1997 Dodge Dakota Body and structure Problems

“Locked vehicle in four wheel drive high, started going through flat pasture, either brakes locked up or front pumkin turned up and locked front wheels up, lost control and rolled onto driver side.”

“Paint began bubbling about a year ago on the roof of the cab. Since then every single panel on the vehicle(hood, roof, front 1/4 panels, doors, cab body, and rear fenders) all have at least one spot where paint has bubbled and peeled. Some spots as big as a foot in diameter and growing. This is not random. I mean every body part has paint just letting go . This is an obvious case of poor painting procedures and is seen in many other makes and models from Dodge in this same time frame.”

“While driving approximately 5 MPH on a dirt road consumer heard a grinding noise. Consumer stopped the vehicle, and found that the frame had a large crack on the passenger's side. Vehicle was towed to a dealer, who informed consumer that frame must be replaced. On that same day consumer heard a radio report about Dodge dakotas 1995-1996 having a problem with cracked frames. During that report it was mentioned that there was a repair kit that could be obtained at Dodge dealerships to fix the frame. Consumer contacted the dealer and manufacturer, the had no knowledge of this repair kit.”

“Alldata has provided me with informayion on my 1997 Dodge Dakota c/ cab, it shows a general recall with a tba # 727 for paint chipping. I also have information that the same year and factory VIN # has a recall on the same condition of the paint but only for red trucks, mine happens to be green. But the paint on my truck is peeling like a 30 year old house. …”

“I noticed another complaint dated 3/1/2004 as the fail date and an internal use date of 7/6/2005 of this same problem. The paint on the roof of the cab stared peeling off and paint on various other areas of the truck. The bumper was the first to go. I would say this started about after the truck was 4-5 years old. I once had this happen on a two year old nissan truck and nissan repainted the entire truck an said it was defectively painted.”