Grinding noises and uncontrollable pulls to the right made the vehicle hard to control, especially when travelling on the highway - this causes an extreme safety problem. Brought the durango to auto mechanic, he told us the left front tie rod needed replacement. Replaced tie rod end and found out left front wheel bearing is gone and is subject to seizure at any time. If this is not a safety hazard, I don't know what is because this front end suspension problem has the propensity to cause the vehicle to rollover when travelling on the highway or to tip on its side when driving upon back, city or suburban streets.
1999 Dodge Durango suspension complaints
Page 37 of 38: complaints 1,061 to 1,090 of 1,102, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Replacement upper & lower ball joints & control arms failed at 45,551 miles. Dealer auto tech replaced parts - the right side ball joint fitting was initially "drilled & tapped" by dodge auto tech on 4/10/01. The cost for installation and parts for second replacement were not warrantied by dodge or mopar - 12,000 mi. Warranty offered by mopar - we were 1,834 miles over the warranty. We paid half the cost on this safety hazard repair.
Factory installed upper & lower ball joints, upper control arms failed at 31,797 miles. Dealer technician "drilled & tapped fittings on the right joint" when replacing under 3yr. 36,000 mile warranty.
While vehicle was getting an alignment, the upper ball joints were worn and needed to be replaced. Mechanic stated mileage seemd to be too low to have worn out upper ball joint.*ak lower balljoints were replaced as well and the right inner tie rod was replaced too.
The front end is misalignedand squaeks causing the tire to wear prematurely, the bushings to the control arms (unknown upper or lower) are seperating. The dealer indicated the problem is due to no shield to deflect heat from the engine. The dealer was notified. Nlm
While at dealer for alignment mechanic noticed both front upper and lower ball joints were worn out and needed to be replaced. Newly designed parts are available.
Vehicle was taken in for its yearly emissions inspection. Vehicle was rejected because of faulty ball joints. Driver was told by inspector that wheel could come off while driving. Please provide any further information.
For overseas cars wthout a warranty transfer certificate from the time of export, chrysler europe will not honour the 3yr/36mo warrany or factory callbacks. No safety defec tmentioned.
-upper control arm ball joints have been diagnosed as bad. This vehicle has only 52,000 miles and is driven primarily on the highway and is not subjected to abuse. The dealership has admitted that this is a common problem with these vehicles. The dealership & manufacturer refuse to replace components under warranty because the vehicle is beyond the covered warranty mileage of 32,000 miles. Having done searches on the internet I have found that this is a very common problem that has very serious safety implications.
After reducing speed from 35 MPH and hearing a "thumping" noise, the left/front wheel disconnected from vehicle. Dealership has not determined cause of problem. *ak bearings in the hub had no lubricant and were dry, bearings broke and put pressure on the hub which turned the spindle nut off, the wheel did not come completely off because the brake caliper was over the brake rotor, dealer recommended that cotter pins be put back in the spindles.
Upper ball joints both sides malfunctioned.
Failed vehicle inspection 9/20/01 for low ball joints, (mileage=15,730), vehicle to harr dodge 9/22/01 to 9/28/01 for repair, harr dodge stated repair not needed because "ball joint play with-in specs" per service manual (mileage=15,746). Vehicle failed inspection (retest) 10/11/01 for "bad ball joints" (mileage=15,953). Vehicle to sumner's getty/auto repair station, leicester, ma. On 11/18/01 (mileage=16,614) stated "needs two tires (feathering), and ball joints, upper and lower"..
Ball joints failed inspection, dealership was aware of the problem.*ak
Recommendations replace both lower ball joints they said it had worn loose but in order for that to happen it would have had to be loose. And another thing is there a cotter pin to hold the nut on there so ether there was no pin or the pin was not folded or bend correct and I don't think I should have to paid because steering linking on leet side broke cause both lower ball joint to wear .and they also said that I need 4wheel alignment I don't mind paying for that.but I do know that the front tire worn on even because of steering linkage .end closing hope you can help me out.god bless you and have a nice day.
While driving under normal conditions steering control would be difficult, and there was a noise coming from front end. Dealership examined vehicle, and determined that front/left hub had disintegrated, causing damage to brake and suspension systems. Please provide any additional information / attachments.
