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doug
Dodge Dakota
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2/28/2004
01:19:16

Subject: ball joints
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hey guys tried to have my truck alined .the dealership told me i needed to replace the ball joints upper and lower. was quoted a price of $1000. is that a good price? i told him that you must be realy prod of those joints to charge that much. so i have a friend who ase cert. to do the work. does any body know the price for the upper and lower joints cost.



DSW
Dodge Dakota
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2/28/2004
02:03:54

RE: ball joints
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The Moog's are about $45 each online at rockauto.com or autopartsgiant.com, locally you will probably pay $65-70. Dealer is realy trying to put the screws to ya.



WipLash
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2/28/2004
02:13:38

RE: ball joints
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Dude, you need to get that estimate in writing and have the newspaper publish it. Also, report them to the BBB. That is a total rip off. There's no way the entire job would cost more than $300.00 if you did it yourself. Most good parts warehouses have a balljoint press and will press the lowers in for like $5.00 if you bring them the lower control arms. All you need for the uppers is a drill or grinder. Of course, you need a ball joint tool. They are like $10.00. AutoZone will loan you their tools as long as you leave a deposite large enough to cover the cost of the tool.



Kevin
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2/28/2004
03:38:25

RE: ball joints
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If you have a 2000+ model Dakota, the uppers aren't available yet...at least the aftermarket variety. I'm still waiting on rockauto.com to email and let me know that they have the new Moog uppers in stock. The lowers are available, but still waiting on the uppers.

Good luck!!!



WipLash
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2/28/2004
11:38:07

RE: ball joints
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Kevin,
There have been lots of post concerning the 1999 vs. 2000 balljoints. They look the same and everyone is putting the 98/99 balljoints on the 2000/up. So far so good. Back then I read every magazine that hit the racks that had anything MOPAR in it. Since Diamler took control, I have slowly lost interest. I remember reading an article about the 2000 Dakota that claimed they made a modification the the front end. They didn't elaborate on the engineering details, but they said that the balljoints were supposed to be better and that the truck had a tighter turning radius. That's all I remember. It appears to me that this was all a bunch of propoganda. I plan to someday disect a 98/99 and a 2000+ balljoint to do a sided by side comparison to see if there is a difference. As far as bolting up and functioning, the 98/98 balljoint will work.



Kota23
Dodge Dakota
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2/28/2004
15:07:03

RE: ball joints
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A $1000 quote for ball joint replacement? Good grief man, that's a kick in the balls. Get a different quote and bring that one to the dealership and flip em the bird.



spank
Dodge Dakota
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2/28/2004
22:52:23

RE: ball joints
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I went to a repair shop and they told me that the moogs lower ball joint for my 2000 dak quad cab doesent come with a grease fitting. this is what his parts supplier said, but the moogs were not in stock so how could be so sure that they didnt have a fitting? Is this true?


thanks spank




Kevin
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2/29/2004
04:44:20

RE: ball joints
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WipLash...

That is REALLY good news man. I NEED my upper replaced on the left side very soon. I do mostly highway driving and my Dak has just a hair over 50K miles on it, so I've actually done pretty well compared to others on my first set of ball joints.

Now you've got me stoked. I'm going online right now to order the Moog replacement lowers for the 2000+ models and the 98-99 uppers. I'm really not looking forward to doing the actual replacement, but I'll hunker down and make a day of it.

Thanks again WipLash!!!



B1owner
Dodge Dakota
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2/29/2004
10:24:20

RE: ball joints
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Just put 97-99 ball joints in my 2001 4x4 Dakota. Piece of cake. Under 100 bucks for both. But I also got 97-99 tie rod ends, but they WONT work on the 2001. The hole for the older tie rods is smaller than the new rack rod on the 2001.



B1owner
Dodge Dakota
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2/29/2004
10:27:29

RE: ball joints
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I forgot to specify....just the uppper ball joints on my previous post.



Mark
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2/29/2004
10:55:21

RE: ball joints
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The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather will be airing yet another story about premature ball joint wear and separation. They spoke with several durango owners who experienced wheel separation.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather

-Mark Hryckiewicz
1993 Sport RC SB 5.2L Auto
Mark.DodgeDakotas.com

ch4ngv
Dodge Dakota
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2/29/2004
22:41:19

RE: ball joints
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Can changing one upper ball joint with a bolt in variety change the alignment?

I bought a 2000 QC and on the test drive it was fine - drove straight. When for the safety and it needed the RH upper. It was replaced with the bolt-in type(unknown manufacturer). Now the truck pulls to the right.

Could this be caused by changing the ball joint???

Thanks



WipLash
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2/29/2004
23:05:47

RE: ball joints
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In theory, if your front end wasn't out of align before your old ball joint went out and you put in a new balljoint the front end should still be aligned. But.......... Speaking from experience, I have never been that lucky. Don't ask my why, but everytime I've taken a front end apart to replace something it got out of align. For example: I had a perfect front end in my Taurus SHO. I installed a set of Eneregy Suspension control arm and sub frame bushings to make it corner better. I changed nothing else. The car had to be realigned.

You could probably get by with it for the short term, but the next time you replace your front tires you should get it aligned.



99bluedakotap
Dodge Dakota
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3/01/2004
11:04:57

RE: ball joints
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i had mine done for 120 each an had the upper an lower done. had only 48000 on her. called dodge an they told me they are looking into it an the bbb is so confusing i didnt do that part. dodge told me they have me on a list for future referance on the subject.



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