1998 Dodge Durango: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Jul 20, 2016 · Suspension, Transmission · 74,064 miles · MO

Bought my durango new in may 1998. The automatic transmission started shifting improperly in july 2000. Took it to a dodge dealer because it was still under warranty (31,418 miles). They dropped the transmission pan and pronounced it doa (pan was full of metal shavings). Should have seen the writing on the wall but I loved this vehicle. Took it to an inspection station for safety & emissions tests in may of 2006. It failed for bad ball joints. I asked the manager why his mechanics seemed to pay special attention to the front end during inspection and his reply was it was very common to find bad ball joints on approx. 50% of all 1998-2000 durangos. Had my mechanic replace upper & lower ball joints, both sides, at 74,064 miles, to the tune of $701 plus tax. I then started hearing about other durango owners with similar ball joint woes. I went online and started researching. Found a site where folks like myself with the same ball joint problems, some with accidents, were trying to get the federal safety agency to do something. I guess people actually have to die first before the federal safety agency will step in and tell an auto manufacturer they need to fix their faulty products. I also learned that the 1998-2000 durangos were built on the dodge dakota pickup chassis. A dakota weighs about 4,600 lbs. While a durango 4x4 weighs in at 6,400 lbs. It's no wonder the 1998-2000 durango front-ends were falling apart. Seriously, what kind of idiot engineers does dodge have working for them. Sometime later I heard that dodge rushed the durango into production in 1998 to compete for the SUV market bucks and didn't have time to engineer a new chassis so they just modified the dakota chassis without beefing it up. When people started to complain about ball joints and such, they built a whole new chassis for durangos in 2001. I stumbled across this site today while researching another vehicle I'm thinking about buying.

Filed Aug 29, 2015 · Suspension · WY

The cv joint came out ruin the lower ball joints which caused rubbing on my inner rim, after a while it has cause the inner rim to to break out while I was driving. We have replaced the cv joint, wheel hub bearing, upper and lower ball joints and the steering ball joint. Now the lower ball joint is still hitting the inner rim and I can't drive

Filed Jan 6, 2014 · Suspension · 68,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 1998 dodge durango. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH, he noticed an abnormal noise from the front end. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis, who stated that the front upper and lower ball joints would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000 updated 02/11/2014

Filed Dec 12, 2010 · Suspension · 123,000 miles · GA

The vehicle is making a very noticeable "clunking noise" during turns and over bumps. The vehicle often falls out of alignment and driving feels unsteady as on of the front wheels is loose. Upon inspection it appears this is being caused by premature wear to the upper ball joints. This has also caused excess wear on the vehicle suspension. As of yet no accident or injury has taken place due to this problem; however, it is a very serious safety concern and needs to be addresses promptly.

Filed Jul 17, 2009 · Suspension · 27,500 miles · OH

1998 dodge durango. 27500 miles. Yes 27500 miles. Upper ball joints both sides shot $321.00 to repair. Right side was extremely bad.

Filed Jun 11, 2009 · Suspension · 112,000 miles · MA

I own a 1998 dodge durango and back in march of this year I replaced the upper/lower ball joints due to failure. The vehicle had an awful squeaky noise and when taken to the mechanic I was told that I was lucky to still be alive as the balljoints were extremely worn out due to be an ungreaseable type. The repair cost me $650. It has only been 3months since the repair in which the balljoints were replaced with dealer parts and once again, the squeaky sound is back, I've gone back to the mechanic only to be told that once again, the balljoints have failed!! Another $650 to fix, this is outrageous!! Dodge must become responsible for the fact that these balljoints continuously fail and they must come up with a greaseable type. In this economy it is very difficult to spend $650 every 2-3 months on balljoints!! At this rate, there will come a point where the tires will fall off the vehicle and cause a death being as these joints don't last as long as they should.

Filed Mar 31, 2009 · Locks, Wheels · 210,000 miles · NC

My mechanic notice unable to keep tires. While driving with my 2 kids noticed extremely loose action while driving, car unable to stay on road. Mechanic checked and upper and lower ball joints defective. I have research and noticed no recall with these vehicles. Lots of complaints something needs to be done. We should not have to suffer for there lack of making a safe vehicle.

Filed Feb 26, 2009 · Brakes, Suspension · 134,000 miles · GA

I bought this car used in the last week of november '08. I had my brakes done by an individual maybe two weeks later. A couple of day later driving home from work I started hearing a real loud iron grinding noise. The next day I had the car towed to aamco, who told me my caliper pins had came out, and I would need a new steering knuckle and a set of caliper pins.the truck was fixed costing me $525 (noting: mechanic used a used steering knuckle.) now 2 months after those repairs I need a wheel spindle, and caliper bolts because the threading have stripped away and something totally unrelated a neutral safety switch. Costing me $580. I was told that by firestone who told me I needed new tie rods and then corrected themselves by telling me I needed a new steering knuckle - who wouldn't even work on my car because of liability told me that it was unsafe to drive because the right front tire could literally fall off due to lack of support and cause a major or serious accident, and that I needed to take it back to aamco. I didn't want to because I felt aamco should have fixed this the first time. But after fighting with them and reading the other complaints maybe they're not in the wrong.

Filed Dec 15, 2008 · Steering, Suspension · 123,000 miles · IL

We bought a 98' durango w/ 123k miles & after driving it less than 500 miles I began to notice a loud-repeating noise "thud...thud.." coming from the front passenger wheel wall. Then I began to notice extreme steering problems so I stopped the vehicle and inspected it further. I jacked up the vehicle and observed a lot of "play" in the front tire. I was actually able to "wobble' back and forth and the lug nuts were still secured. I contacted a very reputable mechanic (3rd generation race car driver too!) and he advised that there have been massive problems with the ball joints failing on the durango's , but they only will fix back to 2000' model year. Well, any reasonable auto company that knows it has a faulty part should take responsibility for the safety of its people....if not, then they are liable for continuing to allow a product that endangers the safety of the driver, its occupants & other motorist's/citizens-who expect their safety to be looked upon, not "investigated internally." I have been in law enforcement for +13 years, and as a result I have worked many vehicle accidents (some causing death) that just didn't make sense-until now! Something needs to be done here...and not just "only 2000' year models and up" thing. Do the right thing, because its the right thing to do!

Filed Sep 9, 2008 · Suspension · 89,789 miles · IL · crash · 2 injuries

Dodge durango 1998 ball joint failure and full separation with no warning, which caused extensive damage in an on-road accident to several vehicles. Dodge corporation will not acknowledge the hundreds of ball joint failures and lost lives due to this poor design and defective ball joints. My vehicle has 84,000 miles on it and ball joints have been replaced 3 times! Ball joints, according to top mechanics are supposed to last about 100,000 miles before replacement and rarely separate. These components used by dodge are deadly, deficient, and ought to have been recalled years ago. How many more lives have to be lost before the issue is properly dealt with??

Filed Apr 24, 2008 · Steering, Suspension · 59,298 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge durango. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact noticed that the steering was looser than normal. He took the vehicle to a local mechanic on february 21, 2008 and both upper and lower ball joints as well as the steering box were replaced. The repair cost $1,001.24. The failure mileage was 59,298 and current mileage was 59,598. Updated 05/05/08 *bf the consumer stated on april 10, 2003 had to replace both rear window regulators. Updated 05/05/08

Filed Aug 15, 2007 · Suspension · MO

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge durango. The contact stated that the vehicle failed inspection because the passenger side front upper ball joint and the driver side front lower ball joint were loose. There had been no failure to date and there are no recalls at this time. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 58,945.