Hi Everyone this is so far the best thing I have stumbled on for a while! I am a new 3rd gen Dakota owner. 2007 3.7 V6 4X4 Quad Cab. I have a few questions and I wanted to confirm some of suspicions about potential issues.
1. I am getting a weird vibration occasionally when driving, it feels like a tire out of balance. It occurs when I am driving at random intervals its normally lasting only a few seconds at a time and at all speeds. I am thinking it is a rear tire since the vibration is more in the floor vs in the pedal but I also feel it up in the steering wheel too.
2. Is the suspension normally really stiff? The previous owner did have the suspension replaced if I remember correctly from his paperwork. It may just be me but it seems to overly stiff and I can feel almost everything in the road.
3. Where do you guys get items for your 2007's for those who have them? LMC only goes to 06 and I haven't seen a good site that has a catalog for the 07 line-up.
4. Also I am getting an occasional pop in the steering column after about 3/4 to 1-1/2 rotations in a turn. Is this the mid steering arm issue I've read about and if so is there a fix that has worked better then other?

Thanks for the forum!

 

Vibration really could be anything, from unbalanced tire, brake caliper, wheel bearing and /or ball joints just to name a few. 3rd Gen Dakotas typically have really stiff suspensions when new but get bouncy and sloppy when worn out. The 2005-2007 Dakotas are pretty much all the same and parts swap with no problem. Changes were made in 2008 with the updated body style and engine components. Best place to find parts Is obviously dodge dealer or any of the official Dodge / Mopar sites. For generic parts catalog you can try 'RockAuto.com' or 'Summit Racing'

That pop in the steering could be tire rub on the inner fender, sometimes people put larger tires rather than spec which causes the tire to rub or grab the plastic inner well. If not that then could be worn rack and pinion gear. Unfortunately they've stopped making repair kits for these trucks and in order to fix any steering issues in the gear you have to now buy the whole rack. So there's the cost of the steering rack plus core charge, so it can get pricey. Other than that these are great trucks, they were best in their class back in the day.

 

Starting with the follow up to my question for those following. I took the truck into a shop to have a leveling kit installed...... Got a call about an hour later with him saying that the strut on the driver side was gone and and the tire rod ends were shot. I'll have to wait until I pick up the truck later but, they said that was more then likely the reason for the occasional vibration and the pop when I would steer. I will keep updating as I figure things out.

 

Hope you didn’t go over 2” with the spacers.

 

I didn't. I am getting a 2" dynastar kit done.

 

Just be prepared to deal with premature front end component failure. Even with new stuff, it will eventually cause issues.