Front Suspension Upper Ball Joint problems of the 1998 Dodge Dakota - part 1

This car has been a safety nightmare. From steel brake lines rusting through (and the vehicle losing it brakes), to upper ball joints almost separating to steering wheel drive shafts where the u-joints almost separated. These are not items that should fail like this. I spent part of my career looking after global product liability for cummins engine and I am stunned at the poor quality Chrysler has used in critical components.

I was advised today that my 1998 Dakota is plagued with the same issue that has been around for quite a while. The upper and lower ball joints are garbage at about 75,000. Fortunately I drove my wife's car by a stroke of luck and they gave me a lot of noise. So I caught it before a wheel fell off. Dodge should be recalling or at least replacing free of charge all ball joints that failed. Not just the 2000-2003 model numbers.

Ii had noted a clunking sound when turning into my driveway and at other times involving turning or driving over speed bumps or turning up an incline, also the steering feel had become vague. During my annual state insp. The mech stated that the upper ball joints on both sides were complely worn out, and as such could not pass it without repair.

All 4 ball joints in front of vehicle have failed. Advised to not drive vehicle.

Vehicle would vibrate and make a clanking noise while driving at any speed. Vehicle was taken to a repair shop, and mechanic determined that the upper ball joint on the right side needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified, and informed the consumer that their vehicle was not covered under that recall.

While driving heard a loud squeaking noise. Driver noticed while turning the steering wheel a clanking noise would follow. Driver took vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that upper ball joints needed needed to be replaced.

Upper ball joints prematurely worn out due to lubrication being washed out (same problem as detailed in NHTSA campaign id number 04v596000, but my vehicle is a 1998 model and this campaign is for 2000 and newer).

Bad ball joints on 1998 Dodge Dakota sport, VIN 1b7gl22x8ws504806, 41,300 miles, discovered at PA state annual safety inspection.

Dodge Dakota 1998 front end has failed. Consumer wants to know why the recall info doesn't include the '98 model year. The vehicles front wheel could have fallen off at anytime because the ball joints were so bad.

1998 Dodge/dakota has same problem as 2000-2003. Upper ball joints problems. Consumer wants to know why are you excluding 1998 when the problem existed in the 1998.

My 1998 Dodge Dakota 4x4 5. 2l club cab truck had the front ball joints fail on me. I know there is now a recall for 2000 to current models, but what about the 98? it's the same problem. I have 89000 miles on it currently.

While pulling into the driveway upper ball joints failed. As a result, front driver's side wheel fell off, and the front end collapsed.

Ball joint problem with 1998 Dodge Dakota. I have had symptoms of the problem, heavy clunking in front right, for about a year now. I went to the dealer believing it was an upper ball joint problem. I even asked them to replace the uppers. Dealer diagnosed problem as lower ball joints and I paid for them. I beleive they were just out of stock on the uppers. 7 months later, the clunking has gotten worse and when backing out of a parking spot with the wheeel cut hard to the right the front end "hopped" to the side. I had this happen twice in the same day, and took the truck to the dealer the next day. They now admit it needs upper ball joints and are charging me $500+. It is clear that this is a design problem based on the number of people having problems at relatively low mileage.

During inspection consumer was informed that driver/passenger upper ball joints wore out. Dealership repaired the problem.

My 1998 Dodge Dakota sport 4wd 5. 2 auto has a loud squeak in the suspension area. I took the truck to get an oil change and asked that they make sure they lubricate all areas. The tech told me my ball joint was the problem and that it needs replaced. He told me that Dodge had a recall on them. Is this true? I will be calling the dealer this week to see if they can repair since this may be or already is a recall.

While making a turn the tire rubbed the wheel well. . Read more...

