2002 Dodge Dakota: pulls to one side

Filed Sep 2, 2011 · Brakes, Suspension · 114,000 miles · AK · fire

Truck has been driving like something was grinding against my front right wheel for a week or so, I didn't think anything of it, it had just become an annoyance. Id look under the wheel and everything looked okay and in shape, no damage was being done. The other day I drove a short distance and heard a pop, like something had popped near the wheel, I pulled over and could see no damage. I continued to drive and noticed that the grinding had stopped and my wheel seemed to be functioning correctly. I arrived to my destination with no problem. When I left the destination to return home, I started feeling heavy pull to the right on my steering wheel, if I let go of the steering wheel I would have gone into a ditch or the woods or another car. I then started noticed smoke coming from my right wheel, I was a few blocks away from home and figured I could make it, I started noticing my brakes were not working too well, and anytime id push on the brakes more smoke would arise, I went the 3 stop signs to my house and pulled in, ran around and saw that behind my wheel had caught on fire, took about 5 minutes to put the fire out with water and some cat litter we had lying around. It was so hot that it wouldn't cool down for about 45 mins to an hour. We would throw water on it and it would sizzle. I quickly removed the tire to prevent any damage to it. I noticed it had started to melt the plastic boot cover on the suspension. When you looked at the wheel you could see it had snapped off on the bottom half, causing the whole wheel to tilt inward which then caused a full on grind of the wheel and the brakepads and whatever else is down there causing such friction that it caught on fire. I then did research online and found that their had been a recall for this exact issue... :(

Filed May 7, 2010 · Brakes · 37,000 miles · NC

Driving at interstate speed, vehicle started abruptly pulling hard to the left. I stopped the vehicle, the brakes were hot, and I needed to accelerate greater than normal to get the car to move. Let the truck sit until brakes cooled off, and the problem didn't re-occur even after taking it to the dodge dealer. They could not replicate the problem. Said they could start replacing brake parts in hopes of fixing it. The first incident was at 37,000miles, and just out of warranty. (sept. Of 2005 was first time) the problem has happened about 8 times in the 54,000 miles I have on it now. No mechanic can tell me what's wrong, and it occurs intermittently out of the blue. I'm finding out that many, many other owners of the same make/model of vehicle have had similar incidents.

Filed Apr 17, 2009 · Brakes · 96,005 miles · GA

Left front brake overheated, vehicle pulls hard to the left and very poor braking. Nearly had a bad accident at an intersection. Looked on the internet and found several other people had same problem. Will do my own maintenance when I found out the true fix.

Filed Dec 16, 2008 · Brakes · FL

Bought truck new in 2002. Since then, the driver's side front caliper has seized up and locked that brake 4 times. The caliper squeezes the pad against the rotor causing the steering wheel to pull hard left, then the rotor overheats and smokes. I pull over before a fire starts. Have replaced calipers, pads, hoses, but symptoms still persist. I have to stop and wait until the brakes cool down (about an hour) before they function normally. Once I get to a repair shop, the brakes function normally and they tell me everything is fine. I looked online and found that I am not the only one this is happening to. On one site alone (http://www.carcomplaints.com/dodge/dakota/2002/brakes/brake_cylinder_lock-up.shtml) there are 15 others who are dealing with brake failure.

Filed May 19, 2008 · Brakes · 95,000 miles · TN

.. Front passenger brake seized. Occurred during high traffic time with along with pull to right/could cause accident..came clear the next morning/ occurred again 1 mo. Later.. I replaced brake hose ,caliper ,rotor and brake pad, only been about 3 days since replacing.

Filed Jan 26, 2006 · Brakes · 42,733 miles · FL

While driving at various speeds up to 55 MPH the truck began pulling to the left and deceleration was much greater than normal. At this time I decided to pull off the road to investigate. Noticed lots of heat coming from drivers side disk break. When restarting and moving forward the truck stopped very quickly. The failure was, the caliper did not retract, causing the disc brake to overheat and it seized up. This failure could cause the truck to pull left into on coming traffic. A tragedy could come of this if this failure is not corrected. The truck dealer had no explanation but noticed other worn parts that should be replaced unrelated to the brake failure.

Filed Jul 15, 2005 · Brakes · 22,900 miles · WA

Dt: while driving consumer saw smoke and the vehicle began to pull to the left and was shaking. The brakes locked up and it was difficult for the consumer to get the vehicle to move. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic but he couldn't get the vehicle's wheels to move. The mechanic told the consumer that the problem was that the calipers froze and the brake pads were so hot they appeared to be ready to catch on fire. The consumr had the problem repaired. The dealer claimed to know nothing about the failure and told the consumer to call the federal safety agency. The manufacturer has not been contacted yet.*ak

Filed Jun 19, 2004 · Suspension · 37,550 miles · PA

Upon inspection of road wander complaint, vehicle was found to have a bad upper ball joint, and excessive wear on all other ball joints for mileage noted.

Filed May 11, 2004 · Brakes, Steering · 17,000 miles · VT

When the brakes were applied, the vehicle pulled to the right. While the consumer was getting the tires rotated, the mechanic determined that the tie rods were loose. Midstate dodge replaced the tie rods with new ones. *ak midstate dodge would not replaced the brakes. The vehicle was still under warranty. *sc

Filed Mar 22, 2004 · Suspension · MD

2002 dodge dakota quad cab, had noise in front end starting at about 25000 miles. Complained to dealer at the following 2 oil changes about front end pulling to the right and noises in front end, diagnosed as "normal". Finally, I told dealer that I would pay for a front end alignment, and both upper ball joints diagnosed as bad and needed to be replaced before the alignment could happen. Ball joints were replaced after a 4 week wait for the ball joints that were on "back order", 32,000 miles at replacement time.

Filed May 27, 2003 · Body, Engine · 10,000 miles · CA

The vehicle stalled while driving. *nlm *ak the vehicle experienced the following: knocking in the suspension(4 attempts to fix), the vehicle pulled to the right, the driver door had a wind noise and water leaked, the tailgate handle was loose on the right side, the lower steering column coupled, and the upper control arm bolts were found loose.