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Kyle
Dodge Dakota
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10/28/2003
00:18:30
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 Subject: Ball Joints on CBS
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Feds Eye Dodge Durango Problems
KENNESAW, Ga., Oct. 27, 2003
2000 Dodge Durango (Photo: AP)
NHTSA investigators say the upper ball joint complaints on Durango far outnumber any other SUV on the road.
(CBS) With its sleek and sporty design, the Dodge Durango is one of the most popular SUV's on the road. John Pealor bought one for his wife. It seemed to drive just fine, but, as Mika Brzezinski then the noise started.
"It was a squeak," Pealor says. "Hit a little bump -- WEEK, WEEK! You turn the wheel, same thing."
Not one to take chances, Pealor had his mechanic check it out.
Turns out the 1-year-old car had a worn out upper ball joint - a critical component of the wheel structure. Mechanic Mike Hudgins says, with only 31,000 miles on the vehicle, that's just too soon.
"We very seldom see problems in a ball joint before 100,000 miles," say Hudgins. "It can be dangerous because if you lose control of your tire. ... If that movement got more excessive, you would lose control of your car."
And that's exactly what happened to Monique Conrad.
"It really turned out to be a nightmare," she says.
A news reporter for BET - a Viacom company which also owns CBS - Conrad's 2000 Durango had 31,000 miles on it when she bought it. A few months later the upper ball joints failed. She says she's lucky to be alive.
"My tire along with a piece of metal about a foot long was bouncing across this four-lane road," says Conrad.
Because they were still under warranty, DaimlerChrysler fixed the problem for both Conrad and Pealor. But the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has launched an aggressive investigation of the Durango upper ball joints.
Though there have been no reported injuries or deaths, with 900,000 Durangos on the road, Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, says DaimlerChrysler should issue a recall immediately.
"The question is, 'Did the company know about this? What did they know? What have they done and why didn't they fix it if they had knowledge because it's such a serious defect?'"
NHTSA investigators say the upper ball joint complaints on Durango far outnumber any other SUV on the road:
The Durango received 395 upper ball joint complaints, compared to the Ford Explorer, 12; the Chevy Blazer, 11; and the Grand Cherokee didn't get any.
CBS News went undercover to a Dodge dealership where mechanics say they've actually seen more problems with the Dodge Dakota, which uses the same ball joints.
"Durangos and Dakotas seem liek they are tougher on them (ball joints) than any other vehicles,'' said one mechanic.
"I see it more in the Dakotas believe it or not," says one mechanic. "I have seen a lot of Dakotas with upper ball joints that are worn out."
In response to the NHTSA investigation, DaimlerChrysler states that "...the overwhelming majority (99.7 percent) of customer complaints received regarding these ball joints do not communicate any safety concerns whatsoever..."
The company declined CBS' repeated requests for an interview.
"I just want them to make things right and fix the problem," says Pealor.
But Pealor isn't waiting on the company. He's joined a nationwide class action lawsuit against Chrysler.
© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Pike
Dodge Dakota
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10/28/2003
02:00:09
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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DC has known about this for for 6 years. They replaced the uppers and lowers on my 97 4x4 at 3600 miles!!!!FFS!!!!
And again at 24,000 miles. If DC claims there isn't a problem they're just lying to cover up poor design and defective construction.
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DakotaSuXT
Dodge Dakota
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10/28/2003
03:58:40
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Yeah maybe this is a start, I like my SXT but after replacing the brake rotors, and now this- all within 32,000 mi. Im not so sure Ill buy a Dodge again, the dealerships sure like to avoid that hyped 10/10,000 warranty!! I hope there is a class action.
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GM
Dodge Dakota
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10/28/2003
12:42:20
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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GO TO YAHOO OR GOOGLE AND TYPE IN "DEXCOOL" IF YOU WANT TO DIG UP DIRT ON GM, THEY STILL DON'T OWN UP TO THEIR PROBLEMS
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From Montreal
Dodge Dakota
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10/29/2003
17:26:54
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Has the upper ball joint issue been resolved in the 2003 & 2004 models? I was thinking of buying a Dakota Quad Cab in the spring. I currently own a Ram 1500 4x4 which I'm planning to sell for a smaller Dakota... The Ram is nice, but I need a 4 door.
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What
Dodge Dakota
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10/29/2003
17:35:04
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Are you kidding? Of course not. That would mean they would be admitting a mistake!
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Hukabu
Dodge Dakota
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1/20/2004
23:50:57
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Where do we go to enlist on the class action suit?
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Dodgerules
Dodge Dakota
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1/22/2004
14:19:20
|  RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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HAHA. I would sue the banks for giving you dummies loans to buy a dodge.
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slappychev
Dodge Dakota
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1/22/2004
19:01:00
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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what dodgerules said. sma goes for those slappy slappy chebbys. who would buy a truck with a motor that sounds like rain hitting the roof of the out house.
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Hukabu
Dodge Dakota
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1/22/2004
21:52:10
|  RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Didn't need a loan.....still open question, is there a legal firm implementing the class action suit?
