>> I was just quoted today that the lower ball joints are excessively worn
>and
>> need to be replaced. I was quoted $600 to do this. How hard is it to
>> replace these myself and about how much would the parts cost? I have a
95
>> 4x4.
>>
>> Love the truck, but HATE all the problems.
>
>I checked out pricing on these parts, for good quality Moog ball joints
>- -Lower Ball Joints(2): $100
>- -Upper Ball Joints(2): $80
>I was told that labor would be right at $275 for the installation of these
>parts. Sounds like $600 is an extremely high price. So, I would say shop
>around and find some place with better prices for installation. My 93
>Dakota's ball joints are still fine now at 143,000 miles........what other
>problems do you have with your truck?
>Kyle
>93 Dakota 4x4 V6
Thanks Kyle. I am assuming that you are not doing the labor yourself?
Since you are way better at mechanical work that I am, I guess I'll start
looking around at shops. I was hoping that the replacement would be easy
and I could do it myself. Guess not.
The problems with the truck include a shredded tranny, new front hub
assembly and manifold seal. The plus side is that I had to deal with bad
service for these changes. I was hoping that the front end problems would
be covered under the extended warranty and then come to find that the cost
would be $600 instead of a $100 deductible. I was not very happy. The truck
went in because the tires were wearing funny and I thought it had front end
problems (seems kind of loose and pulling). The Tech had looked at it and
could not find much wrong, other than a little too much play in the ball
joints. Would this cause the tire wear problem? I am not sure if it
actually is a ball joint or some other problem (like alignment). Is there a
way that I can check to see if it is the ball joints, some other problem or
poor alignment? They told me there is not much to adjust on a 4x4 truck in
the front and that this kind of tire wear happens normally. They recommend
a tire rotation every 6000 miles to help with bad tire wear. The tires were
not wearing much when the tranny was fixed (and I mentioned the pulling,
floating front end feeling was starting to occur). It's at most 6000 later
and there is noticeable wear. The wear problem seems to be getting worse.
Not sure what I should do next.
I have not had nearly as many problems as others on the list, but it gets
aggravating (especially with bad service and getting the run around). I was
thinking the other day that the FAQ should list the problems associated with
each model year of each Dak. That way, when someone shops around for a new
truck they can look to see what they should check for or what problems they
could encounter. I don't mean if one person has a problem, that it should
be one the list. It would contain recurring problems, like the dreaded
pinging motor. I know when shopping around, I would definitely print this
list out and take it along. It may be something already on the FAQ, but I
thought I would mention it just in case it was not there.
Travis
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