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

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

it's a 2000...

Your trucks missing twin :)

And to totally blow out the 2000 model year fixed problems..

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in603833.shtml

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in580233.shtml

http://consumeraffairs.com/automotiv...dur_steer.html

And if you follow the video link here You'll see that the images look strikingly similar to how my truck looks.

30 second google search: Criteria = cbs "ball joint" durango

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

just read it, and was going to post this...

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2...age660228x.jpg
Monique Conrad's 2000 Durango had only 31,000 miles on it when the right front wheel suddenly flew off while she was driving. (Photo: CBS)

Two of the most popular vehicles on the road could be dangerous, and now the government orders many of them recalled, reports CBS News Correspondent Mika Brzezinski.

Six hundred thousand popular vehicles could be recalled if DaimlerChrysler complies with the government's demand.

The recall order covers model years 2000 to 2003 of the 4x4 Dodge Durangos and the Dakota pick-up trucks with four-wheel drive.

The government action highlights a problem first uncovered by CBS News more than a year ago.

"Unfortunately, it could have been a really deadly situation," Monique Conrad, a former Dodge Durango owner, told Brzezinski

Back then, Monique Conrad's 2000 Durango had only 31,000 miles on it when the right front wheel suddenly flew off while she was driving.

"My tire, along with a piece of metal about a foot long, was bouncing across this four-lane road," Conrad said.

Her experience along with similar complaints prompted the government to investigate possible premature wear of Dodge Durango upper ball joints — a ball and socket attaching the wheel assembly the vehicle.

Since our first report, CBS News received hundreds of e-mails, photos and calls from viewers around the country like Kate McGeehan-Sawyer from Maine.

"The wheel just flew out," McGeehan-Sawyer said.

Tina Czech, from Massachusetts, experienced a similar road trauma: "The wheel had completely fallen off," she said.

And Joyce and John Gosch, truck owners from Pennsylvania, pointed to the damage: "This just ripped off," John Gosch said.

As the complaints piled up, the government expanded its investigation to include the Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, which uses the same upper ball joints. Dakota owner John Cohron, said his truck looked the same as many others with similar tire trouble, after his wheel flew off.

"So you got out of your truck and what did you see?" Cohron said. "I saw the tire and the wheel underneath the front end of the truck."

According the government, a third of the nearly 2 million vehicles investigated had defective upper ball joints. And almost all were produced at an Indiana plant. Customers paid up to $1,200 dollars to replace these parts — a recall could mean a huge financial hit for DaimlerChrysler.

"The cost is certainly going to run into hundreds of millions of dollars," said Clarence Ditlow, from the Center for Auto Safety.

DaimlerChrysler also faces mounting lawsuits like the one filed by David and Christina Shaffer. They were on the highway in their Durango with their four young children when suddenly they experienced a shock of their life.

"It seemed like we went into a frenzy of flipping," David Shaffer said.

Bodies went flying everywhere. Christina — who was pregnant at the time — suffered numerous injuries including a broken neck. Doctors were not optimistic.

About the baby, David Shaffer said, "there was no certainty. You know they actually came to me and recommended to me to take the baby's life."

Medical bills forced the family into bankruptcy. And while they consider their new baby girl a miracle, the Shaffers say they wish DaimlerChrysler had acted sooner.

"It could have been our whole family gone," Christina Shaffer said.

In a statement issued late Thursday, DaimlerChrysler maintained that the upper ball joints do not pose a safety concern and that owners have substantial warning of any problems — like noise or tire wear that would be picked up during routine inspections.

The company says it is reviewing the governments order for a recall and will respond next Monday.

©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

redriderbob

RE: Greetings and Salutations..
 

They are getting a lot of pressure to do a recall.... NHTSA is all over their back now.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/10/tru...all/index.html