Dodge Durango/Dakota Upper Ball Joint failures

[dresslered]

Has anyone else heard of this nationwide class action lawsuit filed on behalf of owners of Dodge Durangos, model years 1998-2003? The complaint alleges that the upper ball joints on the 1998-2003 Dodge Durangos have an unreasonable propensity to fail suddenly and violently, or to wear prematurely. Further, it is alleged that this is a design defect affecting every Dodge Durango, whether the upper ball joint is currently manifesting problems or not. The suit seeks a mandatory recall to install new upper ball joints, and restitution for the diminished value of the Dodge Durangos.



http://www.texascardoctor.com/recalls-news.html



The reason that I bring this up is that I have had a front end squeak in my wife's 1999 Dodge Durango that I just can't get rid of. I have lubed the ball joints again and again, but nothing seems to cure the problem. The Durango currently has about 32,000-miles on it.

 

[Steve M]

The front end of our Durango is starting creak and groan. I was thinking stabilizer bar grommets. Maybe ball joints after reading this. I wouldn't discount the entire vehicle over skitty ball joints but I would like to have them replaced if they're defective. Changing ball joints is no big deal. I might replace them myself with a set from NAPA if Chrysler doesn't issue a recall.

 

[dresslered]

I might replace them myself with a set from NAPA if Chrysler doesn't issue a recall.

I was thinking of the same exact thing. I just couldn't figure out where this darn squeak was coming from. A guy I work with saw this on the news (he's actually the one that alerted me to the problem) and said that they showed some huge accidents that occured after the front end had collapsed. I really don't like the idea of my wife and son driving around in this vehicle if this is really the case. Aside from this possible issue, we love the vehicle!



Prior to hearing about this, I actually had thought along the same lines as you being the stabilizer bar grommets. I thought that the factory shocks were becoming worn thus allowing more movement.

 

[Steve M]

What made me think of the stabilizer bar grommets is, a few years ago we took a used 2500 Cummins Ram for a test drive. The rear stabilizer creaked and groaned so much it was annoying. When my '98 started to croak under there, I hosed the grommets down with silicone spray. When it soaked in, they were quiet the rest of the time I owned it. I'll give it a try on the Durango this weekend. Surely the front wheels would give some indication of worn balljoints before they give up. I haven't heard the first peep of a Durango accident on the news due to ball joints. Maybe it's like the track bar incidents on the Ram 4X4s that Chrysler bought back from the county in the northeast somewhere. They beat the mess out of the trucks. Then when one of the drivers crashed, the fingers got pointed at Dodge instead of the treatment of the trucks. I don't know but just maybe... I'm not concerned about my wife driving it. Durangos are tough as nails.

 

[ndurbin]

Durangos are tough as nails.

not my dad's. it shelled the transmission @ 77,000 in the middle of their vacation. they just happened to get lucky and be in a town with a DC dealership. he's also havin problems w/ the fuel injection stuff. and this is on a vehicle that has been pampered.

 

[wcaldwell]

Did the article say what the average mileage of these Durangos & Dakotas were?

It would appear that these bad ball joionts would have been noticed by the front-end shop doing the scheduled alignment when it's on the rack. Sure can't properly align a vehicle when the ball joints are shot.

 

[dresslered]

Steve M-

I like your idea of hosing down the grommets with silicone spray. The main thing that I would like to isolate is that annoying squeak. I also agree that the Durango's are built pretty tough and my wife mainly uses it to haul groceries. After reading the details of the class action law suit, it doesn't even seem like the statistics are all that high, but my friend said that the news story made a pretty big deal out of it. I just figured somebody over at the TDR might know some more of the details, and if there was a silent recall, I would like to be part of it. Currently, our ball joints are probably as tight as they were when new.



wcaldwell-

I don't recall any particular mileage, but if they are claiming that it has occured in 2003 vehicles, I would think that this could be quite low. After seeing what people do with these vehicles over at the Durango club, it might also be directly related to these kinds of driving habits. My wife's is lucky if it only sees a curb from time to time.





UPDATE: I just did a search on this problem over at NHTSA (http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/) and found quite a few of these problems reported with mileage as low as 15,000-miles.

 

[dresslered]

Here's another link to the story on CBS news:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/27/eveningnews/main580233.shtml





I ended up joining the email list for the case just to follow the progress:



http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/durango.php



P. S. As a disclosure, this might be just a couple of fairly new laywers trying to drum up some business.

 

[dresslered]

FYI

To date, I have not yet received any kind of an update to the email list that I supposable signed up for. Lawyers must be drinking mai tai's in Kauai!