My 40k '01 dakota qc has a very loose upper left ball joint, a loose lower right ball joint, a loose right outer tie rod and has been making a popping noise/thunk for a number of months. When I called dodge and asked them why they would need to be repaired they said, "just wear and tear." as if it was no big deal. They didn't mention any safety concerns.
2001 Dodge Dakota suspension complaints
Page 8 of 9: complaints 191 to 220 of 236, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have a 2001 dodge dakota 2x4 with 38,000 miles. Both upper ball joints are bad. This is the same ball joint that is in the durango. I work at a small family owned tire store. I have replaced many, many, many sets of dodge durango/dakota upper ball joints over the last year. 90% of them go bad before the vehicle reaches 100,000 miles. I have been disappointing several times over the last few weeks with chrysler's customer service. All distributors are back ordered on the parts so I can not even get the parts to repair my own dakota. I have heard through our parts distributors that there is an investigation underway. These ball joints are not safe! They develop extensive play in the socket part of the joint in a short period of time. The only saving grace is that they usually start to make a lot of noise (a popping or squeaking sound when the suspension flexes) before they fall out. The sound usually scares people into have it checked. I believe this is the only reason that they have not had more fall apart and cause a wreak. Wes campbell.
There is terrible noise coming from the front end of my 2001 dodge dakota quadcab. Dealer greased bushings but noise is back and worse than ever!!!!!!!!!!!
Defective ball joints on 2001 dodge dakota quad cab.
Approx 30,000 miles rotors warped, during stopping stearing wheel vibrated so bad it was hard to hang on to it, the dealer turned them. At 60,000 rotors warped again, had them replaced. At 70,000 miles the front end started making a creaking noise whenever going over a small bump and pulled to one side. Had it inspected and was told it needed to be fixed immediately that it was extremely warn and could fail at any time. Upper and lower ball joints replaced, 4 sway bar bushings replaced. The dakota and durango front end components need to be investigated for early failure before there is an accident and/or death.
Lower control arm passenger side rubber bushings worn out causing lower control arm and frame mount to contact each other. Which causes misalignment of front end and excessive tire wear.
On saturday november 8 2003 I was going through a intersection at approx. 10 MPH, I hit a small bump in the road and the next thing I know my tire is almost laying flat on the ground. I cannot believe a vehicle with 31,900 miles the upper ball joint would completely come appart. I cannot imagine if you were on the highway and this happened, dodge has to fix this problem.
Upper balljoint defective 35000 miles chrysler would not replace. This found when a alignment performed. I replaced both balljoints. I have all bills and defective parts.
While driving there would be heavy vibration in the steering wheel. Dealership/mechanic informed consumer that front ball joints were wearing out.
I have a 2001 dodge dakota with the left side upper ball joint wore out. I have only 36400 miles on the truck and saw a news report on tv about the ball joints and inspected my truck and to my shock sure enough I jacked the tire up and it has lots of play. So much play im afraid to drive it. If I would have not seen this news report I could have been killed if this came apart. So now I have to figure out how to get it to the dealer to see if they can fix it. I am scared to drive my truck like this. I then did some more investigating on the internet and to my supprise this has been going on for years. You would think dodge would have noticed this by now. The thing that scares me is that my 2 year old son has ridden in the truck with me a lot. If those ball joints would have failed going down the road at 55 MPH what would have happened to us. Something needs to be done before people start getting hurt.
Front suspension problems identical to that of the dodge durango. Have had both lower and upper control arms/ball joints relaced with less than 50,000 miles on the vehicle. Parts were replaced by dealership with same defective parts as originally installed on vehicle. Personally, no accidents related to this problem yet. Concerned about overall safety of dakota owners. We have a 2001 dodge dakota.
Recently had to replace the following: drivers side upper ball joint and control arm, drivers side spindle retaining plate and locking nut. The simptoms were, a slight thumping noise when going over smal but sharp bumps (like entering a driveway), and a sound similar to a spring being stretched and compresses. The work was done under waranty (29,000 miles). The thing that bothers me is that it took 2 attempts at the dealer to get it fixed, and that all the things I've been reading indicate problems on the passenger side! Am I just a disaster waiting to happen? Is daimler chrystler going to own up to defective design and manufacture or do a bunch of people have to die first?
Front upper ball joints on both sides are worn out before 38,612 miles (mileage at time I am sending this email). Took dakota dealer (rainier dodge, olympia, washington) last monday, october 20, 2003, and was told that it was safe to drive and would only take a few days to get new parts. They still don't have the parts to fix it and we just saw a news report (on durangos that also mentioned dakotas being worse) showing how dangerous it is to drive a vehicle with bad upper ball joints (broke off and wheel and all went across 4 lanes of traffic). On their word that it was safe to drive, we took an out of town trip this weekend. I thank god that we made the trip safely! When is a recall going to be made on both the dakota and durango? Our dodge dealer seems to be dragging their feet getting the parts to fix ours, and I am afraid to drive my dakota until it is repaired. People need to know how dangerous this condition is and dodge needs to accept the responsibility to correct the problem asap!
