Hello all, I am no stranger to forums and I come from the Honda world so I am well accustomed.

But anyway I picked up a 97 Dakota Ext Cab 5.2L 5spd 4x4 last week with 127k on the clock. Its my daily driver as my Honda has become more of a project. (I have a 96 Accord w/ a JDM 2000 H22 Euro-R motor swap for any that care)

The truck is really clean and starts right up everytime. But upon searching Google I have seen that the sound my steering column is making is a common problem but I can't seem to find anyone with a definitive fix. When first starting out in first usually the column will make a clunk sound, along with when I first hit the brakes, or go over large enough bumps. It makes the sound that it is coming from the front end but everything I've read have said something about the steering box? I've checked my tie rods, ball joints, and wheel bearings and they all look fine. The dude I got the truck from took really good care of it.

Also are there any other common issues i should know about to be on the look out for?

Thanks for your help.

 

Its probably your steering shaft gone bad.They cost a few hundred bucks new but you can get them pretty cheap at junk yards.