Thanks for the post Jim.I new the Dakota and Durango were having ball joint problems though I was just surprised to find out that my Ram was having the same problem,so I guess add the Ram to the list of MANY daimler chrysler trucks with ball joint problems...Dakota,Durango,liberty,Ram,for craps sake why are their sooo many ball joint problems??!!!??It's not like Dodge just started making cars yesterday, shouldn't they know how to make a ball joint by now?And if they send it out to be made for them shouldn't they recognize if the product their buying is crap?Anyway I have NEW ball joints on my 2003 Ram now,hopefully these new ball joints were designed differently so they don't crap out again!!By the way,not sure if it means anything but I thought it might be worth mentioning....When I had the new ball joints installed at the Dealer they wrote "replaced left and right upper control arm on the repair receipt,when I asked why they didnt write "ball joints" they told me they replaced the upper control arms and the upper control arms came with ball joints so it was all included in thesame job.Maybe I'm being paranoid but I just thought it was weird that he didnt write "ball joints"it made me think he didn't want me to have proof that my ball joints failed at 14,000 on a new model Dodge that's not under fire by nhtsa or the news yet.So far all the complaints have been on the Durango,Dakota,andLiberty,not the Ram.Maybe it's just me being paranoid ,but,like I said,Thank God I bought the extended warranty!!!!

 

I just had my '02 in to have the entire power steering unit replaced with 18K. I too bought the extended warranty, but frankly, the hassle is what frustrates me. Getting it to the dealership, waiting for it to be diagnosed, waiting for parts to come in, going back to the dealership, not having a mode of transportation during this time (except the dealership will rent me a car for $33 a day-what a rip!). My time is money, it's about time Chrysler starts realizing it. I've owned GM and others, never had anything major go wrong with only 18K on those vehicles.

 

Come on guys ,.They build our cars and trucks with parts from the lowest , I mean LOWEST bidder , grease in the ball joints wasnt cost effective . I went to my dealership asked about my tranny hose that was mentioned in the RECALL and they said they never heard of such a thing , and also told me the ball join problem was blown way out of proportion. so a few thousand wheels fall off, thats way below the average to be considered.just remember theres only one line , The Bottom Line !

 

I've heard a lot of bad news about the ball joints. I actually know of one person myself who lost a wheel because of the ball joint. It was enough for me to leave the Dodge family.</P>


Regarding warranties and customer service... been there, done that. When you buy it, they all brag about their customer service, blah blah blah.</P>


My 1st experience was with my Stratus in 1998. I brought it in because there was oil in the coolant, and coolant in the oil. I brought it in on a Saturday and said that I want a rental while they hold it to look at it. They said I should bring it in another day. Then I ended up speaking to a manager, and explained that I have the full warranty and that if they want, I can drive it for a couple weeks, and they can give me a new engine.</P>


Then they agreed to keep it. I asked about my free rental car that was covered with the warranty, and they told me that they did not have any rentals available! I love that. Then I complained some more, and said that I'm not leaving without a rental. Then they called up a used car dealer to see if they had a car to lend me. They drove me a couple miles to the place and dropped me off.The guy therepicked out some cheapo dodge neon that they were trying to sell for 2995, and asked me for billing information. I told them that Dodge is paying that bill, and you can bill them directly.</P>


After this whole story, I wrote Chrysler and the dealer about it and never heard anything.</P>


When you get an extended warranty from Dodge, ask them if they guarrantee that a rental car will be available for you when your vehicle breaks down.</P>

 

I think that problems are more common now days with any manufacturer. Think you have it bad? Ask the guys buying thier $40K plus Superduties, you have a 50/50 chance of it taking a crap right off the dealer's lot. </P>


The Dodge ball joints are a joke! The engineers for Dodge must have been really presured by the bean counters tosave money to design something as bad as the ball joints. I am holding off lifting my truck until I can test some new balljointreplacement setups. </P>


Hang in there, I understand the frustration you feel with a brand new truck needing so much service so soon. All I can do is hope for the best with mine. Good luck! </P>

 

Sorry just catching up on some reading. I noticed a couple things. The first is the ball joint issue. Yes there have been some some reports. I did catch the news. Believe it or not we have not been doing many ball joint repairs. Since the story aired many people have come in for inspections. In the past three month I have processed exactly 1 claim for ball joints on a dodge prouduct. Now rear ends on the other hand. I have been processing aprox. three per day. I have seen them fail as soon as 2,000 miles on up. They seem mostly to be the 9.25 . The thing about it is that they do not seem to be failing in a common way. Everything from ring and pinion to seized axle shafts. No one seems to be excluded. At 12,000 miles my father in-law's ram is patiently awating it's new rear end. Yes it's being done under warranty but he also purchased an extended warranty. Most extended warranties cover rental. The only stipulation is repairs must take over night or veh is not safe to drive. Chrysler has a rental only contract for first day rental only. There is no waiting to find out if you get a car or not. Might be something to check into if you are worried about the inconvience. No matter what veh you own if you think about it it's all personal experience. People everywhere have different opinions. Some where out there is a guy saying he should have bought a chevy truck and a chevy truck owner saying he should have bought a dodge. You can choose your color and model, but that is always going to be your only guarentee. ooooh unless you bought a 90's neon then I take it back cause the color is't even guarenteed </P>