I have a 2001 dodge dakota pickup. Last year it started making a squeaky noise (like an old car creaking) in the front end. I have taken it into dealmaker dodge here in watertown, ny. The first time taking it in they stated that the noise was from loose bolts in the front end and that they just tightened them up. The noise progressively got worse. I took it in again and they told me that it was possibly the sway bars. Then the oct. 10, 2003 I was driving and when I hit a bump in the road, something popped in the front end, the front end dropped down and I lost steering of the truck. This was extremely frightening. I immediately drove the truck very slowly over to dealmaker dodge and they looked at it (never test drove it, just looked at it). They stated that they are not sure what happened but that maybe the sway bars gave way. Tim (service mgr) stated that they would need to order bushings and a part for the steering box and that until they came in the truck would be safe to drive. Unfortunately, I did not feel it was safe to drive - we parked the truck in our driveway until the parts came in. We asked why this happened to a fairly new truck and tim (service mgr) could not answer us, he did not know. We took the truck in once the parts arrived and had it worked on. When I went to pick it up, I asked tim (service mgr) what did they do to the truck (repairs)? He stated he did not know but that his warranty girl was out of the office and that they would mail me a copy of the paperwork. Upon receipt of this paperwork, it noted that both sway bar bushings were replaced as well as the coupling. The noise seems to be gone in the front end, however, when I go over bumps or rough road, it still makes a popping noise in the front end. After watching the cbs evening news tonight with regard the front end safety issues about dakotas, I am now very concerned about the safety of myself and the life of passengers while driving this vehicle.
I have a 2001 dakota that started knocking on bumps at approx. 25000 miles. I determined that this was not normal and took it to a 5 star dealer at approx. 34000 and 37000 miles at which both times they could not find a problem. It is very obvious there is an issue with the suspension. My father owns a 1995 dakota that had the same problem. Once the ball joints were replaced, not by a dodge dealership, the noise issue was resolved. There are many reviews stating this issue but chryler does nothing to address it. The only thing I am left to do is pay $800-$1000 to repair it. I unfortunately cannot afford this and risk having it break at anytime.
The upper ball joints wore out prematurely. The consumer had to replace the part within four months. Dealer stated there was no grease fitting in the ball joints and the joints became dry. Please provide additional information.
Upper ball joint on both right and left side are failing. Vehicle only has approximately 40000 miles on it. Just out of warranty.
Problems with vehicle's engine.*mr when using the defrost or A/C, the engine pump did not function properly. The seat belt was installed improperly and also the wheel bearing was not functioning properly, the consumer was told a hose would be placed on the retaining bolt.*ts
Took my 2001 dodge dakota to get alignment at local dodge dealer and was told upper ball joints were worn excessively and needed to be replaced. The truck only has 45000 miles on it, this if you ask me is unacceptable. Also the truck was in the dealer 2 times before this because of a noise in the front end, and they could never find anything wrong, and I believe this could be related.
Both upper ball joints went bad at about 40,000 miles. Everyone I talked to said that was much too early. Had to replace both upper control arms. Also made for early tire replacement because of wear. Dodge should really have a recall on these items. Alot of dakota owners have gone through the same problem.
Early failure of vehicle ball joints. Vehicle has 51000 miles on it, and ball joints are failing.
Front brakes clunk when applied,dealer replaced rotors. Transmission won't shift properly,dealer ordered and replaced new valve body. Lower engine needed to be replaced,because of valve tapping. A/c has bad odor when on. Front end squeaked around boots front end has bad knocking sound. 2 goodyear tires slow leak. Problems started at 1,254 miles, and keep going at 26,000 miles.
While traveling 25 MPH pulling inside of a parking lot, the right side wheel assembly broke off. *ak while making a turn into a parking lot, the complete right side front wheel assembly upper arm, axles, and all other components of the four wheel drive assembly had fallen off, and caused the brake line to break off. Chrysler accepted no responsibility. The main factor was failure of the upper ball joint which was a sealed unit. *scc
While driving passenger's front tire separated from vehicle without warning. Dealer diagnosed cause as defective upper ball joint.
I have a 2001 dodge dakota quad cab 4x4 and had the passenger side upper ball joint fail (luckly I was pulling into a gas station at the time). Why is it that you cannot purchase a replacement ball joint from dodge (you must purchase the whole upper control arm assembly?)
Vehicle has a clucking noise in the front suspension when making a turn. This is caused by the ball joints wearing out, and needing replacement.
Consumer states when the vehicle goes over a bump in the road, theres is a banging noise. Took to dealer, and dealer is replacing the front upper ball joints.
My balljoints snapped while turning in my sons school one morning , resulting in my front wheel and brake assembly falling off completely from my 2001 dodge dakota 4x4 truck in december 2002. I had 1000 miles passed factory warrenty
Bad control arms ball joint assembly,steering wonders to right,power steering pump replaced,steering shaft replaced waiting for new steering column,lower control arm and ball joint replaced under warranty,chrysler zone office knows they have a defect in the front end of the dakota and durango stated it was cheeper to replace parts.
I have 80000 miles on my 2001 dodge dakota quad cab and I have already changed tires and now I need to change my upper ball joints. Is it really true that you can not change just the joints buit you have to change the upper control arm also with the new joints?
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