Steering Problems of Dodge Dakota - part 2

The steering in my 2004 Dodge Dakota truck would get stiff while turning and then would turn easy then back to stiff. It is very hard to control the truck while making turns. The steering is like very unstable and could cause an accident. Are there any recalls on this issue I see that there is alot of this happening to these trucks?.

See all problems of the 2004 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and in reverse, the contact attempted to steer the vehicle to the right and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the steering shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileage was 91,500.

See all problems of the 2003 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The steering gets hard to turn like it is going to lock up. I spray it with wd40. This happens every few days. The electrical has been screwed up forever. I turn the left turn signal on the the right one blinks and vise versa. Some times they both blink back and forth. I have talked to the local Dodge garage and all they say is that there is no recall. I wasnt notified by Dodge about the driver side airbag either. Looked up the VIN number after seeing a report on tv. That was 2 months ago and the Dodge garage just fixed the air bag on July 21 after I called them for the second time to see if the part was in.

See all problems of the 2006 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2006 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle made a loud noise and the drive shaft fractured and dropped without warning. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a pole. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed but no injuries were reported. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 50,000. Updated 4/4/cn.

In using signal lights, turn left signal on to turn and the right dash signal indicator as well as right signal light flash. If I move the tilt steering position up and then back down the lights function properly. This has happened several times. It sounds like something in the steering wheel is rubbing whenever one turns the wheel. The previous owner bought the truck new and it happened to him several times as well. Also the ball joints were all replaced by previous owner at less than 30,000 miles. Now at 55,000 miles the struts, shock absorbers, rear stabilizer links and quite possibly sway bar links front and rear need to be replaced.

A good friend of mine has the exact same truck and his whole tire fell off going down the highway. He thank god did not get hurt or hurt anyone else in the prosess. He told me that in 2004 their was a recall on the ball joints of this vehicle. I bought my truck from a private owner and do not have a recall notice of my own, is there a way now that I am the 2nd owner of this vehicle that I can still have this recall be taken care of at a dealership being that it is under 10 years within the recall time limit. I dont want to have what happend to my friend happen to me. Thank you.

On this 2006 Dakota, steering is very stiff and makes me over correct the steering with each turn, causing me to jerk the wheel hard. There have been several incidents where I have almost hit parked cars in the process of turning. I have heard many with this problem and feel our 2006 should be included in this recall if there should be one(really needs to be).

Pulling out of driveway and the bottom of the control arm broke free letting the wheel come free from the vehicle. . . . .

See all problems of the 2002 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

I was making a right hand turn in a parking lot, going about 5-10mph, while I was turning, the brake pedal started pulsating very hard - drove forward in the parking lot - made a left hand turn started going forward and went to step on brake pedal and it would not move - pedal was rock hard and would not stop truck. After finally coasting to a stop I put truck in reverse - backed up in vacant part of the parking lot so I could put truck in drive and then swing wide into a parking stall and coast to a stop - however when I went to swing the truck I had absolutely no steering at all -front wheels would not turn. Had to have towed.

See all problems of the 2001 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Have had steering knuckles replaced twice on my truck because the caliper bolts strip out and cause my truck do dive left or right upon braking. Also caused by brake pad rails wearing too muck and not letting the calipers move the brake pads to apply the brakes. Almost caused accidents multiple times but dealer says its not an issue.

The steering wheel gets stuck and is very stiff and won't return. Lots of complaints and the all the dealers have these parts on back order. . If there is not a recall there should be the power steering pumps, steering racks and steering control rods are all on back order and not avail in NJ, del or PA. . . . If all the parts are not avail that shows there is a big problem with these trucks.

Power steering went out on interstate 295 in jacksonville FL. Causing to lose control of truck and allmost crashing. Had repaired and picked up 6 Jan to return home in savannah GA. After driving about 30 miles up I 95 power steering went out again. Had tuck towed to savannah and to Dodge dealer.

See all problems of the 2007 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

No power steering assist in cold temperatures. With first start up the truck turns very hard. Even after drivig for several miles truck is still hard to steer and you constantly have to correct it.

I noticed that the steering started getting sloppy and started popping. Now if you hit a bad patch of road it wants to jump out of road getting scary. I am disabled and depend on my truck to get back and forth to 4 different doctors. I live on social security and cant afford repair bills on parts that should not be wore out. Please help!.

See all problems of the 2005 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Has death wobble at 60mph hitting bumps in road.

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.

Steering became inconsistant. Vehicle was very difficult to turn , but would become occasionally easier making it difficult to control going into and out of turns. Dealer replaced intermediate steering shaft at a cost of $420. This fixed problem.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated while making a turn the steering wheel locked in the direction the vehicle was turning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer, but the manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 140,000. Rds.

The steering linkage ball joint broke on my 2008 Dodge Dakota with only 23,153 miles.

See all problems of the 2008 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Power steering went out and took it in to flush the fluid. Didn't do anything but was to give it a few hundred miles. I waited to see what was going to happen and after 1 month and nothing changing I replaced the fluid again with some correction fluid. Didn't work, then another month later the steering released back to normal in the middle of the turn. Two weeks later the power steering became intermittent and sometimes in the same turn. At this point I searched deeper on the intranet and found multiple complaints about Dodge Dakota steering and many that were specific to a 2004 Dakota and more than a handful that had about 70k miles like mine. After spraying penetrating oil on the u-joint wth a short term correction, I'm convinced that I now have one of these faulty steering shafts.

