Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 02/22/2010 | 69527 | 1 | |
| Steering intermediate shaft has alot of play gets worse on higher speeds found to be the universal joint on the shaft should be a recall very dangerous can cause lose of control. *tr | |||
| 07/15/2009 | 1 | ||
| Lower steering column shaft has a bushing that failed causing loss of steering. truck veered into a ditch at 30mph. i called dealership to purchase this part and found out that it is on a backorder of over 100. went to several auto recyclers and used parts stores and found that even they have the part backordered. this shows a huge safety issue if there are several backorders and the parts is a required to safely operate the vehicle. i am surprised that there are no active recalls on this item. *tr | |||
| 07/12/2003 | 44035 | 1 | 04/30/2001 |
| Poping noise from steering and cab during turns. had dealer look at and nothing found wrong.*ak | |||
| STEERING - COLUMN LOCKING - ANTI-THEFT DEVICE | |||
| 07/01/2005 | 77000 | 1 | |
| Steering wheel and transmission do not lock when key is removed. i found this out when a 2 year old girl was in the front seat of the parked vehicle and pulled the transmission lever into gear. the key switch was in the locked position and the keys were removed. *jb | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - PUMP | |||
| 09/11/2001 | 11000 | 5 | |
| I own a dodge dakota quad cab 2001 5.9 v8 the brakes have always sucked. the front rotors warped over and over again i'm forced in buying a bigger kit that will cost me $3,000. the rear end leaks and the dealer says its natural. these two problems have been with me for 6 months after purchase. i will not buy another dodge again. i think the transmission is going now and the steering pump is going too. the truck has 66,000 miles now. it looks nice but hp , brakes and over all performance sucks. if i was in the creative end working for dodge i could improve their vehicles greatly. *jb | |||
| 05/24/2003 | 29980 | 11/01/2000 | |
| 2001 dodge dakota quad cab 4x4 driving along the hwy around curve at 55 miles and hour power steering failed almost had a head on collision. the truck has been in the shop for a week being fixed under warranty. odometer 29980.00 miles. i have had multiple problems with this truck ever since it was bought new, they had to replace the power steering pump, malfunction indicator light (mil) on the dash. transmission slipping. received the truck back from the dealer drove 22 miles transmission slipping again mil light on again. had to replace the radio malfunction, i could go on and on. i feel that the power steering failing, could have cost my wifes life not to mention the occupents of the on comming truck. the truck is driven by her 99 percent of the time. i just happened to be driving it on the long weekend. i was able to fight with it and managed to drive to the side of the road. i feel that this should not have accured with the kind of mileage precent on the truck as well as the age. any help you can profide in addressing these issues, would be appreciated | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 42555 | 1 | ||
| The vehicle was rear ended which caused the power steering shaft to break. the manufacturer indicated that they were not responsible for the failure. please provide any additional information. *nm | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES | |||
| 01/10/2002 | 1 | 07/09/2001 | |
| I have had a crunching type noise in the front end of my truck for almost 2 years, 18 months ago my truck went in for a new heating core to the dodge dealer and i mentioned it and they said they took a quick look and it was probably my shocks making the noise. it has made the same noise since then and i have not replaced my shocks. i recently took my truck into replace the shocks and the mechanic told me the ball joints are the problem not the shocks. he also told me that this is a huge problem on dodge dakotas and it is well known. he said it is bound to fail and could cause death. 2 times iv had the front end drift severly to the right and he said this is the problem>*ak | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - KNUCKLE - SPINDLE - ARM | |||
| 09/06/2003 | 29000 | 2 | 09/22/2001 |
| 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?*ak | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - ROD - RELAY - CONNECTING | |||
| 05/31/2002 | 17305 | 1 | 06/01/2001 |
| 2001 dodge dakota quad cab was serviced on six separate occasions for clunking in the front end while going over bumps and during turns. several parts were replaced while under warranty but dealership insisted that ball joints and cv joints were fine. they also stated that no other complaints had been filed and that there was not a service bulletin regarding this problem. the problem became apparent within the first 17,000 miles and continues to persist.*ak | |||
| 08/05/2002 | 4001 | 07/01/2001 | |
| Load clunk coming from front suspension | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||
| 10/27/2004 | 56115 | 1 | |
| Right tie rod end fell out. the ball joint fell apart. i had just driven from washington state to new york. had the vehicle serviced just before leaving. it happened at low speed turning a corner. no crash no injury. *nm | |||
| 06/12/2006 | 1 | 10/30/2000 | |
| While driving on the highway, my front end didn't feel right. the following morning, i took my truck to my mechanic to check it out. he got in it to take it for a ride. when he turned the wheel, there was a clunk. we got out and looked, the passenger side front tire was turned to the right, the driver's side was straight. he said it looks like something happened to the tie rod. it turns out, the threads holding the tie rod together, stripped and it came apart. he said i was lucky it didn't happen on the highway that the wheel probably would have came off and it would have been disastrous. i still have the tie rod. i contacted daimler chrysler and told them about the problem and asked to be reimbursed for the repair. they told me that they won't reimburse me because i didn't bring it to a chrysler dealer. i was at my mechanics, what was i going to do? i think they just want to cover it up. my mechanic replaced the stripped tie rod on the driver side, and replaced the right outer tie rod end because it had play in it. *nm | |||
| 06/10/2006 | 88000 | 1 | 11/02/2000 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while driving on the highway at 65 mph, the tie rods separated. the steering was erratic and when the vehicle went over a bump in the road, the front end wandered all over the road. an independent mechanic determined the tie rod had separated and the threads were stripped. the mechanic replaced the left inner tie rod, left tie rod end outer and right tie rod end outer. the dealership has not been informed. updated 06/27/06. *jb | |||
| 06/17/2005 | 1 | ||
| Approx. 2 months ago i had upper balls joints replaced under recall, the dealship noted that the lower ball joints and tierods were worn as well, was qutoed approx. $700.00 to be fixed. today my daiughter was starting to pull out of my driveway with her 3 year old daughter, the tierod fell out of place causing the truck to stop. luckly my daughter wasn't driving down the road when this happened because there could have been a very bad accident on a very busy street!!! i want to know why there is a recall on the upper ball joints but not the lower ball joints and tierods, it is a fact that there are serious problems with these parts, are they waiting for someone to be killed because of these defective parts?? this will be the last time i purchase a chrysler product if these matters are not dealt with when problems with defective parts are presented!! | |||
| 11/09/2003 | 35000 | 1 | 05/01/2002 |
| 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. *la | |||
| 12/03/2002 | 71342 | 1 | 06/10/2001 |
| 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 | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION | |||
| 10/05/2004 | 43000 | 1 | 09/03/2004 |
| I have 44,000 miles on my 2001 quad cab dakota 4x4 and the steering has gotten really bad. it clunks and pops on turns and bumps so bad to the point i'm afraid to drive it. there is no reason this new of a vehicle and low mileage should have this kind of problem. chrysler refuses to do anything about since my warranty is up and the dealer wants $930 to replace the rack & pinion steering which might not be bad.*ak | |||