Dont know if this will help your problem but there is a recall on the Dakota for ball joints. Mine went bad and had to have them replaced. mine was a 2000 dakota sport.

 

ramrough,
i understand and agree w/ you, it's a truck- a $30k truck. the dealership did (or said they did) check the shocks/springs and found nothing wrong. i think it's in the design. w/ the wheelbase as long as mine-qc,8ft bed- they needed a beefy suspension, yet something soft enough for no-load driving. if the shocks were adjustable that may fix the problem, or as you pointed out, aftermarket springs. i have no problem with buying aftermarket, my wife may disagree, but while riding in the truck during her pregnancy, she was very uncomfortable and probably would have paid for new shocks/springs that day had we been neer a shop. i'm just curious now about if anyone else has had the problem and what fixed it, if anything

and one more thing, car and driver can keep their opinions about trucks to themselves, if i want a sedan, i'll see what they have to say.

 

Thanks guys, I've pushed up/down on the thing, jumped in the bed, it just seems like the suspension is really soft, which I'm not used to at all in a truck. The right rear is the one I suspect, and I don't know how but somebody mangled the hell out of the mount. The bolt is no longer horizontal and I'm sure it's putting all kinds of weird forces on the shock, but when I popped it out it seemed to be fairly strong still. I spent about 30 minutes trying to bang it back into the right shape but it's pretty strong steel. Anybody know where you get a new mount to weld on?

The ball joints were the first thing I checked before bying it and they're new. I didn't do a good enough job with my inspection though since I missed the bent shock mount and I didn't notice the bounce, but it doesn't do it all the time, only on really bad surfaces.

 

glad were on the same page! Anyhow thats really unusual since you have the longest truck made. I thought the longer wheelbases were supposed to ride smoother. And i also realize the factory isnt gonna be perfect. otherwise my truck would have a metal intercooler and rear wheel well liners. but im glad to know that i can go get a better replacement. good luck on the rough ride. if it gets really bad, you could be the first on your block with big rig air ride seats! that would be COOL to see!

 

I agree with Ramrough 100%. Yes mine bounces around on certain roads but rarely bothers me cause I know what a truck is supposed to ride like. I also agree that todays truck buyers are soft and that is what has taken away our straight axels from the front of these trucks. I wish mine had a straight axel in front also cause it's much more reliable and cheaper to put a lift kit on.I know what a rough riding truck feels like cause I used to drive a Quad axel dump truck,and when it was empty it turned you inside out!!! These Rams ride very well.

 

sa1765

This is caused by letting your B/F, Vinny ride in the bed...

 

Wonderful first post, kid - and very informative.

 

As noted earlier, it does ride like a truck. What I wonder about is the rear shock set up. Ever notice the Driver's side is slanted a different way than the passender's side. First time I saw this, I was taken aback and was like WTF!? I would imagine that even though the angle is the same, the leverage issue would be different b/c of the placement. I guess it works well enough though. It seems like a cut and weld attempt when they realized the exhaust and passenger's side rear shock would interfere with each other. Go figure.

 

My rear end is stiff ..... but I expect that ....


Thing that gets me is the front end jolting around. Some bumps (that shouldn't cause such a jolt) seem to throw me off course a lot more in this truck then they do in other pickups. It got a little better when I dumped the 20's and went with 17s but..... I'm hoping it's a shock issue... I plan on getting some 9000's when I get the coin...

 

osteodoc08, lots of vehicles with straight axles have opposing shocks. Its an engineering thing. From what i remember reading, its to help subdue axlewrap. Kinda makes sense by opposing the axles twisting. A shock (dampner) is most effective when its in a 90* vertical angle and mounted as far outbaoard and as close to the wheel as possible. This is why ford has been touting their outside frame placment of their rear shocks. Its all about leverage and stiffness. When i changed the shockmounts on my jeep cherokee, they were put at a 45* angle which if i remember right, equated to 60% effectiveness. Usually packaging/space restraints force them to do as best they can. FYI the best place for shocks on coiled axles is inside the coils.

Muddauber, you can still get a solid front axle in a few vehicles. dodge 2500/3500, ford 250/350, jeep wrangler, and a few commercial trucks and military vehicles. a couple of years ago it was allthe jeeps, all the dodge trucks, the bigger fords, Rovers and commercial stuff.