Seven problems related to ball joint have been reported for the 2003 Dodge Dakota. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Dakota. While driving approximately 3 mph and making a left turn, the front driver side upper left ball joint suddenly failed and caused the wheel to separate from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who indicated that the failure was caused by rust and corrosion of the ball joint. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 04v596000 (suspension). The failure mileage was 114,208.
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while parked, the front driver's side tire detached from the vehicle as a result of a fractured ball joint. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and was not taken to dealer. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that were not familiar with the failure as described by the contact. No assistance was provided and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 93,400.
I was told the ball joints are no good on my 2003 Dakota 4x2 and need to be replaced. The warranty on the ball joints was given a 10 year extension on 4x2 and recalled on 4x4. I was told that even though the ball joints are clearly the faulty ones my manufacturing date was 20 days after the Dec 31 2002 cut off for warranty extension. How is that my truck is not covered, despite being effected by the same recalled parts. It would seem 20 days is quite a small window to be completely excluded from the extension, and that there is a reasonable margin of area.
Our 2003 Dodge ram 1500 dash started cracking and caving in nearly a year ago. As time goes by cracks worsen as well as new cracks have appeared. Plastic dash pieces are falling behind (into) dash board and coming out sometimes in the floorboard. Concerned about air bag safety. Would have to replace entire dashboard in order for the problem to be fixed. Our daughter owns the same year Dodge truck and hers is doing the same thing. Also, our steering wheel makes cracking, popping sound when turning. And the ball joints have been reported to be bad.
While driving on MD rt 468 at approximately 7:10 am on January 9, 2004, the driver of my truck hit a small patch of ice at which time the truck went into a 360 degree spin. At some point during the spin the front wheel came off at which time the driver lost complete control of the vehicle and it ran off of the road and hit three trees. An inspection of the wheel, tire rod and ball joint revealed that the ball joint was rusted and snapped off.
On 7-16-03 I was a restrained passenger in a Dodge ram 1500 4x4 quad cab. We were returning from a short trip to the store. While driving on a perfectly straight dry road, with completely clear visibility at approx 3 pm afternoon with very light traffic we unexpectedly felt a hard bump, as if we had hit a pot hole. It was so hard I was thrown forward in my seat. The driver immediately yelled that the steering had locked. He was also trying desperately to hit the brakes, but they too were not working. The driver struggled with all his might to try and gain control of the vehicle, but wasn't able too. We drove directly into the lane of oncoming traffic. We then left the lane and proceeded into a parking area of a convenience store, where we struck a parked vehicle. After striking the parked vehicle we were redirected back into the lane of oncoming traffic. It was at that time we were struck head on by a semi truck. The semi drove completely over the passenger side of the Dodge truck crushing me inside and rolling the semi. The police report states that the front passenger wheel was found several hundred yards away from the scene of the wreck. In the area we noted the initial bump. The vehicle was investigated and it was found the front passenger ball joint had been broken completely in half; however, the investigated stated that the damage was too severe to make a determination as to whether the ball joint failed before, or was broken during the collision. There was approximately 5 seconds between the failure to control the vehicle and the collision. Something failed on that vehicle rendering it uncontrollable. I do have the vehicle in my possession, and it is available for any further investigation. Dodge has shown no interest what so ever in investigating this possible mechanical failure. I will spend the rest of my life trying to recover from the injuries I incurred from this accident.
The ball joint and axle failed, which caused the tire to separate from the vehicle. The ball joint and axle failed, which caused the tire to separate from the vehicle. Puerto rico police report 03-6-004-00805.