Not T-Bird related - Dodge Dakota axle

October 27, 2005, 08:15:44 AM

It's not really even a tech question or anything, more of a statement. I just relplaced the left front drive axle in my '88 Dakota 4X4 (getting it ready for deer season, which starts tomorrow) and I can't believe how easy the job was! I've replaced plenty of FWD axles before, and all have required disconnecting the ball joint and moving the spindle out of the way. The Dakota required no disassembly of anything other than to unbolt the axle, pull it out, put the new one in, tighten up the bolts, and done. I didn't even have to jack the truck up! It took like 15 minutes!

And the best part is the axle was fairly cheap - $120 CDN for the complete thing. The outer CV joint on mine was (very) bad. I first priced up an outer joint and it was $300. I almost fainted and then decided to check the price on the whole axle - it was only $120! Doesn't make sense to me...

I'm almost scared of how easy it was - now I'm expecting the engine to fall out as punishment for getting away with it so easily...