I stumbled upon an article that said broken exhaust manifold bolts are quite common on certain years of the Dodge Dakota.

I'm wondering if this is SO COMMON that it is almost a sure thing that I am going to need to replace broken manifold bolts on my 2001 4.7L sometime during the life of my Dakota, or are there Dakotas out there with tons of miles on them that have never had this problem? The article I read almost guaranteed eventually this kind of work would need to be done if you own one within the span of years that this is a problem. And I just could not believe that every one these trucks would be doomed to this kind of problem.

I am very light footed on the gas pedal and I drive my Dakota like an old lady going to church. It never tows anything or even hauls heavy loads. Although mine is a 4x4 it never leaves the road and is seldom ever in 4WD mode. I will never be doing hole shots, climbing mountain trails, or plowing snow. So my engine and tranny will never be squirming under the hood or under the truck due to abusive strain.

I'd like to hear from guys out there who have 200,000 plus miles on their trucks that have never had this problem. So far mine does not at 116,000 miles and it would sure make me feel better to hear from those guys with extremely high mileage on their trucks that have never had this problem.

I love my Dakota, but if the odds are against me and it's a sure bet that eventually I will need to do this I will unload this sucker right now.
This is definitely not a problem I want in my future with this truck.

Thanks,

Harkdodge

 

It happens to almost any auto anything that expands and contracts constantly has a high potential to go bad especially exhaust studs/bolts/nuts.

Living were metal rusts easy road salt water so on the potential is higher as exhaust bolts rust easy and become hard to remove causing snapped studs or frozen by rust nuts.

 

Thanks 98DAKAZ!
I'm sure this can be true. However, I have lived in salt ridden Iowa for my entire life of 63 years so far and have owned many vehicles, some of which I have driven into the ground with hundreds of thousands of miles on them and to a point where they had to be finally towed to the junk yard, and I have never had a vehicle that developed broken exhaust manifold bolts. The only exhaust leaks I have ever had was what was coming from the holes in the muffler.


This Dodge truck is the first that I have ever heard of where this is quite common for this truck. And it sounds like the problem was caused primarily because Chrysler used inferior bolts to begin with on these years and models.

A friend gave me some good advice. He said that if my truck currently does not have this problem, now would be the time to replace them with high quality stainless steel grade-8 bolts before they DO become a problem and that way I don't have to worry about it becoming a problem.


Thanks again!

 

Just my opinion but I would stick with the original part for that as stainless steel and a grade 8 may cause you more problems like stripping out the stud holes in the aluminum heads.

All I can say is double check that this move doesn't cause you more problems than just leaving them alone.

Some metals just don't get along together very well I cant say what that combo will do.

In aluminum heads the original studs may be a better option than what you suggest remember these are aluminum.

 

Thanks for the advice 98DAKAZ.
The metals compatibility issue is a good point.
I'm wondering if the compatibility issue has already been thought through by others; since there seems to be a lot of chatter on line from others that recommend stainless steel, and I see the parts houses do offer stainless steel exhaust manifold bolts specifically for the 01 Dakota.
The fact that it is an aluminum head is probably why these bolts are only torqued to 17 Ft Lbs or (204 inch pounds).

 

If that is the correct torque then a grade 8 is not needed and over kill.

Update

I will also add that an aluminum part every time you remove a bolt you remove a very small amount of the aluminum with the removal I have inadvertently stripped an aluminum part removing the steel bolt too often.

Aluminum is just a soft metal you need to understand that