I WAS JUST TOLD BY A NEIGHBOR THAT "HE HEARD" THAT THE 1ST GEN. DURANGO'S MAY HAVE THEIR FRON END'S FALL OFF B/C THERE AREN'T GREASE JOINTS OR SOMETHING...I THINK THE GUY JUST WANTS TO SELL ME A NEW CAR (WORKS FOR A GM DEALER)...WHAT IS TRUTH/FICTION?? I LOVE MY 1999 DURANGO!!

 

I too have heard this. I loved my Durango also, till everything started going wrong with it. Have you had any problems with yours? My ball joints are bad, this is a big problem with Durangos from what I have heard. Maybe this is what causes the front end problems. Mine were bad at 57,000 miles, not going to put Dodge parts back on it, they are junk. I have heard stories of the front end falling apart as you are driving down the road, accident waiting to happen, if this is true.

 

sorry

not a rumor.... front ball joints are junk. the front end of the truck won't "fall off" but the suspension can come apart, almost as bad.....
Costs $750 -1000 to replace with good aftermarket parts. Old ones are rivited in and rivits need to be ground out.
The all go bad, especially if you had bad front tires and drove with a shimmy for any amount of time.

 

Or bring it to me, I'll do it for half that price. I haven't seen any fall apart yet, lots with worn out ball joints but don't have any direct knowledge of any accidents because of it yet.

 

If front ends do end up coming off, we would definitely hear alot of BIG lawsuits against Chrysler for this.

 

not the whole front end falls off, just one wheel... pulling to one side...good times.. and there are lawsuits against dodge for it, class action suits involving the transmissions too. do some searches on it, pretty scary stories out there. i bought my 2000 durango very cheap( wholesaler friend) so i am not too concerned on dollar amounts on what doge can not repair themselves... currentlly i am putting cash aside for an entire "mild" lift kit from fabtech and transmission repairs. kit is for a 3' lift , off road shocks, new control arms and of course new ball joints..as dodges are ball(less) , the fabtech ones actually fit and the control arms movements do not strain the ball joints. the kit is roughlly 700 with the rear lift to make the ride height even, on 2wd models i think it's a 2" rear lift...which really isn't that high considering how low the 2wd's are. basically makes it sit as high as 4wd model..the transmission will be rebuilt..not by dodge with very few dodge parts in it, besides the actuall gears...bands and tourque converter will be race quality.. not that i'm building an 800h.p. durango...i just love the look and interior room of the durango and of course the v8...so for about 2K$ i'll fix what dodge couldn't and still have only 5k in it for reliability purposes.....little trick i saw...if your check engine light is on do not buy a pcm reader...place your ignition in off postion and turn to on position(do not start) 3 times on the 3rd time hold it, the codes will come up beging with "p" when it is done it will say "p done" in the digital odometer

 

Let's get one thing straight here if one ball joint fails the front end of the car is not going to fall off. Also for one side's wheel to fall off you would have to have the upper ball joint break, the lower ball joint break, the tie rod end break, and then break the CV joint for a wheel to fall off. I've done plenty of offroading with bad ball joints on my 98 D and never has this happend. In my own opinion its impossible for this to happen and the rummor probably started with some GM reject salesperson. If someone would just look at this part of the car for 10 minutes it would be pretty obvious that this is just a bad rumor.

Also the uppers are rivets and the lowers are pressed in. The ball joints aren't that bad of a weekend task, to do the uppers and lowers parts cost 200 bucks at most, then a press kit ranges from 50-100 bucks. 8-12 hours of time and the project is done.

 

When im making a turn, it sounds like my tires are rubbing or something popping, or sometimes both. Thats when I know its a good day...LOL Would this noise have anything to do with some of the stuff everyone is talking about? I did get a recall notice on mine, but dont remember what is was for. I had a 2000 SLT and got rid of it when it was going in the shop for the 5th time in a year. I traded it in for a 2001 R/T. They took money off the trade in value because of some problem similar to the one im having now. About 6 months after I got the R/T, I found out about the class action suit, which will pay anyone money who lost money on a trade in. Now just to find them damn papers....

 

heR/Truck

I have a 2001 R/T also and it sounds like the same exact problem that I am having, I took it to the dealer and they say nothing is wrong, I can even make it do it and they say they hear nothing...

 

I have a '99 with 129+K miles, and I'm on my third set of ball joints. The front ends won't 'fall apart', but there have been a couple people who crashed because they drove them until they completely failed and seperated. You have to be pretty automotive ignorant to not see some hints of problems to drive it until that happens, though. Someone makes an aftermarket design that has grease fittings- I can't remember who, but I will research it before I put in set #4!