Greetings and Salutations..
 

Bought my buckshot Durango SLT a little over a year ago..

Totally happy with the truck in every which way. Love the way it drove in dry, wet, snow, ice, etc, etc, etc. All the power I could want to climb a hill or pass a car.

It was love at first sight.. and flawless in every way..

[IMG]local://upfiles/9938/5D2A49BAD90C4CD2A50D2428B8D6BF6C.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/9938/4FB4065FD4C74AD7B00B92ABF64DD5AB.jpg[/IMG]




Until Last Night :(

[IMG]local://upfiles/9938/0ED3DED428BE4B2A890B44787B582ECB.jpg[/IMG]

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

Glad to have you here....what happened??

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

Wow. [&:] Ball Joint problems I'm assuming?


-Matt-

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

OMG!! I hope it's okay?

Welcome to DF!!

~Amanda

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

https://dodgeforum.com/m_87670/tm.htm

After getting it towed home and looking at it closer. It looks like the upper ball joint gave away. This caused the top of the tier to flip out, snapping the axle at the CV joint. That finally caused the lower ball joint to shear. The outer tie rod is bent, as is the inner tie rod going into the steering rack. It looks like the tire almost made a full revolution with the outer tie rod resting on it causing it to score the rim.. Not sure if the rim is out of round or not.


Good news: I purchased a 4 year extended warranty on the truck.


Bad News: I was reading through the plan that I purchased... suspension parts aren't listed on the plan.


Worse News: According to the "exemptions" section, if a part that's not covered under the plan fails (read: Ball Joints) and causes a part that is covered to fail (read: axels and everything else) then those covered parts are not covered.


For some reason, when I had progressive make a new policy for Kentucky after moving here.. Rental car coverage didn't make it onto the new plan.

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

You know what though, the fix for this probably won't be as expensive as you think. The spindle should still be in good shape. Looks like you're going to have to replace the upper control arm, ball joints (upper and lower) both the inner and outer tierod ends, the brake line and possibly the rim. With the exception of the joints and brake line, you can probably get everything else used. If it was me though, I would also have the ball joints changed on the other side since they tend to wear the same on both sides. Finally, when you get all of this done, you'll have to spend about $70 for an allignment. Probably looking at about $500 if you do the work yourself (except the allignment) and about $900 if you have a shop do it.

I definately feel your pain though....the same thing happened to me once.

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

Dodge's little hole they crawl out of. They know the ball joints are bad. Sorry to hear about the bad news :(

-Matt-

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

That's not a way for DCX to get repeat customers![:@]

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

Welcome to the DF board! Ouch in the pic! I've heard about that problem too often...Glad you are ok!

Karen

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

As a fallow Durango owner, welcome... hopefully you can get that fixed no problem! What year is you Durango? I know it is a pre-2001 model. 1998-1999 ball joint problems are normal on Dakota models (1997-1999) and Durango. I have a 2000 model, and the front suspension was altered for the 2000 model year.

redriderbob