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#1
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Hello all,
At work today I saw the District Service Manager for our zone out in the service department. I asked him if they have been getting complaint's about Dakota rear axle's being offset to the right. He kind of let out a low grown. I knew I had him at this point. He said that yes he was aware of it. It seems that Chrysler knows of the problem, and it started up about 9 months ago. From the sounds of it, it's been getting worse lately. They had a Dakota in one of the shops that they tried ordering in a new axle assy. complete, same problem... Then they ordered in a bare housing, same problem... It is NOT considered normal!!! It is not a "designed" feature of this truck. He told me that he has bought "quite a few set's of fender flares for people", trying to pacify the customer. They still don't know "exactly" what the problem is. I asked him if they had checked with the supplier of the axle to check there mounting fixture's. He stated no, they had not. I told him that is the next place I would look into. He agreed. He took out his video camera and video taped my truck from the rear, wrote down my VIN, mileage, and build date. He said that he would be making weekly checks with the engineers and get back to me. Thought I would give you guy's the information. Now please don't go running to your dealership demanding a fix. As soon as I find out what the fix is, I WILL let everyone know. I don't want to get this guy in trouble for telling me all of this. He said that Chrysler WILL fix the problem, once they figure out how. If your truck has this problem, and your close to being out of warranty. Take it to the dealership in your area and have them document the problem. That way you will be covered if they find a fix too late for your warranty period. |
#2
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Just thinking out loud here......Could this be the root cause of the "Dakotas always pull to the right" problem? Every single Dakota owner I have ever remembered to ask about it, said theirs pulled to the right. Most everyone has taken theirs into the dealer and was told that the front end was within spec. Maybe the problem is the rear end! I am definately interested in the answer to these questions!
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#3
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I can't say for sure about it going to the right, I don't do alignment work.
I do know that a front end can be "within specs" and still pull. All they need to be is at the extreams of each setting. When I get an alignment done, I make them set it dead center of the specs, with me in the drivers seat. On some of my past cars that I used for autoX racing, I had them go outside of spec's. I will be keeping everyone in "the loop". Later, Jeff C. ------------------ "There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor" -David Freiburger 00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come... |
#4
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Don't know if this has anything to do with the axle being offset to the right, but have you ever noticed the engine is offset in the same direction (passenger side) as well? My dakota is as neutral steering as a car/truck can be. Never had any problems with the handling or unusual tire wear and mine does have a slight axle offset.
------------------ 98 5.2L 5 speed, 3.92SG Hurst stick, MP R.Rockers MPI/M1 manifold,Ported TB, Flex dual electric fans, MP 7.5 mm plug wires, Accel coil, 3923 autolites, ARE tonneau, Lowered 2/3 by Western Chassis, 20 mpg hwy. |
#5
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thanks for the update and info mopar maniac. i don't how to feel now. i was hoping for the answer'' thats the way we designed it" but oh well i guess at this point all we can hope for is a simple fix but i doubt that either. i will have dealer doc problem as u suggested. did rep happen to say if this problem would damage any other componets if left unfixed? thanks again and keep the updates coming.
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#6
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ANY FURTHER DETAILS ON THE OFFSET AXLE PROBLEM.....?
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#7
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Nope...
No updates yet. The rep didn't say it was causing any problems, except of course that one tire sticks out further than the other. There is no reason to believe that it will cause any problems what so ever. Later, Jeff C. ------------------ "There's no such thing as too much cam, just not enough motor" -David Freiburger 00 Dakota RC 2wd, IB 4.7 V8 5spd. 3.55's. Decal free, 255/60-15 Firestone's, loud pipe's, homemade intake and traction bars, removed overloads, and more to come... |
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