Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2006 Dodge Dakota
When steering rack, gear or tie rod failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Dodge Dakota report steering rack, gear or tie rod failure at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles, from 18 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 75,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
39% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,000 miles | 30,000 miles | 43,000 miles | 60,500 miles | 76,500 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $700–$2,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2010, at a median of 25,000 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 90,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 81; the 2006 has 19. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Just last week at 42,000 miles on the truck and I was told that the steering rack needed to be replaced. I replaced the steering rack and the power steering still doesn't seem to be working only occasionally. I am now being told to bring the truck back into the dealership. Honestly, if they would just take this truck back .I don't even want money back for it..just set me free of this truck and loan and I'd be happy. *tr
The vehicle was purchased 12-14-06 and shortly after I began to experience the bouncing and rolling on the front suspension as well as numerous types of rattling noises. Shocks were replaced on 3-14-07 and front sway bar links on 4-24-07. Since then, front sway bar links were replaced again as well as one tie rod end. One sway bar link was replaced in the back of the vehicle and the other is currently needs replaced. The condition has gotten progressively worse and now includes a front end shaking on almost smooth roads as well as the steering wheel moving left and right in my hands when going around turns. This vehicle is a safety issue as I have to virtually hold a death grip on the wheel to keep from loosing control when I hit a bump, dip, strip bump, pavement waves, etc. *tr
The vehicle was purchased 12-14-06 and shortly after I began to experience the bouncing and rolling on the front suspension as well as numerous types of rattling noises. Shocks were replaced on 3-14-07 and front sway bar links on 4-24-07. Since then, front sway bar links were replaced again as well as one tie rod end. One sway bar link was replaced in the back of the vehicle and the other is currently needs replaced. The condition has gotten progressively worse and now includes a front end shaking on almost smooth roads as well as the steering wheel moving left and right in my hands when going around turns. This vehicle is a safety issue as I have to virtually hold a death grip on the wheel to keep from loosing control when I hit a bump, dip, strip bump, pavement waves, etc. *tr
Also reported on the 2006 Dodge Dakota
Airbag inflator rupture
Other powertrain problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other steering problem
Other suspension problem
CV axle or driveshaft failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does steering rack, gear or tie rod failure happen on the 2006 Dodge Dakota?
Across 18 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering rack, gear or tie rod failure on the 2006 Dodge Dakota?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed