Hello, I have a 2006 Dakota and after taking it into the dealer (prior to the warranty running out) they told me nothing was wrong with the struts.

Well its now out of warranty and things are so bad cornering even presents problems.

My questions are, where can I get the struts. What type of struts should I get? And what else if anything needs to be replaced with the struts? Strut ends, bearing, springs, etc???

I took it to a mechanic that said he'd charge me around $600 to replace them. He said most of that was parts. He said he was only charging $100 in labor.

Seems extreme when I have seen struts for $100 or so each. Anyway, I put a full set of 4 Billstiens on my Vette for less.

Anyway, I need some direction. Is this something I could do myself? I am pretty handy. Any special tools?

Finally I am looking for a solid, but comfortable ride. I don't off road. The vehicle is driven in town for the most part.

I'm just blown away by how many things have broken on such a young and well cared for truck. Very sad. Struts at 30k?
Thanks.

 

Personally, I wouldnt do it myself. Even with a spring compressor, its not something I would feel comfortable tackling. Even if a shop wanted to charge me $300 labor, I would have it done there. Youll need a spring compressor and a front end alignment when you finish installing the struts.

Ranchos will be the firmest strut and the best ride. I will be getting these in the spring. They are priced around $100 each.

When you took the truck to the dealer, did you have them document that there was nothing wrong with the struts or was there something on an invoice stating to check the struts? If there was, take it back and have them fix it. (If it was fairly recently) You will win that fight if you had them check out the struts and they said nothing was wrong when there was.

And good to see another WI member! Im located right in Oak Creek.

 

No, I never specifically identified it as "struts".. I just mentioned squealing and difficulty turning the wheels. And a squeaking on the front brakes, or what I thought were the brakes.

They could not reproduce that problem. (was the squeak of the struts)

They did reproduce the other noise and replaced the alternator pulley/clutch assembly and corrected the P/S problems.

Anyway, I had no idea at the time it was the struts. It was not until the clunking started that I was pretty sure it was the struts.

Yeah, my fears are related to the spring compression. I guess I am just trying to gauge if $600 is a fair deal to replace them. Its the same shop thats done other work for me including my Hancooks. I've been happy with their work and have done a fair amount of business over there.

I'm in Lake Geneva BTW.

Oh, and a few months ago I had to have my Transaxle replaced, and tranny rebuilt. I like the truck. My first Dodge, but damn, a lot of stuff on this thing has broken. It's babied and driven around 2 miles a day. Sometimes less... I have other toys, and work is a 2 mile round trip including picking my son up to and from school.

 

I've had quotes to replace my front struts run anywhere from $450 to $600. Rengnath is correct, the struts should be right around $100 for rancho's, others are less, I'm going with Monroe's because my truck is a road queen. You don't have many choices, Rancho, Monroe or O&M. I would definitely get a couple of price quotes before going to the first place I found. I was quoted 3 hours labor to replace the struts from 3 different places (Midas, Merchants and Pep Boys), so at roughly $80/hr labor rate thats the bulk of the replacement cost. All three said that I could buy the struts myself or they would buy whatever I wanted to install. Also not something I would want to do myself and I am fairly mechanically inclined, though there are others on here who can probably replace struts with one hand tied behind their back and the rest of us are kittys...lol

 

Ended up finally getting my struts replaced. WOW, what a difference. It was more than the struts though. The source of the clunking was actually the link pins which were bad as well.

At the end of the day I ended up with the following:

2 Monroe Front Struts $199.98 parts
2 Front Link Pins (non-after market/OEM) $135.98
MISC supplies $14.93

Total of $350.89 in parts and $295.23 in labor.

Not terrible but not great either. It was a lot of work. The shop I took it to said the guy that worked on my truck has an 04 Dakota and his struts went at 12k. Unbelievably ****ty manufactured truck IMO. I've already got over $2k in this thing POST warranty at 40,000 BABIED miles. SAD...

Still like the truck, don't get me wrong. Just a bit miffed as to the shotty quality of parts used on these trucks. This does not even include the fact that I had to get new tires at a little over 20k.

At the end of the day, the front end feels great, is tight, does not clunk and wow the ride difference is AMAZING!!! Would have rather put that money into something else though.

 

I must have got the gem of the bunch made in 05 cause i have a solid front end...a little bouncy sometimes but livable until i can get the struts replaced, Glad yours is back to new again.

 

Mine was near intolerable and dangerous. Just hitting the brakes at a stop sign mean enough travel to force the front end down enough to jolt you forward in your seat. The sway was insane, especially on windy days. And the clunking... Just beyond annoying.

It was f'ing up the tires and brakes too.

Oh, I forgot to mention that price I paid for everything. That INCLUDED a front end alignment too.

So $215.28 in labor
and $79.95 alignment

 

My truck clunks, and I keep thinking it is coming from the sway bar. Maybe its not .... I guess Ill have to look in to it.

Where did you take it, if you dont mind me asking? Since Im right in MIL, Ill take it to a shop that has knowingly done the job, not just a random one that I pick out.

Im not going to lie, I drive my truck like I stole it 98% of the time .... and this thing take it pretty well. The struts do need to be replaced though as the front end is a little bouncy ..... I do have 113k miles though.

 

I got 39029k miles on my 07' and i'm doing the rancho struts myself. It bounces a lot, to the point that driving down the highway if i hit a dip on the road it will bounce so hard that you'll think that your tires fell off! Am i worried about doing it my self, maybe a little, i have not done struts on a vehicle in years, but it's easy so i will save save the labor cost on it! Also i'm doing my wife's 2000 grand caravan. That van still has the factory struts and shocks and i'm doing it all the way around. That will be a fun project after christmas..

 

I guess if you have the right spring compressors it could be done, but I've heard our springs are either to large or small (cant remember which) of a diameter for the generic harbor freight tools spring compressor to work on.