I have read in another post that people are havi ng trouble with thier ball joints on 05 daks, my ball joints "pop" wh ile turning sharp and aloswly....ex. drive thru at mcdonalds. is this something that has a recall on it or falls under warrenty still? how quickly should i get this taken care of? Any insight would be very much appreciated!

 

Well. I wouldnt be suprised if premature ball joint failure was a reality with this truck. I assume you have an 05 dakota?

Dodge has had premature balljoint failure problemsin the front end of its Dakotas and durangos for quite some time now. There have been thousands upon thousands of low mileage ball joint claims for these vehicles. CBS actually investigated the dakota and durango's ball joint problem in models from 1998 to 2003. Most of the ball joint failures occured before the 36,000 miles waranty was up. That's insane. You would normally expect ball joint wear issues at around the 100,000 mile mark, but never at 30k-40k miles.

The verdict of the whole investigation pointed to poor design and build quality. I think alot of 2nd gen guys actually replaced there ball joints with moog brand ball joints, which are greasable and address this issue.

I dont think anyone on the forum has had to replace ball joints on a 3rd gen yet (05-08) Thats the good news.

 

Seems li ke I read a post by superdak who said something along the lines of him replacing his, had the dealer do it b/c they were popping when he turned. Was just curious, I have only 30,000 on my 05 now, and if they are going to replace them for free due to a recall I want do go ahead and have it looked at.

 

You might be right, I could have missed it. Myabe he did have them replaced.

Given the history if the dealership is worth anything they should replace them.

 

this is true, my 05 dak had the ball joint trouble. what happens is the ball joints are riveted into place. when they break free from the rivets, they move around in the control arms causing terrible wear. you need to get this replace quickly. even if you are out of warrenty they still fix it. i had both sides done along with the steering rack. i cant find the paper work for the work done but i will still look for it, to see exactly what was done. but you need to get it replaced. these ball joints have no grease fitting. no nothing, they are a sealed unit, which just sucks.

 

So in other words if my warranty is out of date they will replace them as a recall?

 

they will replace what ever is worn out or broke at there cost. this has been an ongoing problem for dodge

 

Does moog have an improved design over the stock ones for the 3rd gens yet? Maybe one with a grease fitting that bolts in.

 

Dodge wont pay squat for lower ball joints out of warranty, Mine went bad at 41000 miles and Dodge would not cover them. It took 2 weeks to get new ones due to them being back ordered and it was on my dime! I installed them cause Dodge wanted 500+ to do the job.

No aftermarket parts could be found Just like the back brake shoes, tie rod ends...

 

So is there anyway to prevent an issue? I know that superdak's issue is a little different, because most of the reported ball joint failues are not do to the rivets breaking free, but because of insufficient lubircation. Can we lube the ball joints with a pin adapter? Puncture the boot by inserting the pin, pressing fresh grease into the fitting, then sealing the tiny hole with a dab of auto silicon?

I read through some second gen issues with ball joints, and it seems like alot of guys took there worn out ball joint, tore the boot off to inspect, and had a dry ball joint, that was worn big time.

I'm at 30,000 miles now and just had an alignment last month, and was told everything was tight. I wonder if the ball joints are any better then the second gen?