2001 DODGE DAKOTA — Complaint #599873
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT filed October 17, 2006
NHTSA complaint #599873 (ODI reference 10171063) concerns a 2001 DODGE DAKOTA and was filed on October 17, 2006. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 15, 2006. The vehicle had 88,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Virginia based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same DODGE DAKOTA cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2001 DODGE DAKOTA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
1. NORMAL DRIVING CIRCUMSTANCES. FRONT END SUSPENSION STARTED MAKING CLUNKING/POPPING NOISES AND STEERING BECAME ERRATIC. TRUCK HAS 85,000 MILES. 2. COULD NOT SAFELY DRIVE THE VEHICLE. THE STEERING WAS TOO RISKY. I ALSO NOTICED WHILE THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER WAS PULLING THE VEHICLE ONTO THE TRUCK THAT THE FRONT RIGHT WHEEL WAS LEANING OVER AT ABOUT 30 DEGREE ANGLE. 3. MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THAT THE UPPER BALL JOINTS HAS BASICALLY RUSTED AND DETERIORATED. LOWER JOINTS WERE ALSO ON THEIR WAY TO FAILURE. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT THE 4 WHEEL DRIVE MODELS WERE RECALLED. WHY WEREN'T THE 2 WHEEL DRIVES. THIS PROBLEM MIRRORS THE ISSUE THAT THEY HAD. *NM
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 599873 |
| ODI Number | 10171063 |
| Date Filed | October 17, 2006 |
| Failure Date | October 15, 2006 |
| VIN | 1B7GL22X41S |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2001 DODGE DAKOTA
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 DODGE DAKOTA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HE WAS INFORMED THAT THE UPPER BALL JOINT WAS WORN. THE INDEPENDENT MECHANIC INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE UPPER BALL JOINTS NEED TO
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 DODGE DAKOTA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HE PREVIOUSLY HAD REPAIRS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V596000 (SUSPENSION, FRONT CONTROL ARM, UPPER BALL
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 DODGE DAKOTA. WHILE DRIVING 2 MPH, THE CONTACT HEARD A BANGING NOISE COMING FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT TIRE. HE STATED THAT THE STEERING WAS DIFFICULT TO TURN. UPON IN
BALL JOINT PROBLEM ON 4X2 DODGE DAKOTA. POPPING GRATING SOUND AND LACK OF CONTROL IN THE UPPER BALL JOINT ASSEMBLIES. THESE USE THE SAME UPPER BALL JOINT ASSY. AS THE 4X4 UNITS THAT HAVE BEEN RECALLED
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE WERE PROBLEMS WITH THE BALL JOINTS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC SHOP FOR REPAIR ON THE UPPER FRONT RIGHT BALL JOINTS. A RECALL LETTER WAS RECEIVED P
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.