Vehicle failed inspection 2 years in a row because upper and lower ball joints were worn out. Consumer had an appointment at dealer to find out the cause.
1999 Dodge Dakota suspension complaints
Page 12 of 13: complaints 311 to 340 of 342, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tire center indicates that tow end throws alignment out and wears the tire tread out. The consumer has gone through 4 sets of tires in 40,000 miles. Tire technician says problem is inherent with dakota trucks.
Upper ball joints are prematurely wearing which has caused a problem with steering control. Also, vehicle has developed a very loud noise, cause unknown.
All four ball joints prematurely need replacement., excessive play. The dealer stated that the ball joints have 60 thousands of an inch play from the factory. I had an independent front end specialist inspect my brakes and doing so he found the ball joints in the front end no good (excessive play). He said that this is a known problem throughout the industry and dodge has not corrected this problem.
Ball joints and tie rods have prematurely failed at 60,000 miles. Dealer claims they are bad, and need to be replaced. But, parts are on national backorder.
While having vehicle out side of dealer ship technician stated all four ball joints needed to be replaced . Consumer let manufacturer's dealer look at ball joints. Technician stated that ball joints needed to be replaced at consumer's expense. *ak
Upper ball joint wore out on a 2 year old vehicle ,replacement parts not aveilable.
All four tires have been replaced twice due to unusual wear. Transmission sensor has goen out twice, ball joints & levers are bad.
This will be my seventh time to the garage at 40000 mile I can't seem to get any response from the manufacturer. I feel that they need to know about all the problems that I had with their product. Can you help? Thank you. Rlg ohio p.s I have 7 different problems..no safety defect.
Lower ball joint had to be replaced. Other one was worn, it will need to be replaced also.
Front ball joints broke which may have caused a crash at 50,000 miles. Dealer cannot determine the cause. Please provide further information.
Right front ball joint were falling out. Left front ball joint in disrepair.dealer notified on 4/10/00.mileage5536 .catalytic converter replacedat20445. Thermostat housing replaced at 13478.
Vehcile wanders left to right on dry road. Front end vibrates intermitently. Consumer has been waiting for the district representative to call but no contact.*ak engine valve failed five times. Steering failed three times. Rear oil seal is leaking.
Right side excessivly wearing tires. *ak( dot number: tire size: p215/30r15 )
While driving heard noise in the front end of vehicle. Right/left ball joints and upper control arm have been replaced, which did not correct the problem. Please give any further details.
Vehicle been experiencing ongoing problem with vibration. Also, whenever vehicle runs over a rough surface or a bump, it causes erratic operation of power steering. Dealer notified and correction still unresolved. Can the federal safety agency help in this matter.
There is a crack/pop and shimmy from the front end at highway speeds . Dealer cannot determine cause.
The rear end is making noise at 40mph, unable to rectify rear end noise. *ak brake rotors warped before 12,000 miles causing brake pulsation.
Towing capacity lowered to 2000 pounds without notice to customers.
Towing capacity downgraded from 6400 to 2000 lbs. No contact from chrysler
According to reports on the internet, daimlerchrysler has issued a letter reneging on the towing capacity advertised for the dodge dakota r/t \v8 from 6,400 lbs to 2,000 lbs. This reduction announcement letter has not been sent to me or many other new vehicle owners, however I have seen and have a copy of the letter provided to me by others.
Towing issue
When purchased new this vehicle, dakota r/t, was clearly advertised as having a towing capacity of 6400 lbs. Daimlerchrysler now announcing a downgrade of that to 2000 lbs.. I have not been contacted by daimlerchrysler of this fact the only reason I know of this is from other dokota r/t oweners. Daimlerchrysler will not state why they are reducing this. I think this must be a real saftey hazzard. I did receivie an e-mail that a nother r/t owner lost control while towing and hade a minor wreck. Being that daimlerchrysler has not contacted all r/t this must mean that others are towing more than 2000 lbs. I have towed neer to 2000 lbs before I found out. (not from daimlerchrysler) they need to the stand up and let all of us know before somebody gets hurt or killed.
I bought a dodge dakota rt in march of this year. After owning the truck for approximatly 3 months I was made aware of a reduction in towing capacity from 6400 pounds to only 2000 pounds. I called daimler chrysler a number of times and was told that only trucks built after febuary 1st were eligible for a buyback, my truck was built febuary 6. The representitive I spoke with from chrysler told me that I should have had a yellow card placed in my owners manual stating the reduction. I brought the manual to the dealer and had the service manager look through my manual, and he too did not see the yellow card. I was never told of the reduction when I bought the truck and I was not on any mailing list from chrysler to receive a letter stating the reduction.
Towing issue - truck was advertised and sold as having 6000# towing capacity. After delivery the owners manusl was modified to 2000# towing capacity. This causes a loss in the value of the as I paid for a feature that was not on the truck at time of delivery. I feel I was over charged for the truck and the truck has lost resale value.
The factory originaly approved the dakota r/t for 6400 lbs towing capacity, and then suddenly reduced that to 2000 lbs, failing to notify many of the problem, not changing any advertisements, and not telling new buyers.... They refuse to disclose info on why they changed the rating, and do not have a fix for the problem
Daimlerchrysler has arbitrarily reduced the rated towing capacity to 2000 lbs, although all the product literature for these vehicles states 6400 lbs towing capacity. They have not given a reason and refuse to warranty claims for failures due to towing more than 2000 lbs. *ak( dot number: tire size: 265/55hr17 )
Dodge dakota r/t's were originally said to be at 6400lbs towing capacity properly equipped. It has been downgraded to 2000 lbs max after I bought the vehicle.
Daimler chrysler advertised and sold the dakota r/t vehicles as having a 6400 lb. Towing capacity. They have now downgraded this towing capacity to 2000 lbs. Many of these vehicles are being used to tow considerably more than 2000 lbs. This appears to be a severe safety hazard.
The manufacturer sent of a change that dropped tow rating from 6400lbs to 2000lbs on the r/t models. They give no reason for the change. Think it is important to know this information.
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