Have not posted in this forum in a while! But always love coming back!

Love my 02 Rango SXT 2wd with the 4.7...had it since new...in late 2012 had the stealership rebuild the front end...I'm talking all four ball joints, control arms and bushings...new shocks etc...I paid thousands of dollars. Well fast forward till today, go to get my front end aligned at the tire place I bought my tires from.

Turns out, they cannot do it, they can set the toe, but not the Camber/caster. The right front passenger tire is leaning in a fair amount, you can see it just by looking at the front of the truck. But they said they do not have the tools there to adjust the caster, but the stealership would. Also, they tell me the lower front passenger ball joint has some slight play in it, meaning eventually sooner than later it's on its way out!

All this after a little over 2 years after the stealership rebuilt the entire front end! When I am driving too, it pulls noticeably to the left...I literally have to hold the steering wheel more to the right just to keep the truck tracking straight when going down the road.

Plan on taking it to the stealership, hoping maybe they will work with me on this after I show the paperwork I still have from when they rebuilt the front end. I have lost count on how many times I have had to replace wheel hub assemblies too since I have owned this truck. I know the 1st generation Rango's and Dakota's were known for front end problems but this is too much. Sorry for the long post but I wanted your guy's opinions!

 

You need to find a better shop then. If the 03 has a similar setup to my 99, the camber is adjusted via the bolts that hold the control arm to the frame. The holes for them are slotted.

 

that_guy <--- 4X4 and 2wd have entirely different front end setup.


Tshane72 <--- You obviously need to find a different shop to do your alignment, they obviously don't know what they're doing!!! Ball joints, well doesn't surprise me OEM didn't last you long, might want to upgrade to Moog or various better grade joints.



From the service manual:


travel is limited by the shock absorber.

 

I knew the front ends were different (coil vs torison bars), but just didn't know if the upper control arms on 2wds were mounted to slots for adjustment too.

 

Yea they're a different animal, course I've never had to work on a 2wd Durango front end, but I knew for a fact they had adjustments.

 

Ok, thanks guys. Yeah the guy told me something about the exhaust manifold in the way and stuff...that they did not have the correct tools. I am just gonna take it to the stealership Monday and let them do it then...and I'll get a second opinion on if that ball joint is fine for awhile still or to go ahead and replace it.

Would it be a big job though to do that caster/camber adjustment as far as labor goes? Thinking they would try to charge me out the ***...or can any regular tire/alignment place do that as part of a normal front end alignment?

 

Yes that would be a normal adjustment done during the alignment, should be around $100 or less unless there are parts that need to be replaced.