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Stang
Dodge Dakota
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5/03/2005
23:08:26
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 Subject: Are my ball joints bad?
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Message:
'00 Dakota 4.7l everything stock, 88k miles, (100% dealer serviced). I have the letter from Chrysler stating my vehicle IS included in the program and will be covered. I think the dealer is trying to get out of doing the work.
I have a popping and clunking noise from the front end on low speed turns, and going over parking lot edges and speed bumps. The noise also happems on sharp turns or turning from one extreme to the other (left to right), at low speeds.
For the last year I've been telling my service center that I have popping/clunking noises from the front end. Each time I told them they would say one of the following:
1) That's normal
2) It's the cold, or changes in the weather
3) It's your brake pads
Well, once hte recall notice came out, I went back and asked to have them inspected, they STILL gave me the same BS excuses. I called Chrysler, and they told me to go back and ask the dealer to inspect them and call back to let Chrysler know the results.
Well, the delaer inspected and road tested teh truck. They acknowledged there is a noise, then inspected and said they can't find anything wrong !!! Supposedly they used and needle to spray some lube into the ball joint and told me to drive around on it for a few hours. Well, as I left the dealer the noise was gone. I called Chrysler and told them what happened. The apparently called the dealer, and then the dealer called me and started bitchin' me out for complaining to Chrysler !!! Guess they don't want to loose thier precious 5 star rating. They offered to "look" at it again, but I had to drop it off for the day, without a loaner car or courtesy vehicle to use. What BS....
Should I go back to the same dealer, go to another dealer, and then demand that the ball joint be replaced and not leave until it's either done or call chrysler and keep complaining?
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Stang
Dodge Dakota
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5/03/2005
23:10:13
|  RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Addemdum to message:
I forgot to add that later that same day, the noise returned and has not gotten any better.
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DanK
Dodge Dakota
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5/03/2005
23:28:35
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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"I think the dealer is trying to get out of doing the work."
You hit that nail squarely on the head, Stang.
And now the dealership is pissed at you, and offered to "look at it again" only after your calls to Chrysler put their 5 star rating in jeopardy.
Your ball joints need to be checked, and possibly replaced, but go find another dealership.
You can do us all a service by giving the name and location of that dealership, so the rest of us will stay away from it, too.
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Stang
Dodge Dakota
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5/04/2005
11:20:06
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Dank - Thanks for the info. I'm going to look for another dealer.
Tilley-Lane Chrysler Plymouth-Dodge-Jeep
Located in Lenoir City, TN
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John K
Dodge Dakota
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5/04/2005
11:34:07
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Why do I get the feeling that dealership service dept's are THE definition of 'conflict of interest'
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Stang
Dodge Dakota
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5/07/2005
21:04:23
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Message:
Well, stopped at another dealer today, then inspected and found that the ball joint boot was torn and the joints were worn by .063.
They replaced them and everything feels awesome and rides perfectly now.
I'm calling Chrysler on monday and ripping hte first dealer to shreds on thier service, or lack there of...
I hope they loose thier 5-Star rating for this...
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DanK
Dodge Dakota
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5/09/2005
02:31:23
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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That's good news.
So yeah, the first dealer was trying to get out of doing the work. They should have seen the torn boot(s). Maybe the service tech uses a white cane.
You can bet, though, that if you hadn't been in the recall group, and your warranty was expired, they would have jumped all over those ball joints.
It's all about the dollar.
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Dave Mitchell
Dodge Dakota
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5/12/2005
23:29:20
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Unfortunately, I have a two-wheel drive with more than 100,000K miles on it that fall under the recall, but they are not going to do anything about it.
Does the NHTSA really think that bad balljoints are not a hazard on a two wheel drive after there's 100K miles on them?
I'm not buying another Dodge. Bad wheel bearing at 30K, bad manual transmission at 50K, bad fuel pump at 60K, bad power steering pump at 65K. The dealer said there wasn't anything wrong with the power steering pump. The level had dropped in the reservoir, I guess the stuff just evaporates. They said the oily substance on the lines at the rack & pinion was due to oil dripping from the filter during oil chnages.