1998 Dodge Dakota. I purchased 4 new tires from a goodyear dealer. They told me at this time that all four ball joints were extremely bad. One upper ball joint had about an inch to an inch and a quarter. I had the vehicle towed at my expense to the dealer where I purchased to truck and an extended warrante. Pervious to this, I had been complaining about a loud thumpiong sound coming from the passenger front. (this turned out to be the worse ball hjoint found). The dealer kept telling me that all my suspension and ball joints were fine. The sound continued and I repeatedly bought the truck back complaining about this sound. The last time, prior to my getting new tires which were rotated every other oil change, I was charged a road test fee and told nothing was wrong. After the new tires were installed and the truck brought back to the dealer, I was told that their 'front end expert' found one lower ball joint (passenger side) that has a small amount of play in it. It was replaced. I brought the truck directly back to goodyear for the alignment and they called me into the service area where they showed me an incredible amount of play in the right upper ball joint and an more than normal amount of play in the left upper joint. The lower joint had a grease fitting and did not reveal that much play this time because the dealer and done a lube, oil and filter change while the truck was there for the ball joint work. I now see that the NHTSA and asked for a recall on the Dodge vechiles starting from the year 2000. My truck is a 1998 and certainly fits the description of the other recalled vechiles.

After taking the vehicle into a repair shop, the ball joints were completely worn out after only 40k miles.

Popping sound was coming from left front of vehicle. Dealership found that upper and lower ball joints were bad and the vehicle could not be driven without immediate replacement. Had service work done for $1500. Considering the problem is obviously related to the same issue that sparked the recall notice in later model Dakotas, I feel I should be reimbursed for the repairs.

Both upper ball joints were loose and had to be replaced in order to pass state (mo) safety inspection. Vehicle mileage was only 35311 and the inspection and replacement was performed by a Dodge dealership.

Consumer took the vehicle to the dealership for inspection and the mechanic determined that both upper ball joints were wearing prematurely. Consumer will have the mechanic replace the upper ball joints. The vehicle made a squealing noise. The mechanic discovered a ball joint problem. The brake warning light had come on and the p/s wheel squeaked when going over bumps.

Front ball joints on my 1998 Dodge Dakota failed. I noticed a popping noise in my front end that transitioned up through my steering column. They have to be replaced!.

Consumer stated upper ball joints wore out prematurely.

While driving the consumer heard a loud knocking noise coming from the front upper ball joint. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

Consumer took vehicle to the dealership for inspection. The mechanic determined that the upper ball joints failed. The dealer replaced the ball joints under the vehicle's warranty.

Ball joint's in Dodge Dakota's. I have a 1998 Dakota with low miles, my warranty is up already and my truck has very low miles for it's age. 14,500. I noticed that it was riding funny so I took it into car-x whiting in. And he informs my my ball joints are shot, plus I needed an alignment. It's bad enough that I needed a serpentine already, but now this. It hasn't even been broken in and these are shot for $500 bucks. . Read more...

Upper ball joints on both sides are worn severely and lower left side is showing signs of significant wear. My truck only has 82k miles on it. I am aware that Dakota trucks have been reported to have a possible defect in the ball joints and when is Chrysler going to issue a recall. My truck is unsafe to drive at this time.

While driving the vehicle at 30 mph, the right side of the vehicle vibrated. An independent shop replaced the upper ball joint and the upper arm. Please provide further information. Please provide further information.

Driver side upper ball joint completely failed and had to be replaced. Mechanic indicated the passenger side was "not in good shape" but operating.

Control arm upper ball joint failure. The state of PA requires vehicles to pass an anual inspection in order to drive on the roads. My Dodge Dakota will fail this inspection next Feb. The right upper balljoint on my vehicle (which should have a life span minimum 80 to 100 k; my veh. Has 46k) needs to be repaired to be considered safe by PA standards. Dodge provided no way to perform preventitive maintenence on this vehicle part. Poor design on their part is not worth the cost of serious injury or death and they know it because they modified the repair replacement part which to me admits a flaw to begin with.

The front suspension of my '98 2wd Dodge Dakota makes a loud 'popping' noise during sharp lowspeed turns - a check of the message boards revealed that this is a common proble with Dakotas and durangos resulting from improperly engineered or manufactured ball joints constituting an obvious driver safety issue should these parts fail prematurely as they have in many low mileage vehicles.

Prematurely worn upper ball joint for 1998 Dodge Dakota sport truck (2w) with 55,000 miles. Severe squeaking and grinding noise along with obvious irratic braking problems.

Had to replace both front upper ball joints and both inner tie rods.

The owner took the vehicle to the dealership for an inspection. The mechanic informed the owner that the upper ball joints failed. Please provide any additional information.

Failure of upper ball joints on my 1998 Dodge Dakota pickup truck at 49052 miles. Ould get no satisfaction from dealer.