My ball joints are blown and I want to replace them myself. What do I need and how do I get started? I have a 00 2.5 CC sport.

Any help would be great. Thanks guys!

 

I dont know if your year is covered, but my 02's ball joints were under re-call. Mine were replaced well out of warranty. Call a dealer to find out. You might get it done free.

 

you'll need a jack, a BFH, if they were like myn they are pressed in so you might need a ball joint popper or you can do it how i didn i used a grinder to get them out lol,and probably so pb blaster.. etc. i got my ball joints from advance auto

 

The recall is for 4 wheel drive Dakota's and it only covers the upper ball joints. If you have a 2 wheel drive truck you can drill out the rivets on the uppers and lowers and replace with ball joints from the parts store. My Dakota is a 2 wheel drive and I replaced my ball joints last year, I posted this thread with a few pics after I did the lowers. Maybe it will help you:

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

I did my upper ball joints about a month later after I did the lowers. The uppers were a lot easier to drill out and they only have 3 rivets, not 4 like the lowers. I used TRW parts for the lowers and Autozone Duralast for the uppers. I read online that TRW makes the Duralast ball joints anyway. They are doing OK now over a year later but I have just a slight bit of play in the wheels when I grab the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 positions and rock it back and forth. I think it's from the new ball joints being greaseable they have just a bit more movement. If it gets any worse I will bite the bullet and get Moog sealed joints.

It's not a hard job to replace the ball joints on a 2 wheel drive Dakota. You just need patience, time and the right tools for it. If you have a 4 wheel drive, the ball joints are pressed in, I have no idea how tough that one is. Good luck with it.

Jimmy