yet another '04 Dakota 4x4 with stiff steering. I wish I had read this column before I had the work done. [:@]Just started a couple of weeks ago. 50K miles. I love my truck! No problems till this happened. Took it to the dealer and they said theyweren't sure what was causing the problem, so they called Chrysler engineers who told them it was mostly likely contaminated PS fluid and only fix was to replace PS pump and rack together...$500 labor plus $1000 for the parts!! Just so happens my old man works for a company locally that makes these items for Chrysler, so I called him up and was able to get both the pump and rack for a lot less money. I paid the dealer the $500 to install the parts and everything seemed to work fine for about a week. Now, it's doing it again! [:@][:@]I was looking under the hood yesterday after it happened again and saw the steering coupler and wondered if that could be the problem. It feels like something is binding up then suddenly releasing, like a ujoint or a balljoint. I think I'm going to try BrewerYXE suggestion and spray the joint with some lube and see if that frees it up. I'll let you know if it works!

 

Unfortunately I am a new member of the 2004 Dakota 4x4 power steering problem club.My truck hasaround 65,000 miles on it and recently it has had the problems with the power steering despite enough power steering fluid in the tank. Tomorrow I will give the WD-40 idea a try and let you know how it works. Since automotives are not my specialty, I hope it is relatively easy to locate the U-joint from under the hood.

 

My 04 Quad Cab 4x4 was doing the same thing, stiff jerky steering, but only when cold. I did a search on here and read the posts, gave the u-joints on the intermediate shaft a good shot of PB Blaster, left it overnight, sprayed it again in the morning. Steering is smooth as butter now, like driving a different truck. Hopefully it holds up. I'll give it a shot every oil change now, or every time I have the hood open.

Thanks for the post, BrewerYXE, hopefully this saved me a big bill(pump, rack, etc) at the dealer.

 

This is a common problem with the 04's, along with other years. Spraying the shaft is a way to anylize the problem, but not a fix. The ujoint will eventually fail, and you know what will happen when that happens. I changed mine in my 04. Not hard at all. I got mine on Ebay from Hall ChryslerJeep. Genuine Mopar part. I just checked, and he is listing he has 21 available. 2 other's from here ordered them from them also. The price is $119.99 & $13.79 to ship. They ship fast. Go to Ebay and type in, "Lower steering Intermediate shaftDodge Dakota 01-04", and it will bring it right up. The steering rack shaft, and the steering wheel shaft where the intermediate shaft ends slide on, is slotted where the screw slides through, so it is pretty hard to mess up. You must strap the steering wheel so it can not spin before pulling the intermediate shaft off. I know the wheel locks, but it should be strapped anyway. I used two ratchet straps. If it spins, it could mess up the clock spring in the column. Basically, there are two bolts, one on each end of the intermediate shaft. You cannot just loosen them and pull the shaft ends off, you have to remove the bolts altogether because of therack end and steering column end being slotted for the bolts to slide through. After I got my old one off, it didn't seem bad, but when I put the lower joint in the bench vise, it was VERY loose. I think I got it just in time before something bad happened. The dealer put two racks and a steering pump in trying to solve the steering problem while still under warranty, but this intermediate shaft did the trick, and the steering's been fine since I changed it.

 

the steering on my got stiff and jerky even after the rack was replaced, but it's not the same feeling as before the rack was replaced. it is only stiff when it's cold and once the truck is warmed up good, it's fine. a guy at the auto parts store thought it sounded like a pump problem not building up pressure. it's to the point in the morning that sometimes when i'm sitting still i can't turn the wheel at all, and have to wrestle to get it to steer after i'm moving. like jdmurphy said, It feels like something is binding up then suddenly releasing. i've only had the truck for about a year and only been able to enjoy about 2-3 months of driving it. it's getting to the point where i'm thinking about puting a for sale sign in the window.

i'll give the PB Buster a try tonight

 

I'd try soaking it with some type of penetrating oil. If you have to change the intermediate shaft, it only takes a few minutes. I took the bolts out, and soaked both ends with liquid wrench real good before trying to slip them off the steering rack and column. What amazes me is that the dealer put two racks on this truck, and did not notice the faulty intermediate shaft even though they had to slide it off of both racks, and that is the end that is going bad on them ?

Intermediate shaft



The lower joint that goes bad


As you can see, the ends of the shaft are square, so it is pretty fool proof to change.


The bolt catches a grooved out end on both the steering rack and steering column. You can see the threads of the bolt just stick up a little.

 

the dealer that replaced my rack said when they took off the intermediate shaft that it popped apart when they pulled on it, so they replaced it at no cost to me.

 

wouldbe nice if they made that joint greasable

 

Hi all...sorry it took so long to tell my results. I sprayed both lower and upper joints with WD40 and my truck's been steering like butter ever since! YEAH!! If it happens again, I'll just get a new shaft and replace it myself. I LOVE MY DAKOTA!

 

Updated my own issue on this post. My issue with the stiff-loose-stiff steering has to do with the upper joint on the intermediate shaft (see pics above). I spray it with a liquid lubricant and the problem resolves itself, until I hit a puddle anyway. Here's my post on the whole issue, with details included;

https://dodgeforum.com/m_1322952/tm.htm

Also note on my post that I've listed a website where you can report the issue to a government office. The more people that report this problem the better chance of Dodge doing a recall to fix it.