarding the problems with the dodge dakotas suspension and steering assemblies. There was no accident or damage but there seems to be defects with these parts. Any help will be appreciated.

Filed Jan 16, 2007 · Suspension · 75,000 miles · CO

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.

Filed Jan 10, 2007 · Suspension · 106,657 miles · CA

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 -

Filed Jun 7, 2006 · Suspension · 62,000 miles · FL

Ball joints seperated...costing me over $1000 in repairs...and now they have failed again....also control arm bushing is failing.

Filed May 13, 2006 · Suspension · 58,500 miles · TX

Upper and lower ball joint failures @ 58,500 miles.

Filed Mar 11, 2006 · Suspension · 00

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.

Filed Nov 22, 2005 · Suspension · 112,000 miles · WV

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.

Filed Nov 19, 2005 · Suspension · 73,561 miles · IN

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.

Filed Nov 11, 2005 · Suspension, Transmission · 102,950 miles · TX

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....