2002 Dodge Dakota Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year report front-end noise and looseness most often — clunking or popping over bumps that is traced to worn upper and lower ball joints and tie rods — along with repeated front brake work for vibration, pulling and stuck calipers. Many complaints come in well under 50,000 miles, and the brake reports often describe the vibration or drag returning after rotors or calipers have already been replaced.

1. 1
   Suspension

   Worn front ball joints (clunking/popping)

   • 178 complaints (26%)
   • median 34,750 mi at 2.5 yrs old (136 state mileage)
   • 2 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $600 (median of 12 quotes)
   • filed 2003–2013

   Complaints describe a clunk, pop or crunch from the front end when hitting bumps, turning, entering a driveway or braking, sometimes with vague steering or uneven tire wear. Many say the ball joints were found worn or replaced at low mileage, and several owners of two-wheel-drive trucks note the ball-joint campaign covered four-wheel-drive vehicles. Dealers are described as replacing joints under warranty in some cases and telling owners in others that play was within specification. Reported from a few thousand miles up to about 125,000, with most complaints between roughly 17,000 and 60,000 miles.

   Recall 04V5960001 related service bulletin

   What to check: On a test drive, listen for a single sharp clunk or pop from the front over speed bumps and driveways, and have a shop check upper and lower ball joints for play. Also ask whether the ball-joint warranty extension or the campaign on four-wheel-drive trucks was ever applied.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I took my 2002 Dodge Dakota to get state inspection and was told the left upper ball joint was worn out. Only has 35000 miles on it. I went to dealer to have it repaired on dec 29 2003 and was told the ball joints are on back order until jan 14 2004 and was told I may not be one of the luck ones to get it even then. My truck has been sitting since dec 31 2003 because of the inspection has exp.”

   NHTSA complaint #10052672, filed 2004-01, 35,500 miles

   “This is in regards to my 2002 Dodge Dakota quad cab 4x4. I began noticing popping noise coming from the front right side wheel at approximately 20,000 miles. I took it into the dealer who claimed nothing was wrong. 6,000 miles later it was getting worse so I took it back to the dealer. Sure enough I had a bad upper ball joint, which they replaced under warrenty. I now have 40,000 miles on this truck and the right side is making the popping noise. I wish Dodge would make a recall a fix the problem for good. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10096293, filed 2004-10, 34,000 miles
2. 2
   Brakes

   Front brake vibration, pulsation and stuck calipers

   • 224 complaints (33%)
   • median 34,000 mi at 3.2 yrs old (187 state mileage)
   • 26 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $526 (median of 13 quotes)
   • filed 2001–2025

   Owners describe front-end shimmy or pulsation while braking, sometimes a pull to one side, and dealers reporting warped or pitted rotors needing replacement or resurfacing. Others report a caliper that does not release, producing heat, smoke or a burning smell from a wheel, and some say the vibration came back after rotors or calipers were already replaced. Several mention pad and rotor work at low mileage with coverage declined on a time-based warranty limit. Mostly between about 15,000 and 60,000 miles; some caliper-drag and repeat-rotor reports appear at 50,000 to 110,000 miles.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Brake firmly from highway speed on the test drive and feel for pulsation or pulling, then after a short drive check each front wheel for unusual heat or a brake smell. Ask for service records showing whether rotors, pads or calipers were replaced and at what mileage.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Brake problems which I believe are related to ABS system on 2002 Dodge Dakota quad cab with factory installed towing package. I am running the third set of disc brake rotors on the front and second set of drums on the rear with just over 97,000 original miles on this truck. I bought the vehicle new and there have been no accidents or damage to this vehicle.”

   NHTSA complaint #10206462, filed 2007-10, 25,000 miles

   “My truck only has 60k miles, don't drive a whole bunch, bought it brand new in 2002. 2 times I have had the front passenger wheel and breaks catch on fire due to the brakes/caliper locking up. One incident was only going about 25 MPH, the other incident on highway around 55 MPH. Between towing and replacing brakes, rotors, caliper, brake lines, around $500-$750 each time. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10618271, filed 2014-08, 10,000 miles
3. 3
   Electrical system

   Lighting and wiper faults traced to control module

   • 66 complaints (10%)
   • median 69,000 mi at 5.2 yrs old (51 state mileage)
   • 5 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2002–2019

   Complaints describe headlights flickering and shutting off, dash and interior lights and power door locks quitting, and wipers or the horn operating on their own or failing altogether. Owners point to the module that controls these functions, and several note their symptoms resemble a wiring-harness recall that applied only to manual-transmission trucks. Some say the dealer declined to treat the failure as recall-related. Reported from about 34,000 to 69,000 miles, typically after several years of use.

   Recall 03V3890002 related service bulletins

   What to check: Check that headlights, dash lights, wipers, horn and power locks all work, and test the wipers and lights with the engine running and the wheel turned. Ask whether any harness or module repairs were done and whether the truck is a manual, since the wiring-harness campaign covered manual-transmission trucks.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “The module controlling my 2002 Dodge Dakota's headlight's, windshield wipers, interiot lights failed. Symptoms are shockingly close to those of the recall (I do have a manual transmission). Headlights failed, brights failed, wipers failed. Only turn signals horn and caution lights remain. Dealer refuses to admit it is related to recall. Symptoms are the same! What do I do about this!?”

   NHTSA complaint #10096032, filed 2004-10, 69,000 miles

   “On my 2002 Dodge Dakota the headlights stopped working at night by flickering a lot then just shutting off all the way. The following days random things would start going off like windshield wipers going off, horn honking, and sometimes the lights would not shut off at all. Further investigation lead me to the central timer module (ctm) failing possibly due to the same defect that lead to a 2003 recall. Why not 2002? …”

   NHTSA complaint #10250805, filed 2008-12, 64,000 miles

Buying note. Have a shop inspect the front suspension joints and tie rods and check the brakes before buying, since these two areas account for most of what owners report and often recur. Also verify that lights, wipers, the blower fan and the transmission all behave correctly on a longer test drive.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.