My girlfriend's '00 Dakota had bad vibration from the front brakes when braking. Since I no nothing about this truck (she just moved from Oregon and I am a Nissan guy). I googled around and found this to be a common issue. I inspected the rotors and decided we were better off buying new rotors than turning the old ones. I went to the local parts slinger and purchased new Bendix rotors and pads. I finished the left side with no problems. I proceeded to the right side and the threads for the top slider pin in the knuckle were gone! I called the local dealer and ordered a new pin as I intended to Helicoil the knuckle. The gentleman at the parts counter (go Jimmy!) advised me MBC were aware of this issue and he provided me a copy of a TSB dated 4/23/99. It provides a list of exactly what is needed and the procedure. The replacement pin is PN 1-04886075AA. I purchased Helicoil kit PN 5546-9, the size is M9X1.25. The kit comes with everything you need; tap, installation tool and 12 Helicoils. You will also need a 23/64 drill bit. The whole process took 1 hour in a driveway with basic hand tools. Make sure to use oil when tapping the thrreads. I paid $5.74 for the pin and $36.99 for the Helicoil kit for a total of $42.73 plus tax and one hour of labor. A whole lot cheaper than the $352.00 I was quoted for a new steering knuckle with probably the same birth defects. With so many units affected, I am amazed MBC did not recall for this. I'll stick with my Nissans. Thanks for all the info this forum has provided.

Jerry/

edit- I failed to mention the labor involved in replacing the knuckle plus the cost of tools. So $352.00 is only for the part. Include another $75.00 for tools(conservative) plus approximately 1 more hour labor(if things go right) when comparing apples to apples. MBC is gangsta, not all crooks carry guns.

 

Good work!

 

I came here searching for just this answer!
I was swapping brakes on my daughters 93' today and found the upper caliper bolt on the pass side was cross threaded.
I replaced the pads,squared the bolt,ran it in straight and cleaned every last thread out of the knuckle


Thanks for the numbers!