CBS News feature on Dodge ball joints

[Crunch]

CBS News will run a feature story on "dubious" Dodge ball joints on tonights news (12/18/03). Google searches indicated that this might apply to Durangos only, but I'm still curious.



I saw a teaser for it last night, and today they have this on their website:



CBS News

"Video Preview: Investigating Dodge's dubious ball joints. "



It is at the top and center of their home page.



I'll be stuck at work and won't be able to see it, but hopefully members will post all the important information after it airs.

 

[KL]

I just saw the very end of it. Both Durangos and Dakotas were having ball joint problems. KL

 

[JLockhart]

Ok, and I've had a Chevy Blazer with ball joint problems. Just happens that Dodge is the latest target of the media. Of course Honda and Toyota can do no wrong, just read consumer reports! Fortunately, in the real world, Dodges (and my old Blazer as well) are generally pretty good vehicles, and do the job for which they are intended.

 

[JHardwick]

My '99 2x4 Cummins dually had what I consider premature ball joint failure ... ... ... ... ... it pulled to the right just like this one!

 

[JHardwick]

I gotta be frank here, I'd have a Cummins no matter what make the thing sat in. I've had fords and chevys over the years ... ... ..... I just like this Cummins!

 

[daveshoe]

I had a buddy watch it for me and he stated the whole front end fell out from under a Durango. -- Wheel just folded underneath the truck. I saw the results of the same thing at a local shop-- when it came off, it took out the whole front end at over $3000. 00

Truck was a '98 with 80K. Only warning was a high pitched squeal 10 seconds before meltdown. It is my understanding that the owner of this Durango was offered a free repair to keep quiet ,but instead chose to blow the whistle.

The Cummins Ram that I saw had dry bearings in the axle, which explains the squeal. The tech who repaired it thought the bearing hub assembly froze and caused a chain reaction,but as I understand it ,the Durango meltdown was a ball joint that wore out because of no grease fitting.

I guess the disturbing thing about all this is DC offering to buy silence for one owner and putting the rest at risk. I hate to make a judgement like this based on second hand info--especially based on a TV report. That being said, it would be hard to believe that no other symptoms of problems like tire wear or steering issues showed up to alert the owner that something was wrong.

EDIT: go to dodge dakota.com. They are talkin' about it over there

 

[NSperduto]

Beats me, I have a 98 Dakota 4wd, just about to turn 160k. I just replaced the balljoints a little while ago due to wear. I wouldn't call 150k premature wear.

I'd like to watch the show though.

Nick

 

[llotton]

Ball joint

I own and drive a 99 Durango. At 55 K miles the right front tie rod end just fell off. Lucky for me this was in a market parking lot. The dealer said sorry out of warranty but did replace the parts only and I had to cover the realignment cost and towing. I reported this to the NTSB. Larry

 

[Power Wagon]

Sounds like an issue with a parts supplier.

 

[Steve M]

We just had the right upper control arm replaced on our '01 Durango. It was giving a slight groan every now and then. They'll usually give some sign of trouble long before they break. The dealer replaced it under warranty and said the other side was fine. If I have any trouble after warranty, I'll replace them with joints from NAPA. They have grease fittings on them. Durangos and Dakotas aren't the only vehicles that can suffer damage from dried out neglected ball joints. They are a tough SUV and I'd buy another one in a heart beat.