Drove vehicle home last night just fine. Went to leave this morning and front right tire wouldn't roll. Upon inspection, tie rod is not attached. It just fell off. This is a commuter vehicle and has never been used off-road.
2008 Dodge Dakota steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 17 of 17, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge dakota. The contact stated that power steering fluid leaked into the boot and caused it to rupture. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 48,000.
Our 2008 dodge dakota had two tie rods fail in two months. The truck was fresh out of warranty with approx 63,000 miles. First one tie rod broke, then within two months, the other. No warning, when first tie rod end was replaced, other tie rod was checked,looked ok. New tie rod ends were installed. Both presented dramatic safety issues. The tie rod broke and fell so that there was absolutely no control of the front wheels. By sheer luck, we were not driving 65 MPH down the highway, but in a rural town setting, so we did not crash the truck. The mechanics on the second breakdown of the tie rod end told us something had to be wrong with the second one going. This doesn't just happen twice on one truck. Chrysler "customer service" offered to pay for the parts. Customer service representative did not understand english and we could not understand the representative, who spoke with a heavy accent, making it difficult, no, impossible to understand the representative. From the responses we got from our mechanics and chrysler, it is obvious to us that this was not the first truck that came in with the very same problem. The tie rod ends failing is not the same as the heater or air conditioner quitting. It is a major safety issue, and we got no satisfaction and were treated as though it was some irritation that they were bothered with. We believe they know about the problem, and their (customer service) know about it and only wanted to get us off their back by giving us the lowest possible quality of customer service. Like most good customer service representatives, they would not commit any of their comments to writing, but, I am sure, recorded everything, where it may or may not be available.
The steering linkage ball joint broke on my 2008 dodge dakota with only 23,153 miles.
Erratic power steering. Worse when cold. Never knew when the power steering would work. Vehicle would not recover from left turn requiring pulling the steering wheel to the right to keep under control.
Had the brakes checked on the vehicle during a routine oil change. Was informed that the tie rod end was loose and would have to be replaced, or else the possibility of losing steering control of the vehicle would be eminent. Was informed that the tie rod ends were designed for cars, and these same tie rod ends were also used in the trucks. I asked if the parts had been upgraded and was told no they had not been upgraded, and that the same parts would be used to replace the old worn ones. Why are parts designed for a car being used in a truck, especially in such a critical area? Luckily, this was caught before a disaster happened.
I was driving east on a two lane road, as I heard a slight pop come from my driver side tire. Suddenly after that pop, their was a slip in the steering and I had noticed that my driver side tire started to lose massive control, thus jerking and locking up the truck in matters of seconds. Luckily drivers behind me were paying attention and swerved out of the way nearly missing the truck. I gained some control and pulled into a near by business. Parked I assessing the situation. It was found that the tie rod had fallen off the connection for know reason at all. The truck is only 3 years old and 51,000 miles, with regular maintenance.
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