Hey all, as I have received some helpful info here, sometimes as a response to questions and just from reading threads, I want to offer a suggestion based on my recent experience:

2001 quad, 4.7L 5spd. 101,000 miles. An early one from November 2000

The rear leaf spring shackles (rear ones) rusted and suddenly broke, causing the end of each spring to hit the bottom of the bed, passenger side caused a dent, driver side poked through.

When I took it to the dealer they said this was the 3rd or 4th Dakota they had seen like that. One mechanic muttered something about there should be a recall (fat chance). the other said he better check his own Dakota.

So those of you with earlier ones may want to inspect those shackles and get ahead of any rust before something bad happens that is even more costly, as mine cost a bit over $3000 to fix, and that is with not repairing the pickup bed. Yes, OEM parts and dealer pricing. That included dropping the gas tank, torching off the original cold-riveted mounts and installing new mounts, shackles and new springs, along with associated class 8 hardware and labor.

Yeah I know. A lot for an old truck, but still cheaper than the $25,000-35,000 a new one will cost.

Now most of you probably treat your trucks better than I do. This is in NJ with salty winter roads, stored outside, not in a garage, and has never seen a car-wash except to drive past. I think I may have washed it myself only one or two times in almost 12 years. So salt etc tend to stay longer before being washed off by rain and splashing through puddles. And yes, the pickup bed has lots of rust. I can even see a tire through the driver side wheel housing in the pickup bed. And then there is the new hole back by the tailgate where the leaf spring poked through.

Other than regular oil changes and recommended service intervals I tend not to do much to my vehicles. So considering it stood up to 12 years of neglect, before a major failure like this, I guess that's not too bad. Unless you count the rebuilt diff a few years ago, which also wasn't cheap.

Anyway, start keeping an eye on the rear suspension mounts and shackles and replace them if you see issues before you get into some pricey repairs.

 

thanks for the post. that kinda raises some attention to because of lately, i have noticed some, well hard to explain, kind of a torque steer but from the rear end. like im "dog tracking", under accel. was gunna look to see if i had an allignment issue in the rear. i also have a bad tire feathering issue on my pass rear tire. did you have any of those symtems before ur shackels took a shat?

 

No symptoms like that, that I noticed, but I am not the most observant either. It had been creaking in the back for a while but my original mechanic did not see anything wrong. Not my mechanic anymore if he missed this.

I saw something poking through the bed, but with all the rust, I thought it was the bed settling, and started to wonder how much a used bed would cost. My assumption it was the bed rusting down prevented me from considering other possibilities.

I actually drove it for a couple weeks before I took it to a body shop to see what it would cost to replace the bed or patch it, and the guy there pointed out that what was poking through the bed was a leaf spring. Boy did I feel like a dumbass. It was not poking far, just a quarter inch or so so it was no obvious to me what it was. I am no mechanic by any means.

Whenever the shackles broke, it was not while I was driving it or I would have felt something like that. I think.

 

My passenger side shackle broke last week while I was pulling into my driveway (steep apron). I heard a clunk. Then I noticed the truck (2002 QC 4x4 110,000 mi.) just wasn't sitting right. It barely made a mark on the bottom of the bed though. I ordered 2 new shackles from Rock Auto, along with some new bolts. I will be attempting to replace them on Monday.

 

good luck. Check for rust on everything else too, like the leaf spring clamps etc. Mine were so far gone they replaced the entire leaf spring. I am sure $$ had part of that recommendation, but I was so far in on the repair, might as well. You may want to replace the driver side too, if you can do the passenger side. BUT: If you find you need to replace the part that is cold-riveted to the frame, (the hanger?), you will likely want a shop to do this. They had to drop the gas tank, since they needed to use a torch to remove the old ones. Gas tanks do not like torches.

 

So your a "go before show" guy?

My son rolled his truck recently and we took the bed off to use on a trailer I have for hauling logs. Anyways I saw how bad the shackles looked on his 97. you could see daylight on the rear most part of the shackles. I thought it was tourqed by the roll but it was all rusted inside the metal failure points too so not new damage.

I'd recommend taking off the bed for any work like this. 8 bolts, unhook the tail light harness on both sides and disconnect the filler neck where it sits inside the fuel door. 2 guys can lift it and place it on a couple saw horses. 3 guys is better.
Now for the good and bad when you do this you'll make any work on the rear half alot easier. the bad....you'll want to replace everything once you see the rust. Been there done that about 2 years ago and the shackles where solid then.

 

I replaced the shackles on my 2002 2wd about a year ago. I actually put Chevy lowering shackles in, which in turn lifted the rear end about 2 inches (I did lift coils up front). When I took the old ones off, I had noticed that they were just about rusted through. I was so glad I decided to replace them, because I think that if I waited much longer I would've had the same problem as you guys. I think it really is a problem, and there are probably a ton of vehicles with this same problem including Durangos. Good luck

 

[quote=2daks;2788080]So your a "go before show" guy? When I can be. I just do the normal maintenance and anything that pops up. I have only had a couple major repairs on vehicles over the decades following that rule. Even with not washing them, this is the first time I have had a rust issue, but then this is the first one I kept over 10 years.

 

Got the passenger side done today. The lower bolt was hard to get out. I got it to turn, but had to beat it out with a good sized hammer. The upper bolt came out without much effort. The other hard part, was lining up the the lower bushing, to put the bolt through. The mounts that a riveted to the frame are in great shape. When I have more time I will get the drivers side done.

 

found this thread cause im trying to source shackles at the moment. one broke on the way home and the other is so rusted im suprised its still on there. fun fun fun