There was a recall on this era of Dakota/Durango for upper tie rods
failing prematurely. My friend's 2000 Dakota had them replaced but the
replacement was sealed as well.
Good aftermarket ones (Moog) have zerk fittings to allow you to grease them.
In comparison my '95 Dakota as 4 zerks on the ball joints, one for the
pitman arm, two for the idler arm, 4 on the tierod ends, and one in the
front driveshaft... it's a PITA. Stock most of them were sealed other
than the ball joints, though. The addition of Moog steering components
about tripled the lube job time but I think it's worth it. Just
comparing the stock pitman arm to the Moog shows you the difference in
quality:
http://moparhowto.com/pictures/1995-Dakota/pitman_moog_vs_stock.jpg
M.B.
On 08/04/2011 02:17 PM, Gary Hedlin wrote:
>
> Depends on if the ball joints were changed. I don't think stockers had the
> fittings, but if they were changed most of the replacements had the
> fittings.
>
> Gary
>
> On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 4:03 PM, Tom Coulter<metalshop@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> '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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