Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 10/18/2011 | 123000 | ||
| Steering shaft universal joint has excessive wear, appears it is due to poor design as road splash hits the lower steering joint and poor seals allow rust and cause it to seize, making steering difficult and then when it is lubed by spraying a lubricaant on it it fails a short time later. survey the dodge dealers and see how many of these joints they are replacing... this part is also on national bank order per my local dealer, watsons chrysler-dodge in manistee, michigan 49660 | |||
| 04/24/2003 | 5000 | 2 | 03/31/2003 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab. whenever the brake pedal was applied, the brakes would pulsate, overheat, and lock up. the stopping distance would also increase. the dealer stated that wet conditions and high speed braking caused the rotors to warp. in addition, the vehicle idles high and roughly when approaching a stop sign or traffic light. when accelerating from a stop or merging into traffic, the vehicle would idle roughly. there was no throttle response for approximately 10 to 20 seconds, but then the vehicle would surge forward. the vehicle has been taken to a dealer approximately five times for these issues, but the failures still persist. all the sensors were replaced, but the failure is becoming worse. the dealer replaced the front rotors three times and the contact replaced them four times. the current mileage was 132,655 and failure mileage was 5,000. updated 11/06/08. *lj the rotors and brakes were replaced several times. the consumer was told the vehicle had a faulty master cylinder that was not letting the rear brakes ever work. the air conditioner was built to drain into the front passenger floor. the computer in the vehicle would not accept updates. the intermediate shaft was replaced. the wiper motor was replaced. updated 11/06/08. *jb | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES | |||
| 03/04/2007 | 1 | ||
| To whom it may concern, i own a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab slt. and i have run into a lot of problems with this truck that people i know say they had very similar problems with the same make of vehicle. to start with my truck only has about 62,184 miles on it, for a 2003 model truck, that is considered low mileage. the problems i have run into is as follows: both front wheel hub bearing sets have prematurely failed, in particular, the right front hub tried to lock up on me and almost caused me to loose control of the truck, i have since replaced that hub but still need to replace the left front before it locks up:second is that the steering and suspension system has no provisions for preventative maintenance, i.e. no grease zircs for the ball joints, tie rods,upper and lower control arm bushings, wheel bearings, etc...causing rapid wear and failure:third big issue, i have already replaced all four brake rotors due to warpage. the brake calipers were built with some type of composite plastic pistons that distort due to excessive heat build up in the brakes. which in turn causes uneven pad contact, that then causes excessive heat, accelerated pad wear, brake fade, rotor warpage, and an awful squeal when the brakes are applied. i have noticed that my brand new brake pads are actually cracked now because of a combination of the calipers and the hubs going bad: fourth issue is that the transmission causes the engine to over rev in the highway passing gear especially with the over drive and cruise control on. when you're driving down the highway and you give it a little more gas to get around somebody, the engine rpm's shouldn't go up to sometimes around 7000, that in turn could cause premature engine or transmission failure. i have been in contact with daimler-chrysler about these concerns but they just keep giving me the run around and not answering my questions. i still have the old parts also. | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||
| 03/02/2004 | 5000 | 1 | 05/23/2003 |
| The ball joints on my 2003 dodge dakota quad cab truck began making noise at only 5000 miles. the service manage at the dealership told me that this is a chronic problem on this model, but there is no maunfacturer-authorized repair for it. i am worried about safety issues . *ak | |||