Hello all, wonderful site!

I have been shopping for a mid-sized 4x4 truck to help out around the house, and I have recently come across a 1997 Dodge Dakota Crew Cab Sport 4x4. It has the 318, automatic, and some power features (windows, locks, cruise). It has 159,000 miles on it, and the owner is asking 2500obo (which I consider high). It has a recent inspection/emission, new tires, water pump and battery. The engine runs great, quiet, no taps or knocks, and pulls hard. The trans shifts fine, albeit a bit hard. There is a clunk from the rear axle when shifting into reverse, which I attributed to a bad U-joint. The interior is fairly nice, although missing some things, like the sunglasses/tissue holder from the over head console. Truck shifts into 4Hi and Low fine, no noises, etc but I notices some fluid accumulation on the t-case. The only real issue I encountered was the steering/suspension. It's very odd, there is no clunking or knocking noises, but when you turn full right, it seems as if it goes past lock, and the tire (stock size) rubs the frame rail, and you can feel what seems like a shift in the camber/alignment or suspension geometry. The truck in a tracks right when driving in a straight line. The Carfax reports a moderate to severe front end collision in 2005 (hit a deer), but other than that it's clean. I am tempted to this it's bearings/ball joints, alignment. Any thoughts? Also, any addition input in addition to the FAQ sticky would be appreciated! Thanks much!

 

Well, bring a jack with you the next time you go and lift the front tires up by the control arms and give them a shake at 12-6 and 3-9. Good way to check ball-joints and tie rod ends.

Could just be alignment issue.

 

well it could be but mine does the same exact steering thing your talking about on my 97' and no dears have hit my front end.. just had it aligned and it still pulls to the right..

These trucks have POS steering boxes... this is the old design before rack and pinion. its like driving an 80's truck.. youll get used to it.. or it will annoy the **** out of you; I have been running for a year and half and no major tire wear.. the fronts looked like the backs (still kinda new) so its just something in steering box and the assembly that they are loose and allow to track according to the road. Could fix it I would presume by putting a shock like they have on jeeps and other 4wheel drives to give it some support to keep the wheels wondering.. reason i bet its going right; is because the roads dip right for drainage and the tires are simply following tracks..

Simple as that..

 

Does it ever clunk back over and drive straight? When my truck got into a accident they did a alignment but when they did it they never torqued my control arm to the bracket. Which has about a inch of play meant for alignment. They worked loose after a 100 miles and one day it started to pull to the right very badly. I jacked up my truck checked my bearings ball joints and tie rods all were tight. I noticed I had a camber issue when my truck was on the level. I jacked up my truck from under the lower ball joint and once I got about half way up the tire shot back towards my frame and made a clunk. I then found out the bolts were loose and one didnt even have a washer. Simple fix for me but I sure was mad as hell.

 

not to argue but im pretty sure thats how you check a wheel bearing. unless i am reading it wrong i am sorry if i am.

I use a crow bar and jack it up just enough to get the tire off the ground an slip the crow bar under it with your hand on top and lightly push down on the bar to lift up the tire and if you feel and hear a clunk the ball joints are bad.

if you jack it up and grab the tire at a 12-6 and rock it back an forth if it's tight the wheel bearings are fine if it wobbles you need new bearing

 

no; my wheels move together; there is a clunk but its from the joint in my stearing box; I'll check it out though to be sure..

 

You have a pic of the exact part/location you are talking about?