RE: Problems w/ Ball Joint ,Trans, & Susp.??

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LGifford
Dodge Dakota
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9/15/2003
19:54:28

Subject: RE: Problems w/ Ball Joint ,Trans, & Susp.??
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I've got a V6 99 Dakota with only 30,600 miles on it. Today, going over a speed bump at a rather slow speed, I lost the outter tie rod. I was able to nurse it to a dealer where I was told that the problem was normal wear. Both the inner and outer tie rods, along with the lower ball joints are worn out. Normal wear my butt! $1200 to get it fixed. Pretty frustrated. Never been off road, just highway miles to comute to and from work. I'm gonna call the recall # to lay in a complaint. Was told also to talk to a regional service rep. for your local dealer could get you reimbursed up to 1/2 the cost.

Glenn
Dodge Dakota
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9/15/2003
21:20:52

RE: Problems w/ Ball Joint ,Trans, & Susp.??
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Normal wear is crap. Same thing happened to my 99 v8 4X4 Dakota. They fixed it under warranty. Get your money back. I am in Canada. Lots of problems with my truck. Burning oil now. They told me 1 liter every 2000km normal....BS. My truck in shop 10 times first year from brand new.

pbxr
GenIII

9/16/2003
07:02:00

RE: Problems w/ Ball Joint ,Trans, & Susp.??
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YOu have two options when replacing the ball joints. The first is what a dealer and mechanic will tell you, to replce the whole control arm. BS! The upper and lower ball joints on most newer daks are held on by king size rivets. The second option is to buy the ball joints alone, MOOG is good, and what I have on my dak. It takes a little time to reomve the rivets, a little heat, hammer, adn some brews to keep you cool, and you should be able to replace it in a few hours.
The other dodge myth I notied is the notorious hub bearings. I have a 2wd, and my bearings were going out. Dodge said I had to replace the whole hub assembly, again BS! IF you hube bearing are on their way out, pull your tire off, and remove the hub assembly. Write down the bearing number, should be easily cross referranced at any decent parts house, I personal went to Advance, and order the bearings alone. Once you have the bearings take the hub to a shop with a press, I went to my local NAPA, pay the dude a couple of bucks to press out the old, and instal the new. Just my 2cents on the Designed Dodge Flaws.

'01 Sport Auto 3.9, CC, Style and Perfomance mods: 3923s, Intense Cold Intake, Dynomax SuperTurbo 17748, Wal-Mart special roll on bedliner, MOOG upper and lower ball joints, V8 TB, clear corners, gutt guard, tinted, SuperChips Audio Mods: JVC head, RF 1200watt, 1 pwr acoustic 10",RF in da doors

Glenn
Dodge Dakota
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9/16/2003
10:38:08