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Box Steering VS Rack and Pinion

7K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  cooter 
#1 ·
not a truck guy by any means, i actually work on imports full time at a local dealership. I've had a few dakotas over the years because I've found them easy to fix and easy to keep up, my current semi-daily winter truck is a '00 3.9 4x4 A/T. It has rack and pinion steering. Its a great truck but not enough power to tow my car trailer. I dont want a full size because i dont want to deal with having to replace front end parts constantly. Used to have a 99 R/T. Dont remember what that had.

I recently bought a 97 truck, 5.2/4x4/5 Speed. it was a rust free FL truck and I know that option combo is pretty rare. upon driving it home i noticed some slop in the steering (needs an intermediate shaft)...when i got home i found the truck has a totally different front suspention than my '00.

my questions is- What years had the steering box/pitman/idler style steering and what years had rack and pinion ?

I sold the 5 speed dakota already and plan on looking at an orange '01 5-speed 4.7 quad cab SLT later in the week, however if it has box steering im going to have to pass, as the rack steering is what drew me to dakotas in the first place.
 
#5 ·
Through about 1991 - and I bet up to about 2000, the 4x4 was steering box
The 2000 is rack and pinion. It was the first year.

I think selling the 97 in favour of a 00 just because it has a steering box is a little drastic. Personally I would have prefered the older truck just to stay away from the 4.7
There's nothing wrong with the 4.7 but that's another thread:

http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3800002#post3800002
 
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