When I first bought my 2003 Dodge Ram quad cab 4x4 w/off road package I was ecstatic,now, don't get me wrong iI still LOVE this truck,but I am a little concerned about all the work that it's needed.It's only got 14,000 miles on it,its a year old,and ALREADY I have had the rear replaced!!And I dont EVEN take it off road!!It also needed a new upper control arm,and now it neeedsnew upper ball joints which the dealer had to order and I'm still waiting for!!(It's been 4 days)and their still not in!My girlfriend has a '99 Pontiac Grand Prix w/70,000 milesand that has less problemsthen my brand new Dodge with 14,000 miles!!Did I buy a lemon?...sorry for ranting, just had to get it off my chest !!!By the way , does anyone know why Jeep is recalling the Liberty for bad ball jointsand whyDodge is not?Same company same s**t ball joints right?What's up with that?

 

Your kidding!! No, of course not... the rear end!?! The ball joints don't really surprise me to be honest, and I'd say it's only a matter of time before there is a TSB on the New Ball Joints, if there isn't already. LOL!

Did they say anything about why your rear end went out? THat blows my mind!!

~Amanda

 

They didn't say why or how it went,in fact I didn't even notice ANYTHING wrong.I brought it in to the dealership for it's 15,000 mile service(yeah I was a little early)and they told me that they STRONGLY RECCOMEND a differential fluid change so I said yeah o.k. do it,(I am following the routine maintenance by the book on this truck,I figure routine maintenance in the beginning and my truck will last longer...right?)When I got home they called me and told me that when they went to change the fluid they found chunks of metal and that I needed a new rear ,I told them it drove fine and askedwhy I didn't notice anything, and they told me that if Ikept driving it,in about a week I wouldn't have been able to move,they said"it's under warranty we'll just throw one in"I wa always proud of my truck thinking I bought a STRONG QUALITY truck,now,I'm not so sure,Especially since prior to bringing it in to the dealership I hadn't driven it in roughly 2 months(I broke my leg and couldn't drive)so how did the rear go?was it parked to long?I mean what the f**k!!Oh well we'll see what happens from this point on,I still like it better then Chevy or Ford.Also one last thing Do you think it is safe to drive my truck with bad ball joints untilthe parts come in and I can get it fixed,I really can't go without a vehicle,I'm just concerned my front wheel might fall off so I drive really slow now,thanks for your help!!

 

This is really some scary stuff. I just bought my first Dodge truck three weeks ago and now you gotme scared. Everything I back up turning to the right it makes a clunk sound that is driving me crazy. If i were you i would still drive the truck. It is under warranty and you need to drive it. I just hope you have Geico or AAA in case you have to be towed. The good thing if something tears up they have to fix it.

 

well my advice is to contact youre dealership and ask them if its safe to drive till the new parts arive.you can jack up one side leaveing the other tire grounded and have a friend shake the tire in and out while you watch the balljoint movement. if it looks like its moveing way too much stay put , if not a few weeks of driving isnt gona waerem out b4 the replacements arive and it probably wouldnt hurt to shoot em with a little grease while its up . The rear end may have had flaws in the billit or the CNC may have been malfintioning durring the turning processs in just a few degrees , it could be a million different things , so let em change it out and see. I wouldnt stress out just yet . remember , humans are makeing the machines that make the parts ,lol gota get a bad egg everynow and again , Goodluck !

 

I just bought my third Dodge truck. My first one was a 97, 5.9. Dakota extended cab. When it had about 15,000 miles on it, the overdrive quit working in the transmission. It was a sensor that had went bad, and was repaired quickly, under warranty. I drove the truck until it had 52,000 miles and never had another minutes trouble with it. I towed a fairly heavy sailboat and also a pop-up camper, many of those miles.</P>


I traded it for an 02, 5.9, Quad Cab Dakota, because we needed the interior room when we went camping. I put 31,000 miles on that one and it never had to go back to the dealer for anything. I would still be driving it if we had not traded our pop-up camper for a Travel Trailer which put me on the borderline for towing capacity. I recently traded it for an 04, Hemi, Quad Cab.</P>


Hopefully, you will find that the troubles that you are having are just a happen so. Before I retired, I drove company furnished trucks, usually Fords or Chevys. In 93 I got a brand new Astro which had the transmission fall out at 12,000 miles. After it was repaired, it failed again at 14,500 miles. The Chevy dealer kept it for a week that time, but when I got it back I drove it until it had 75,000 miles on it without so much as another peep out of it. Somethimes things just happen.</P>

 

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ooops, your a little wrong there. Turning the tire in and out really only lets you check the condition of the tie-rod ends and other steering linkage parts.</P>


For Ball Joints, while the tire is off the ground, stick a tire-iron or other long rod under the tire and lift up ( as if the tire was hitting a bump in the road ). This will allow you to watch for any monement of the ball joints correctly. ANY play at all is not good. ANY play can cause premature failure. I would demand a loaner vehicle from Dadge while the parts are on order, I would not drive it. Your saftey and the saftey of the people around you isnt worth the chance.</P>

 

You got me Jim , no excuse , I turn in my mechanics patch ,in and out , up and down , left and right I get so confussed <IMG src=smileys/smiley36.gif border="0">

 

This is from back mid-December, but thought you might like to read it ( just confirms the ball-joint problem )</P>


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...ingnews/main58 9356.shtml</P>

 

This is powerful and tells the story. Sounds like Dodge is in serious trouble. Thanks for the info.I hope every one sees it !