I just bought a pretty cherry 1998 4 Wheel drive Dakota, 5.2 V8, 55k miles! Auto trans, Michelin LTS tires....I come from driving 2 wheel drive Dakotas and Rams, is it normal for the 4WD version to be more trucky and sluggish with steering and handling???? Previous owner put on El-CheapO™ brand shocks, everything seems in order but steering is sluggish and handling very 'trucky' and bouncy...it does have a wimpy looking sway bar in the rear, bushings and ball joints seem fine...no name new shocks.....what can I do to make this thing handle and steer nicer?? Any info from your experience with 4WD Dakotas appreciated. Thanks

ps. if you guys think it's mostly the cheap shocks, what is recommended for 4WD 1998 Dakota for a great sporty yet hopefully comfortable ride? I think it has the cheap blue Monroes on it...Bilstein, Rancho?

 

98 4 wheel drive will have a steering box instead of a rack I believe.

Crawl under while somebody wiggles steering back and forth, see if there is any slop in the pitman arm or drag link?

 

Yup, I was planning on that, will have a buddy wiggle the wheel while I look....so the 2WD with the steering rack could feel 'sportier' or easier to turn than the box? I assume...

 

IIRC 97-99 2WD had a rack, 4WD had a steering box. 00+, both 2WD and 4WD had a rack.
Lots less moving parts in a rack, so usually more responsive. Steering boxes tend to have more gear slop, pitman arm slop, drag link slop...it all adds up.

 

2000 has a rack, 4wd and 2wd.
98 does have the steering box and there are lots of things that can go wrong in that setup.

 

Does a 1998 2WD Dakota have a rack?

 

Yup. The 2wd versions do. It was the 4wd versions with the differences.