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W Baehser
Dodge Dakota
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1/28/2004
16:08:21
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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2002 Dodge Dakota Sport Quadcab
Front wheel came off interested
in law suit info
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kerrie
Dodge Dakota
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2/28/2004
08:30:29
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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At 21000 miles my Dakota Quad Cab 2002 failed inspection for a bad ball joint. I took it to the dealer, all four need to be replaced, with the same defective product. Daimler Chrysler was no help- you can use another brand but it will void your warranty. No one would admit anything and the service manager at the dealership HAD NO IDEA THERE IS A PROBLEM and that a ball joint going at 21000 miles is rare, how about all four? I'm also interested in a class action suit. I prefer not to be a statistic along with my two small children. Wake up Daimler Chryler!!
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JES
Dodge Dakota
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2/29/2004
18:45:56
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Using another brand will NOT void your warranty. Do a search for the Magnusson-Moss Act. Some of the other brands actually have a better-than-factory warranty on the balljoint itself. I'm gonna go that route. Just cuz I don't want to go thru the hassle of putting all the aftermarket parts on an F-150 that I've already got on my DAK. :o)
Eric -- http://photos.yahoo.com/jes_96
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Dragon
Dodge Dakota
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3/01/2004
10:19:34
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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But, wasn't there a post here not too long ago about Chrysler forcing Moog to stop selling the replacements for the 2000+ Daks?
What other, decent, aftermarktet Ball joints are there?
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JES
Dodge Dakota
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3/01/2004
10:27:28
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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I didn't hear that about DMX and Moog ... nor do I believe it. Not to mention the 99 bj's are the same.
Eric
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Kevin
Dodge Dakota
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3/09/2004
06:09:13
|  RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Go to www.rockauto.com and order the Moogs for the 2000+ Dakotas. They have them in stock now. I just ordered mine. The uppers are still intermittently in and out of stock, but they are sending me my lowers from the rockauto.com warehouse and the uppers are coming straight from the Moog warehouse in Los Angeles. It's a pleasure dealing with rockauto.com. Give it a try.
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Todd
Dodge Dakota
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3/10/2004
18:10:09
|  RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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I own a 2001 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, and have been in regular contact with NHTSA on this issue. The lead investigator on the ball joint investigation is 'peter.kivett@nhtsa.dot.gov'& the investigation is Engineering Analysis EA03-023. Send him an email and help us all get this issue resolved once and for all!
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ricardcapecod
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
20:35:37
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Right now, my 2000 4.7 5 sp manual, 3.92 lsd rear, with 77700 miles, is at the dealer for a correction on a HO cam shaft installation that is off time (too advanced), causing it to ping under load even with sunoco 94 and octane booster. Also, they are instaling a brand new gear box after an unsuccessfull atempt to fix it back in january, when they also replaced the entire differential for vibration and noise on box, and noise on the diff.
BALL JUNKS:
At 14000 miles, dealer replaced upper and lower control arms and ball junks on both sides, Right side really bad. At 60000 miles, july 2003, dealer replaced again everything on the right side, plus an outter tyerod at same side. At that time, i tried to show them how bad the left side was, but we could not duplicate clearly the simptoms of a bad ball joints.
Back in january, i complained again about the loose suspention and they replaced the left outter tye rod wich did not help. The wird thing is that since july of 03, i drove 17000 miles, and the right side suspention is already worst then the left, and they(dealer service department) still can not duplicate the problem. I`ll get the truck back tomorrow, hopefully, fixed.
All these, was covered by the service contractors, (extended warranty) and i think i`m a lucky guy for having all these problems just before the 75000 miles warranty expires.
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ricardcapecod
Dodge Dakota
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3/16/2004
20:36:08
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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Right now, my 2000 4.7 5 sp manual, 3.92 lsd rear, with 77700 miles, is at the dealer for a correction on a HO cam shaft installation that is off time (too advanced), causing it to ping under load even with sunoco 94 and octane booster. Also, they are instaling a brand new gear box after an unsuccessfull atempt to fix it back in january, when they also replaced the entire differential for vibration and noise on box, and noise on the diff.
BALL JUNKS:
At 14000 miles, dealer replaced upper and lower control arms and ball junks on both sides, Right side really bad. At 60000 miles, july 2003, dealer replaced again everything on the right side, plus an outter tyerod at same side. At that time, i tried to show them how bad the left side was, but we could not duplicate clearly the simptoms of a bad ball joints.
Back in january, i complained again about the loose suspention and they replaced the left outter tye rod wich did not help. The wird thing is that since july of 03, i drove 17000 miles, and the right side suspention is already worst then the left, and they(dealer service department) still can not duplicate the problem. I`ll get the truck back tomorrow, hopefully, fixed.
All these, was covered by the service contractors, (extended warranty) and i think i`m a lucky guy for having all these problems just before the 75000 miles warranty expires.
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snout
Dodge Dakota
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3/20/2004
00:59:40
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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I have a 2000QC 4.7 Liter. I just had the new ball joints installed by the dealership. They were on back order for two weeks. The entire job only cost about $220 w/ an alignment. But my warranty is up and I want to be reimbursed for a part that DC knows is crap. The mechanic has a 2004 with the same problem @ 15K. They need to recall this!
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JES
Dodge Dakota
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3/20/2004
13:41:52
| RE: Ball Joints on CBS
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snout -- did you enter a ticket on www.nhtsa.org ? ... if not, please do .. it's the only way we're gonna get anything done.
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