Chrysler has issued a recall of 278,222 light trucks and sport utility vehicles here in the United States. The reason: bad rear axles. Specifically, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the rear axle pinion nut may lack a necessary adhesive patch, which could cause the nut to loosen. If this happens, the axle can lock up, which could cause all sorts of havoc on the road. This is an expansion of the rear axle recall announced in October of last year, where 44,300 Ram 1500 and Dodge Dakota models were being called in. At that time, 12 accidents had been ... Read More

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Report: Chrysler developing TR Ram Life Style Truck to compete with Honda Ridgeline 1305743340

Does the world need a competitor to the Honda Ridgeline? While sales figures of Honda's half-truck would lead us to believe consumers aren't clamoring for such a vehicle (Honda only sold 16,142 Ridgelines in all of 2010, barely more than the 13,047 Dakotas that Dodge moved), recent reports indicate that Chrysler seems to think otherwise. We've known for ...
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Report: Chrysler considering new name for Ram trucks [UPDATE] 1289343660

Chrysler is apparently still trying to iron out some of the kinks in its new pickup naming structure. The company recently decided to separate its popular line of pickups from the rest of the Dodge fleet by putting them under the Ram banner. The only problem is not every vehicle in the Pentastar pickup family has a history of boasting a billy goat on the ...
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Report: Ram still considering small unibody pickup 1269277140

Chrysler is dropping more hints about an upcoming unibody pickup that would be positioned below the Dodge Dakota. You may recall that first word of the new small truck came back in November when Fred Diaz, CEO of Chrysler's newly-created Ram brand, dropped tidbits about the company "considering" a Dakota replacement. We speculated that it could be built ...
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Autoblog Podcast #156 1260308400

Editor Chris Paukert has apparently been bitten by the podcasting bug, and he once again joins Shunk and Roth for Episode #156 of the Autoblog Podcast. We dive right in to reminiscence about the recently finished Los Angeles Auto Show. Moving on from there, we talk about Audi's new A7 Sportback and its extreme gorgeousness, as well as the new A8 and all ...
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2008 Dodge Dakota priced from $20,080 1184018820

When the 2008 Dodge Dakota was unveiled in Chicago, we weren't sure what to think of the styling, but it was nice to see that Dodge's midsize pickup finally got serious with the V8 powerplant again. A 302-hp engine is great for speed and hauling, but a value price is what's going to move the Dakota off lots, and Dodge has announced pricing that has ...
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Chicago Preview: Dodge facelifts the Dakota for 2008 1170626520

The Dodge Dakota used to be a strong-seller in the mid-size pickup truck segment. It could even be argued that the first generation Dakota invented the mid-sized truck segment when it was introduced in the mid-'80s, being significantly larger than the Chevy S-10, Ford Ranger and other compact trucks of the time. But in recent years, particularly since the ...
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NHTSA investigating 1.16 million Chrysler vehicles 1142344800

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Monday that it has authorized an engineering analysis of possible defects in 1.16 million minivans, SUVs and trucks from the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler. Targets of the investigation include front airbag crash sensors in 2005 and 2006 model-year Dodge Caravan, Dodge Grand Caravan ...