Lower steering shaft u joints are unprotected and rusted out causing sticky steering and difficulty controlling the vehicle in a turn.

See all problems of the 1998 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while turning at approximately 35 mph, the steering wheel locked up and was very difficult to turn. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the intermediate steering shaft needed to be replaced, but the parts needed to be ordered first. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and filed a claim on the contacts behalf. The contact was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was 72,000.

The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that the power steering would violently jerk. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing but the vehicle was not inspected or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The current mileage was 56,000 and the approximate failure mileage was 55,500. The VIN was not available.

I have a 2005 Dodge Dakota 4x4 club cab, I recently started having irratic steering problems with my truck with only 40,000 miles on, this Dodge has had alot of front end problems with low mileage, from upper and lower ball joints, tye rod ends and hubs wareing out. I have not been involved with any accidents because of the problem, the problem is turning the vehicle wants to over turn, when turning corners or on curves on highway. Which I am sure can be dangerous to all.

Irratic power steering. Worse when cold. Never knew when the power steering would work. Vehicle would not recover from left turn requiring pulling the the steering wheel to the right to keep under control.

1999 Dodge Dakota intermediate steering shaft has a very common problem of the joints going bad causing excessive play in the steering, Dodge even came out with a new version of the part knowing this was defective but wont make it a recall. I have done research and this has been a problem on all years even with under 10k miles! I belive this is a major safety concern for the owners and other people on the road with these vehicles. Please look into this! thank you.

See all problems of the 1999 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

My Dakotas steering has recently become very jerky. While turning the wheel, it gets stiff, loose, stiff, loose, stiff, loose in one full turn of the wheel. Through searching forums on the internet, I decided to test a theory that it was the intermediate shaft/rod and the u joint attached to it was not lubricated enough. After greasing up the joint, the problem momentarily stopped, but then returned. This joint does not have any grease fittings and should be replaced with ones with fittings. The problem occurred after winter coming into the warmer weather where there were a lot of puddles which most likely got on the intermediate shaft and joints causing it to dry out and create this problem.

The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Dakota. While driving approximately 5 mph, the contact heard a loud popping sound and the steering wheel became unstable. The contact stated the sound was also heard when the steering wheel was turned while the vehicle was parked. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but the mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure and recommended the manufacturer be contacted. The manufacturer was contacted and stated there were no other complaints and did not provide any further assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.

Sterring shaft on our Dodge Dakota went bad. . . . . Going to fix it but how many are on the road with the same problem and the fix costs a small fortune.

My 2004 Dodge Dakota began having steering issues last fall which became increasingly worse over the following weeks. The power steering seemed to have stopped working. When I made a turn it was stiff, then loose, then stiff again as you cranked the steering wheel. This would cause me to apply more pressure to turn the truck, then the steering wheel would suddenly loosen up, causing you to swerve. This caused me enough concern about my safety that I had a mechanic take a look. He first thought the problem was with the power steering fluid so he flushed out the system. Problem persisted. He then replaced the steering rack. Jerky/stiff steering continued to occur. After reading on a Dodge forum about this issue he tried the "temporary fix" of lubricating the lower u-joint on the intermediate rod and this seems to have returned the steering to a normal state. However, my mechanic feels this is a temporary fix and feels the rod should be replaced. Preferably with a rod that has grease fittings. Apparently there is a design flaw with this make and model which Dodge is aware of, but has failed to issue a recall for. Please look into this matter.

Dealership suggested stabilizer bar links need replacement. Replaced both links twice without correcting front suspension "clunking". Possible of lower ball joints failing.

I was traveling 55-60 mph on the highway in a straight line with the cruise control engaged when I hit a dip in the road and the truck literally jumped off the highway. It completely left my lane and drove itself out of control across traffic and to the right into a ditch. It caused front end body damage (moderate) and scared me to death. I have since disconnected the cruise control from my truck. Now over the last 12 months the trucks front end shakes and rattles and is difficult to corner, acts if it will jump off the road. This front end of the Dakota should be recalled before it kills many people.

Universal in the shaft wears out and causes excessive play in the steering wheel,and could break. Had to buy a new shaft off ebay,that Dodge has since improved.

See all problems of the 2000 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The steering on my Dodge Dakota pickup froze up so that all of a sudden I could not turn the steering wheel without really putting alot of effort into it. Then it would get better and when you would least expect it would do it again. I went around a corner and it happened mid turn and I almost t-boned a car in the driver door. At this point I had the car in the repair shop and it was a bad universal joint on the steering intermediate joint. What bothered me was that the technician said Dodge replaces alot of these defective joints a week. Maybe they should fix them before someone gets killed????.

The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while driving the steering wheel locked up at any speed. The contact stated that the failed component was the intermediary shaft. When he lubricated it with wd40 the vehicle began to steer normally for a short time. The dealer stated that the vehicle could be repaired at the owners expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 57,000. Updated 02/02/11.