Nope, no more Dodges for me... I'll just run this one until the ball joints separate...
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99Dakota
Dodge Dakota
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5/22/2005
23:13:19
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Hey i just got a 99Dak and everything has been all messed up. I just took it to the dealer because it was making the same clunking noise when i hit little bumps. They changed the bushing..what ever the hell that did, they said that was the prob but the noise continued. I took it to a friend of my dads whos a machanic and he looked at it said i needed new ball joints and uper and lover bushings on both sides. i just got the bushings fixed but the idiots didnt tighten them enough so there was play so they wernt working correctly. This whole thing ended up costing 900 and were tryn to talk to the dealer but all those dealers are asses.. This truck has been nothing but problems for me i got the crap replaced and now its quiet and a nice ride
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hawkster
Dodge Dakota
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5/26/2005
15:02:21
|  RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Message:
i just had my 2000 RT in for the ball joints they did the ball joints and then called me and said in needed new inner and outer tie rods and new lower ball joints and new front brake rotors for them to do the tie rods and lower ball joints they wanted $1350 i asked them if i could come in to the shop and have them show me why they think they need replacement be cause i am going to school to get my sae certifacation so i know what to look for. need less to say they said no. the reason i asked to come and see these bad parts is i just put slotted and cross drilled rotors on 3 months ago. well it ended up only one tie rod was bad after i checked them my self. so the next day i reported them to dodge.
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99 dakota
Dodge Dakota
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5/27/2005
02:18:57
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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ya those guys are asses.. that sucks these trucks seem to have lot of damn problems and everything to fix on them are really hard, in bad position to work on the ball joints and stuff..what ev
You getting the ball joints fixed for free? couse u should
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99dak
Dodge Dakota
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5/27/2005
02:19:43
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Message:
did u get them for free?
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hawkster
Dodge Dakota
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5/27/2005
14:22:41
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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the ball joints are under the recall so i wasn't going to fix them my self if they are doing it for free.
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Osgood
Dodge Dakota
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5/29/2005
22:49:19
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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So many problems that could be eliminated with adequate quality control.
I own a Tacoma and a Dakota.
Told my wife that if I ever even THINK about buying another Chrysler product, she should kick me hard right in the nuts.
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ernie
Dodge Dakota
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5/30/2005
22:58:21
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Osgood - consider yourself kicked. We went looking at auto dealers this weekend to replace the poorly done, with cheap parts, our 2000 Dodge Dakota with something that met our needs.
Well the salesmen were all jerks. They steered us to what they wanted to sell, not what we needed, or wanted. If you haven't done so then please check out the other listings on this website and see why we won't buy a Dodge again.
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Levi
Dodge Dakota
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6/05/2005
01:38:25
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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I live in Fort Worth Texas and went to Long Horn Dodge to have my ball joints looked at. Expecting the worse. Man did i get the royal treatment, loaner car (which i didn't need) excellent service the whole nine yards! I couldn't beleive it. The service rep told me he wasn't sure if they were bad or not so they just replaced them. I about passed out! I looked at then right away and yup, new ball joints. So if u live in FTW try these guys. I would definately go back.
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waylon
Dodge Dakota
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7/27/2005
06:19:21
| RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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i have a 97 dak and i took mine in for the noise and they couldnt find it ....i changed my oil a week later and noticed the rack leaking they wanted me to pay 60 more for them to peplace it after i just paied 60 to have then look at it. they replaced it and charged me for a alinement. isnt that part of replaceing the rack? the popping still continues. im going to change everything in my frount end soon ....anyone know where to get a frount end kit everything but the rack...i need the ....uper + lower control arem bushings ball joints and i dont know if they replaced the tie rod ends and i also got to get stablizer links ...anything else i missed???
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Ron
Dodge Dakota
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7/27/2005
17:45:00
|  RE: Are my ball joints bad?
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Message:
I had the upper joints replace on the recall, but now the front suspension squeaks. Are the lowers subject to the same problem as the uppers? My dakota is 4X4,quad cab, 4.7
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