Hey Gang, My hubby and I bought a Dodge Duakota 5.9 R/T from Carmax last year. We wanted a good scooter hauler and liked this truck because the low stance made for easy loading of the scoots. We bought the extended warranty (which we don't usually do) and are SO GLAD WE DID... For starters, about 3 months after we got the truck a horrible sound started coming from the rear. My hubby took it in to have it checked and we found out that the rear differential was toast (dangerously so-sheared bolts and fun stuff like that). They ended up replacing the entire rear end. We chocked it up to a freak incident, got it back a couple of days later and all was well. Then we started having problems with the power door locks which have been acting weird. Next, the AC stops working entirely. Finally, my hubby read an article about faulty ball joints on Dakotas and Durangos that suggested we have it checked out. Today, we dropped the truck off to have everthing looked at (locks/AC/ball joints) When Carmax called we discovered we needed new power lock assembly in the drivers door, new ball joints (ours were completely wasted), new condenser for the AC and to top it all off ANOTHER new rear (the new one has only about 7k on it!) All the repairs are covered under our warranty which is good, but this truck has less than 60K on it and if this stuff is already happening, I'm afraid to keep it after the warranty expires. I shudder to think what this round of repairs would have cost if it wasn't covered by warranty. So... we're basically going to trade the truck in once we get it fixed. We only have a few thousand miles left on the warranty. Does anyone have any suggestions? We can't spend more than 15K, want extended cab and need to be able to get two scoots in the back. I want something reliable, safe and with a good towing capacity. BTW, if you have this truck or a Dakota, get your ball joints checked! There are tons of issues with these... Stacey
I work for DCX. The ball joints were questionable due to the vendor, low ball pricing. Ditto for any Chrysler wiring harness, corrossion prone after a bunch of years. Get used to the thin, cheap-ass A/C stuff goin' bad. More cost savings. I've heard of some rear axle greif, but my Dakota has 171k on it and has no such problems. My opinion of R/T Daks is that most of them are beat all to hell from new. Guys at work, (there are alot of them at the plant) race them regularly, do neutral drops, reverse drops while spinning the things around, put air bags under them and tow big ass boats and other things I may do to my stuff, but wouldn't want t o buy one that was treated that way. Most of your bad components were sourced from Mexico. i may sound a bit anti free trade, but it has done nothing to increase quality. We do have vendor problems often from import suppliers. They are even better at making excuses than domestic suppliers. The R/T has a very low payload rating. If ya need your truck to do some hauling, get something heavier duty, even a better Dakota.
I've got a '98 Ram 5.9, shares a lot of the same/similar components and problems...although I have suffered only one. The grenading rear differential - mine started making noise so I took it to a local place, rearend specialties. They replaced the poor quality and failing carrier bearings AND replaced the pinion nut. They said the OEM nut is prone to backing off, which causes the rear end to munch itself. If you intend to keep this particular vehicle, I'd take it to someone who specializes in rear end work. When I take it for an alignment, coolant flush, misc. odd stuff I don't feel like doing...I always ask the tech what I should be aware of. They all seem to mention that late Dodges are notorious for electrical problems, cooling system/over heating problems, rear diff grenading, poor quality suspension joints. Luckily I've only experienced rear diff bearings and not the grenade. A great source of known problems that Dodge will fix at your expense (or under warranty), but will not recall are the technical service bullitens TSB's. These are normally coveted by the manufacturer, but you can buy a subscription from alldata.com to see the TSB's for your vehicle, which will give you a good idea of what's in store for you if you keep it. My dealership always gives me the third degree when I mention a TSB...they don't seem to like an informed owner. Here's the link for alldata...Good luck! http://www.alldata.com/products/diy/index.html
poke arround, there was a quiet buy back on the RTs a few years back, Chrysler's mistake with a payload rating... also the reason the new ram RT-10s have no payload capacity. Chrysler found that due to the lowered suspension and driveline angles, etc that the rear ends would give out if the truck were used for towing or hauling. BIG MESS check out www.dakota-truck.net good people there. I have had my 99 sport cc 318 5spd since late 98 and have 110,000 on it with only a new trans under waranty, then I started to hop it up and screwed it up. they can be good trucks, but like any thing sometimes things go wrong. If you keep an eye on the rear, the other problems are minor. the balljoint issue is one ALL dakota owners will have to deal with at one point.... just wait till you need to replace the front hubs and bearings!!$$$$$
[ QUOTE ] get one of them chevy trucks, 98 or newer... a 1500 silverado... can't go wrong. xoxoxo nic [/ QUOTE ] i agree with nic,,, get a chebby,,,, they last forever,,,,, love,,, miss ho
my daily beater is a 99 dakota 4x4 club cab 5.2 i have over 145k on it and just did ball joints tierod ends . i wasted a front bearing after hitting a curb . ac clutch blew up at 100 k miles and idler pulley went bad. it has been one of the best trucks i have had with the least amount of problems.
First off, thanks to everyone for the help. Lots of great info even though this was off topic post. The truck in question is a 2002 plmcrazy, I think Dakotas and Durangos have the same chassis, but I could be wrong. I did find aftermarket ball joints by Carquest that are "supposed" to solve the lubrication and corrosion issues that lead to the premature failures. If I add that to the differential solution, MAYBE it's worth keeping with those "upgrades". We acutally liked the truck, we're just spooked by so many issues in so little time. We're going to find out how much warranty we have left tomorrow (we're not entirely sure) and go from there. We'll probably keep the truck as long as we have warranty and just keep an eye on the stuff in the meantime. Again, thanks to all of you. The HAMB rocks. Stacey
I've had a '93 V6 5psd Sport, '97 318/5spd Sport (stolen after 80K miles) and 2001 4.7 5spd Ex-cab Sport. Ball joints suck. I've got the heavy duty rear in the '01 and the towing package. Wiring harness is a recall item now. I have 87K on the '01 and have hauled my '54 Buick, '56 and '57 Chevy on a 1800lb trailer, plus lots of pressure treated lumber, etc. and haven't had any problems other than: Front ball joint needs to be replaced, and the brakes pulse. It's lowered 2 inches all the way around, has 17-inch steel cop-car wheels, and a Shaker hood. -Brad
Dont buy (modern) Chrysler products! I work at a repair shop so I see a lot... those cars are junk... Go for a Chevy.
New cars are such shit. I'm not saying that because that's what I think you all want to hear or anything, but I honestly feel that there's way too much unnecessary junk in cars these days that isn't needed that goes bad way too quickly and costs a billion dollars to fix. Not really on topic, but we recently had a 7 series BMW in the shop I work at for a heater core... the book calls for 16 hours. That's like, 15 hours longer than it would be to do mine. Deke
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