Five problems related to steering tie rod assembly have been reported for the 2002 Dodge Dakota. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Simultaneous failure of the inter and outer tie rods, upper and lower ball joints on a 2002 Dodge ram 1500 quad cab. The vehicle has never been use as a work truck, driven on dirt roads and currently has 120,000 highway miles. Rack and pinion is leaking oil, and needs to be replaced is coming a part.
Rack and pinion, and tie rod failure after 2 years on Dodge Dakota. . . . Tire rotation store informed me that wheel was in danger of coming off. Rack and pinion gear and tie rod replaced at cost of 1,000. 00. Was "worn" there was no damage to the pieces. A search of the web indicates that there are numerous complaints of wheels coming off, ball joints, and tie rods failing on the durango/dakota front clip. Will it take a death for Chrysler to recall these vehicles? I have driven for 35 years and never had a failure in suspensin like this. This has been "under investigation" for 3 years. Why is that?.
I had a brake and rotor job done at 36000 miles by a local mechanic and found that my rack and pinion is leaking at the boot and there is to much play from tie rods. Dealer ship will do nothing to help exept charge me $3750 to fix it. I do not no how long the problem has been there. Anouther dealership told me it was a messy oil change ya right!.
I own a 2002 Dodge Dakota and had to have the ball joints replaced at 24,000 miles after doing some research I found that this is common. My hope is that you would investigate this and force Chrysler to do a re-call and fix the problem before someone gets hurt or killed.
While having vehicle serviced for a brake issue dealership noticed that all four ball joints wore out prematurely, and the tie rods were defective. Dealership could only replace the upper ball joint, but was unable to replace the lower once due to part being on back order.