You can jack up under the lower control arm and shake the tire by hand. Shake it up and down and if there's play then it's the ball joints(have someone shake it for you so you can see better if you want) or could be wheel bearings(hub unit) if they are really worn. Left to right will be your tie rods, but it's better to check them by leaving the tires on the ground and have someone turn the wheel back and forth to check for play. The outers will be the culprit as most of the Dakotas have power rack & pinion steering so from what I see you should have anything to replace but the outers.

 

Thats how I checked mine was by having some one turn the wheel. so the outer shouldn't be to hard.. about the wheel bearings hub? Im going to take it to a mechanic tomorrow and see what they have to say, Ill at least be there to see him check it out and show me. I told him today I wouldn't be able to afford the fix right now. He insisted on looking at it and at least giving me a quote and letting me know what he found wrong, Im not going to say no to a free inspection. Ill be sure to ask about the hubs also tomorrow. Thanks for all of the input.

 

The hubs are easy as pie to replace. It is all one unit. I bought mine brand new off ebay for less than $50 shipped. I can tell you how to do it as well.

 

Ok, just got back from the shop. the mechanic took me under the truck and showed me how to check each thing. ball joints are in good shape there was no significant movement of the tire up and down. however the tie rods one one side are bad. so it will need inner and outer on both sides. ( driver side had considerable play) although I still wasn't sure which end was bad inner or outer. Also the Aframe bushing the back one is bad on both passenger and driver side. So I'll need to do both bushings on each side. mechanic says that I will have to disconnect upper ball joint to get to them. he aslo said looks like it could use new shocks. his cost to do everything inner tie rods outer tie rods Aframe bushings and shocks was 916.80 If I can figure out how to do the bushings my self then ill do the entire job my self.

 

it will take some time. but yes. the top ball will have rivits (unless it have been changed before, then it will be a nut and bolt. i used a angle grinder to get the rivit heads off on mine. it is what i had to work with.

 

sorry. i didn't see the multi page when i made that post. my bad.
however, control arm bushing are a pita and that is an understatement. i have heard that some guys take the control arm to a machine shop and get the bushings pressed out and in. i don't think it was very expensive either. i did one upper arm myself and it took me forever with alot of swearing.

something else to do after you get the frontend done.. wheel alignment. will keep you from eating your tires up.

 

I just did the upper control arms bushings on my driver side and had to torch them out. They were only $6 a piece but was told my mechanic buddy that unless you have a press, then just buy the whole upper control arm assembly for $75(not sure on this price bc I haven't looked) and it will have new bushings in it already and possibly a new upper ball joint. He said hardly worth the time. It took me a long time like Vladek and lots of swearing to get the new ones in without a press

 

Once you take the upper ball joint loose, then it's just two large bolts to take the UCA off

 

I took off my tire to inspect, ill have to take out the inner fender to do the job but im not sure where the press comes into play but I see the bushings . the shocks don't look to hard to do. jack up under the coil and remove bolts that hold the lower shock in place then remove upper bolt which is under the hood. my question there is once i remove hardware, how does the shock come out and the new one in?

 

ok after watching some videos just makes sense to replace the upper control arm since im going to be taking it off any ways, and it does come with a new upper ball joint. it just looks different then what is on my vehicle already.... is that normal? because my brake line is attached by with a metal bracket to the factory one.. so im just wondering how it will attach to the aftermarket control arm.


also on my driver side there is not as much clearance between the upper ball joint and rim as there is on the passenger side. is that how its supposed to be or is that partially due to the bushing being worm on the driver side more than the passenger side?