$370 . Dont waste your money at the "stealership". Do it yourself!!!!

Good Luck, Matt

 

well i dont know about that, dont wanna get into something i cant handle. lol might just get some quotes from some local shops and go with the best work for the price.

 

I've got a '98 5.2L ext cab V8. Lately it clunks on rh turns and especially into
my driveway which has a cement curb at the street. It's got 105,000km (65,000m).

Mechanic told me about lower ball joint being loose on passenger side.
I just bought 2 moog lower ball joints for my truck. Should I also be thinking of changing the uppers?
I've been injecting grease with grease gun needle into the rubber boots of the
uppers and lowers..but aparently this is not enough.

Shop book says 2.3 hrs per lower ball joint, so it's a big investment.
With 4 rivets per dodge ball joint, it looks like a son-a-gun to grind out.

 

I would not pay anyone to do the ball joints, you can do it yourself and save a bunch of money plus get the satisfaction of doing the job right and fixing the truck yourself. If you have a 4 wheel drive I guess that might be different or maybe harder to do because the lowers are riveted and the uppers are pressed in. You can rent a ball joint press at most parts stores, but I have no idea how hard or easy it is to do, my truck is a 2 wheel drive and all 4 of mine were riveted in.

I did all 4 of my ball joints myself last year. I did the lowers in February and at the time left the uppers alone, because they still looked to be OK. I should have done all 4 at once and been done with it because I wound up replacing the uppers just 2 or 3 months later. I posted this when I did my lower ball joints, it has a few pictures that may help you:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...to-w-pics.html

The uppers were pretty much the same type of job but the rivets were easier to drill out on the uppers, I guess because I had more room to work and there were only 3 rivets per ball joint. It is not a hard job to do, just takes time and patience to drill out the rivets. Moog is a real good brand, they are said to be the best you can buy. I could not afford Moogs so I used TRW from Advance on the lowers and Duralast from Autozone for the uppers, they have all been on my truck now for over a year and have had no problems at all.

I would say do all 4 at once and be done with it.

Jimmy

 

Don't forget on some Dakota models (at least on my 01) There was a Safety Recall bulletin regarding the ball-joints. This was a "Free" fix from the dealer. I found this out when I logged onto the Dodge/Chrysler website, input my VIN number and it said I needed to have this done. I had bought my Dakota used and the previous owner had not had this done. There was also a safety bulletin on the tilt steering mechanism (free fix as well).

I would do some checking on the Chrysler/Dodge website first to see if your Model/Year Dakota is eligible for this free fix.

Just my two cents. Good Luck!!

 

I went to the Chrysler Canada (Windsor) site to check on recalls for my 98
Dakota 318 V8. When I input the last 8 digits of the VIN, it came back
"No Incomplete Recalls or Customer Satisfaction Notifications", so I am
SOL as far as getting Dodge/Chrysler to help me there..as I suspected.
They were clever enough to provide a warranty for 60,000Km (40,000 miles),
the year that I purchased it, so they weren't generous even there.
I only had one recall and that was something to do with a rear brake line
abraiding? on the differential and they did that.

Since I'm retired and on a pension that is about to be reduced 30% due
to Nortel's bankruptcy, the ball joint issue is coming at a bad time for
me financially, but my mechanic mentioned that one of the lower ball
joints is loose already and the other is probably not far behind at 65,000
miles on it. Since replacing the lowers involves a fair amount of grinding
(4 rivets per ball joint) and even may require removing the suspension arm,
and a wheel alignment, I prefer to pay the money and get a trusted
mechanic to do it.

With all 4 balljoints being replaced by Moog with zerk grease
fittings, I won't have to worry about my wheel falling off at speed
again, like this lady and her Durango..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-Tca5hDhE

They are describing "upper ball joints" on this story, but my mechanic
says that the lower ones are more critical because they carry the
weight of the truck.

Unfortunately in Canada, we don't have the same defect numbers or protection
like in the US, so we have to bear the cost ourselves.

My main concern now is the steering column (ujoints) which are rusted
and apparently could come apart some day, causing loss of control
I'm spraying them with oil..hopefully to prevent further deteroration,
as we have a lot of salt issues up here in the winters.

 

Take a look at the intermediate shaft u joints, on the steering shaft. Engine off shake the steering wheel back and forth, an inch or 2, if a second person reaches over the drivers side tire to the steering shaft he can feel the clunk if it is the intermediate shaft. First the dealer told me $ 800 for the rack but I did more looking and found the real problem.....I had the dealer do it for $254. It is not a hard job but I am getting too old.

 

I'm not feeling any "clunk" in the steering shaft on mine.
As I mentioned, I've been putting some spray grease and oil to the ujoints (from time to time)
on the intermediate steering shaft and so far (touch) wood, they seem ok with the lube.

The clunk turned out to be a stabilizer link on the drivers side that broke
away but was still supported at the bottom and whenever I turned the
wheels a certain way or drove over a driveway curve, the clunk was apparent.
That has been fixed along with replacing all 4 of the oem"lifetime lubricated"
by Dodge... ( a misnomer obviously), with Moog ball joints,
so I don't have to worry about my front wheels falling off anymore.