It seems Dodge is having premature ball joint failure in the Durango and Dakota trucks from 2000 to 2003 model years (they did in some fullsized 4x4's too until they upgrade the front axle in 03 but they never had a officail recall on it) Anyone that has or is planning to have a plow on these effected models take notice.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/10/pf/a...ex.htm?cnn=yes
Horrible. Imagine someone's wheels coming off in the middle of traffic.
I dont Know But I'm Happy I Got my ball joints changed on my o2 ram even though the Heavy trucks aren't effected. Mine Started To Squeak Really bad about 40k so i had um done.
hello and welcome to last YEAR, the word spread to all the dakota/durango bbs's last september when the word got out about the ball joint issue and as a matter of fact there was a post on here about it. I myself am happy that I have 106k on factory balljoints with 2 years of plowing and they have no play in them at all
I dont Know But I'm Happy I Got my ball joints changed on my o2 ram even though the Heavy trucks aren't effected. Mine Started To Squeak Really bad about 40k so i had um done. Was it a diesel? The had problems with them up to 02.
hello and welcome to last YEAR, the word spread to all the dakota/durango bbs's last september when the word got out about the ball joint issue and as a matter of fact there was a post on here about it. I myself am happy that I have 106k on factory balljoints with 2 years of plowing and they have no play in them at all Well is has reached recall status and the are always exceptions but they would not recall them if it was not a serious problem because recalls can be expensive and not good for bottom line when they are sizable.
Yea it was a Diesel. Tarkus
Yea it was a Diesel. Tarkus Glad you were lucky. I do not make this stuff up. Detroit is really sneaky about the way they fix some problems because recalls or open admissions can hurt profits and sales too. Dodge would not have gone thru the trouble and expense of having AAM design a new front axle from scratch for their trucks if it was not a serious problem. THe only AAM part in the axle than it not new is the ring and pinion as it is used in a GM 9.25 IFS too. Same company make the well known GM 10.5 14 bolt rear axle too and the new 11.5 used in new HD pickups.
most of you dont have dakotas, but for the ones who do, or even have em for their daily drivers, I know is there is a big wheel bearing recall in 2000+ dakotas

Just got a quote from a local dealer on a new Ford 250 XL package with Fisher Minute mount on it already. Has 5.4 v-8....the quote was $22,999.........any thoughts...seems damn good price!
sounds like a good price to me. we bought a 04 f250 in march it was a fx4/off road with a v 10 it ran $21,700 after rebates.
Fisher II,
Where did you get the quote? Thats a great price with the plow. Is it and 04 or 05?
They are located in Quincy Ma.
Its 04 model
They are located in Quincy Ma. Hey, welcome to here, Iam from Randolph. :waving:
buy it up quick the factory is giving big rebates on the 04
why did this get moved to the Dodge forum? someone posted it on the open "commercial snow plowing" forum and some brilliant person moved it to a Dodge forum when there's a Ford forum right next door? I'm sure it was an accident i guess...
Don't bring your ford Crap in here! hahaha :nono:

I was looking to replace my Dakota. They only sell them as pimped out yuppy trucks now no regular cabs no 8 ft beds. Looked on the lot not one chassis cab or snow commander. The only commercial trucks the has where the new sprinter vans.
You can buy a regular cab with the 8' bed. You can do a bed delete on srw but not a dually. Most of the truck sold are the quad cab, shortbeds. Rumor has a chassis cab in the work...perhaps. It has a lot to do with the new frame and aftermarket bodies not being compatible?
Part of the "deal" that was made many years ago when Uncle Sam backed the loan baolout of Chrysler is that they were barred from competing or making trucks bigger than 1 ton so that is why they do not exist and why some of Dodge 1 ton cab and chassises are so beefy GVW wise. I do no know what the future holds on this since Dalhmer bought out Chrysler.
I wanted a v8 Dakota with 8 for bed like my 93 bench seat rubber floor mats crank windows. not a full size.
Tarkus
not a 4500 or larger size truck. I'm talking the 3500 chassis cab like you would make a mason dump out of. I know lot of people that have them. but they are all few years old now. I haven't seen any new ones since the germans bought them.
I wanted a v8 Dakota with 8 for bed like my 93 bench seat rubber floor mats crank windows. not a full size. Last year they made the reg. cab 8 foot bed was '99 and good luck finding one. The dealer here has a wait list for ANY 8 foot bed Dakotas regardless of year.
I wanted a v8 Dakota with 8 for bed like my 93 bench seat rubber floor mats crank windows. not a full size.
Tarkus
not a 4500 or larger size truck. I'm talking the 3500 chassis cab like you would make a mason dump out of. I know lot of people that have them. but they are all few years old now. I haven't seen any new ones since the germans bought them.
This may be because Dalhmer-Benz is getting ready to use their own truck in that market possibly?

Today I test drove a 98 Ram 2500, auto w/ diesel. When I got around 40- 45 mph, the tranny shifted back and forth into overdrive. I was steady on the accelerator and the rpm gauge was going up and down (just slightly not allot). So I stepped 'er down and it stopped. When I got back to the dealer, I told him the tranny is toast. He said he did notice the problem I desecrated and that he told his mechanic and he said all Rams do that w/ auto/ diesel. A buddy said it might have a tow chip in it that causes this function to happen. Are there any Ram owners that can attest to this? I am expanding a small lawn care business and will be pulling a JD 485 tractor and some mowing tools. Thanks.
You were in the "undecided" range of that tranny and axle ratio combo. When in that range it can hunt between gears as you experianced. The only "cure" is to go faster or slower or if you must operate at that speed manual disable OD to stop the hunting. There is nothing wrong with truck.
I have a 96 ram v10 and it does the same thing, even between 2nd and 3rd. A lot of times in traffic i find myself putting it into second so i dont blow out the trans from the constant shifting..Have been doing it for a long time , and the trans still works just fine. just cant seem to make up its mind sometimes.
Im not sure if yours has an APPS sensor. On mine I had to run a new power wire and a new ground. Basically the trans is thinking the accelerator is moving all over the place and it cant tell when it is suppost to lock up the torque converter. And no this is not suppost to happen there is a TSB on it.
What is that sensor and where is it. i would love to get rid of this problem. my truck does have 152,000 miles on it now , but it still runs/drives great..other than the confused trans.
I dont know where it is on a gas, check the manual(like haynes) it should tell you!
Call these guys, they are great and will help you http://www.atsdiesel.com/index.asp
(apps sensor) also known as a throttle positition sensor on gas motors, which would make it on the throttle body. gotta love all the info you can get in a few seconds on the net. . thanks for the help..
Thanks guys, maybe I will really consider buying it. It looks and runs great other than that.
bartlc
Do not giver the hunting another thought. They all do it at some speed or another under light load.
Mine Dose it. I think the best cure without buying any new hardware is click off the over drive when you know you are going to be driving around 42-47mph because those are usually the speeds that it hunts. I live with it, had my tranny totally replaced and the new one dose the same thing as the original one. They all do it! The Cummings is so powerful the tranny can't keep up!