'97 Dakota Sport
2WD / 3.9L V6
OK, after 75K miles, at the urging from my dad who owned a '99 Dakota, I
finally broke down and went for a "suspension lube". Shouldda did it long
ago.
It surprised me how many shops I had to call before I even got someone who
even understood what kinda lube job I needed. Jiffy Lube (for example) only
speaks oil changes. Firestone said they do suspension lubes in the context
of an oil change. When I told the guy I do my own oil changes, he asked,
"How does $20 sound?" I found another shop (STS, for those of you who may
be familiar w/ this NJ tire chain) offered to do it for $15.95. Pardon the
digression but there's the set up.
I show up at the appointed time and admonish the service mgr. that
(according to my dad) one of the Zerk fittings near the front right may be
especially hard to find. Of course, I was also thinking about the A-frames,
drive shaft, etc.
OK, so I show up in a half hour or so to pick it up and the guy tells me,
"We only found 2 Zerks: on the ends of the main tie rod member". That's
it! Apparently, even on this old '97, the other suspension bearings are
sealed. He said he thought that if I ordered a replacement ball joint for
the front end, it might come w/ a Zerk fitting but not on the stock ones.
When I got the truck home,I crawled under and saw the 2 Zerks on the ends of
the tie rod.
So, it this right? There are only 2 Zerks on the '97 Dakota suspension and
I couldda greased them w/ one hand tied behind my back and saved $16?
Embarrassed.
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