Reading all your Treads have really helped me but I am having a new problem. I have a 2000 Quad Cab 4.7 dakota 86k miles
1. I got new tires about 20k miles ago, I have almost no tread left because nobody can seem to get the front tires to stay aligned. It seems that my front right is the worst becuase that tire is almost on cords. Has anyone had this problem before??
2. I have a horrible noise coming from what I think is my power steering pump. I read that someone else had this problem but I could not get what the solution was. It has full fluids. It sounds the worst in the morning and it screams on both left and right turns. Any help is appreciated.

 

1. Bad ball joints, tie-rods can essentially make an alignment useless as it won't "stay." Of course, if the tread is uniformly worn (not just on one side, just the outer part, or inner part of the tire) i would have to say you got some crappy tires. Proper tire rotation (about every 6,000 miles; hint hint: every 2 oil changes) is recommended.
If its worn mainly on both outside edges of the tire, thats caused by: under-inflation or lack of rotation. Rapid wear at the center is caused by over-inflation or lack of rotation. Wear on one side is caused by excessive camber (tire not straight up and down).. A feathered edge is caused by incorrect toe.
2. To me, that sounds like a bad power steering pump. (FYI, when you refill the pump, do not use automatic transmission fluid. TSB 19-005-03 states that 1994-2001 Dakotas get power steering fluid, while 2002-current Dakotas get ATF) It is possible to do a power steering system flush. I've read that for some people, it's taken away their noise, but, they said their noise wasn't too bad.

 

Ill try flushing my Power Steering and hope that helps, If it does not and it needs replacement, do you think that is easy enough to do yourself or should I have a pro do it? I heard that those are costly so lets hope that new fluids will help.

I had my front ball joints replaces when I got my new tires because the guys said that they are bad. I had those looked at again because they are under warranty but they said they are fine. Also, my tires only wear on the outside and not on the inside. Ill have my tie - rods looked at and hope that will fix it, what do you think that would run me $$?
thanks!!

 

Unfortunatly for you, you've got the 4.7L. The power steering pump is $134 from Napa. (For the 3.9L, 5.2L its about $50).
If you do have to replace the pump, make sure you get an inline filter. Their cheap.
The tie-rods: inner tie-rods are gonna run around $42/ea, outer are gonna run about $60/ea. You will, of course, need two of each. I have no idea how much labor would be.

Removal of the PS pump seems pretty straight foward: remove serpentine belt. Disconnect return hose and drain the pump. Remove pressure line. Theres 3 bolts holding the pump on.
Installation reverse of removal. (FYI, one of the threads on the top of the Gen 2 main page has a link to a 2001 service manual, good stuff in there).

Do you keep your tires properly inflated? Are you a speed racer around the corners? Both of those can lead to rapid wear on the outside of the tires.

 

Man, sounds like i am really in for it on this one. I dont really speed much and I have been good on keeping tires rotated and inflated so hopefully that has postponed my problem a little. Thanks for the help, Ill let you know what happens.

 

another thing to check is to have someone turn the front end while you check to see if there is horizontal movement of the upper control arm. there are two very large nuts connecting the upper control arm to the frame. if for some reason they have become loose over time, you would notice a problem with tire wear. this is a rare problem, but will do substantial damage to tires. the reason this happens mostly is because they are accidentially left loose after an aligment. (you must loosen them to do a front end alignment.)