There's a snapping noise whenever vehicle is being driven at low speeds. Took vehicle to dealer and they realigned and replaced bearings, hubs, and rotors. *ak consumer states vehicle continues to make the noises under the front end, dealer has attempted to fix this problem 8 times.
The consumer went to have an alignment performes but the dealer would not align the vehicle because of badly worn from lower ball joints. Nlm
When driving and without prior warning front bearings malfunctioned. Consumer has contacted dealer. Please provide any further details.
Vehicle is experiencing unknown grinding/ clicking/thumping and severe vibration when driving. Vehicle been in the dealer's shop on six occasions, and they were unable to duplicate the problem. Feel free to provide any further information.
After seeing information on internet concerning defective ball joints that could cause tires to wear out, consumer took vehicle to a local repair shop, technician indicated that ball joints had to be replaced due to worn tires. Consumer had contacted dealer, but vehicle could not be fixed because of expired warranty. *ak the tires wore out due to the ball joints being worn, joints were worn out to a point of vehicle being unsafe to drive, dodge would not do anything about the faulty ball joints.
While vehicle was serviced for new tires technician noticed that uppper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced in less than a year time. Please provide further information.
On 7/24/01, while travelling on a major interstate, approximately ten miles north of galveston island, texas, we entered a section of roadway where it had been raining. Our vehicle pulled hard right, across several other lanes of traffic. At first I turned into the "skid" I perceived this to be, but I was about to go off the highway, so I tried to correct slightly back to the left, at which time our vehicle began spinning down the interstate. We spun approximately three turns before finally hitting the concrete barrier between lanes. I just assumed that we had hydroplaned but have since heard of other durangos having similiar type problems. I had absolutely no control of the vehicle and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. We have driven it in thunderstorms, snow and even ice and never had any steering problems until this one incident.
Upper ball joint wear, misdiagnosed and not fixed under warrenty. Dodge has redesinged replacement parts to compensate for the defect, however, no recall has been issued. I believe this constitutes a significant safety hazard to the 1999 dodge durango. Possibly could lead to steering failure and roll-over risk.
Ball joints replaced at 21000 and 43000 miles. New part was redesigned to include a grease fitting. Dodge paid for parts not for labor.
When the vehicle goes in reverse it makes a clunk. It feeels like it's engaging in 4- wheel. Dealer put in a rear carrier, and new rear end gears. Problem was not remedied, but dealer has order for another part involving linkage for rear end.
Steering wheel made excessive whining, dealer replaced gear, pump, and fluid, dealer replaced steering gear twice more.
The original upper & lower ball joints were replaced at 37,838 on 7/6/00. Less than 11 months later we have failed inspection test due to faulty upper and lower ball joints.
Current problem: ball joints and tie rods need to be replaced, although I complained several times about feeling there was a problem with the arms or something in that area, nothing was ever looked at because they could not produce same bump I felt, so they repeatedly told me there was no problem. When I took my durango for new tires on may 1, 2001; the tire place robertson tire in tulsa, said the ball joints all needed to be replaced and the left front brake was toast. Since I did not put my concerns of the arms or ball joints in writing I have no proof that I had mentioned it to them the several times before when they performed other work on my vehicle. Also, we had numerous problems with the ABS brakes. We had to take it to the dealer 5 times before the problem was corrected, also I was told my brakes were fine on febrary 23, 2001 only to find out on may 2 they were not fine. The engine is using oil, which the dealer said is a gasket problem. The 4 wheel drive stays in 4 wheel drive even after taking it out. The left front window power window had to be replace early on because it was defective. Transmission seems to start in 2 at times but then goes away. East tulsa dodge has fixed most of our past problems because it was still under factory warrenty. The ball joints and tyrods are not even under our extended warrenty we purchased. After reading your customer complaints, I am very concerned with the drive shaft problem, the air bag and seat belt problems and engine stalling problem.
Controlarm, upper and lower ball joint were replaced. Within a year ,they needed to be replaced again. Consumer covered cost for first replacement. Dealer has advised that second replacement will also be charged to consumer. *ak consumer replaced upper and lower ball joints and control arms at her cost.
Right lower ball joint needed to be replaced under 30,000 mile of wear. Dealer notified, and unable to help in this matter at this time. Feel free to provide any further details on this matter.
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