Back in March, we had the ball joints on our Durango fixed due to an annoying squeaking sound that could be heard miles away. All the neighbors knew we were coming since they could hear our car before we even turned on the block!! When we got to the mechanic we were told that we were extremely lucky the tires did not fall off this vehicle as the ball joints were extremely bad. Dodge has avoided this problem time and time again, these ball joints are not greaseable and therefore wear out!! It has only been 3 months since we had these changed and once again, that squeaking sound is back, this time worse than before. Once again we are told that the ball joints need to be replaced!! Now that is insane that these joints only lasted 3months and they are direct from Dodge!! Dodge MUST be made responsible for their slack on this one... they have put the recall on the 2000 model but not the 1998 which has had the most complaints, obviously looking to save their own a**!! We must come together and make them responsible, in this economy it is not fair to the customer to have to continually replace such an item that should be put under recall. Dodge should be made responsible and they should replace their ball joints with a more susceptible type that is greaseable to avoid this problem. Why should we have to spend $650+ on ball joints every 3 months.
Well I'm putting this in here just to note it and provide a solution. I just bought this durango with high mileage only because I'm good mechanically and I've always wanted a Durango. I don't know when or even if the ball joints had ever been replaced on this car, but the upper ball joints were twice the allowable tolerance mostly because they aren't grease able and were bone dry. The lower ball joints were half the allowable tolerance, but I still replaced them because it will still cause accelerated tire wear. The upper ones still had the rivets in it which I had to grind, drill, and punch out which took forever. you can rent a tool from Autozone for $135 (don't worry you get it all back when you return it) to get the lower ones out and put the new ones in if you want to do it yourself. I used an impact wrench which worked great to pop it in and out. Moog makes good greasealbe ball joints which I would recommend getting, but they are a little expensive. I found a generic grand on ebay and got my uppers and lowers for $80, but I have no idea how long these are going to last. They are all grease able too. Hope this helps.
This truck has always gone through tires every 25K miles no matter how many times I check the alignment or the air pressure. Yesterday I found out that there is enough play in the upper ball joints on both sides to warrant replacement prior to putting new tires on the car. Thanks Dodge.
I had to replace the upper ball joints on both front tires at less than 50,000 miles. The front right tire was ready to fall off when I went in for an inspection. Now I have it checked at every rotation and worry that it may happen again. I understand that this is a HUGE problem with the Durango but they are not including 1998 models in the recall.
- Virginia A.,
St. George, UT, US
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this is crap, i am mad at dodge for having this problem in a lot of their durangos, and then i am really mad that this was a certified vehicle from the dealer and i have only had a month and a half, and only put on 1600 miles and they tell me that i am out $700, sorry! i am as pissed off as i have ever been. the dealer tells me that if i don't want to fix it right now, i can wait up to two years to take care of it without it causing any other damage. any thoughts from anyone as to whether that is indeed accurate?
well on july 15th my family and i was on our way to st louis mo which is 2 hours away from where i live my durango started driveing funny and makeing some awfull noises so we pulled over and called someone to come pick us up well monday my durango got back home and the upper and lower ball-joints went out of it on the left and right side of the truck and the wheel bearing went out on the left side also so i get it fixed that cost 800.00 on monday i drive it from the place i got it fixed at got right to the bottom of my drive way and it decides not to drive no more so i call the man back to see whats going on with it and with in 2 blocks from where it was fixed and my house the transmission cracks into the man said that he has only seen 2 vehicles in his 30 years working on them do that he also said that its very rare for that to happen i have looked at alot of complaints else where on durango's and there pretty much all the same problems so something needs to be done about it my dodge i will say that this is the 1st dodge iv owned and it will be the last i hated it and they shouldnt be able to sale there vehicles to anyone everyone i know that owens a dodge has had trouble with them
this suv is a piece of crap. I have repaired or replaced everything but the paid. But if I look under the rubber on the rear windows there is rust. So I guess the paint is next
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Back in March, we had the ball joints on our Durango fixed due to an annoying squeaking sound that could be heard miles away. All the neighbors knew we were coming since they could hear our car before we even turned on the block!! When we got to the mechanic we were told that we were extremely lucky the tires did not fall off this vehicle as the ball joints were extremely bad. Dodge has avoided this problem time and time again, these ball joints are not greaseable and therefore wear out!! It has only been 3 months since we had these changed and once again, that squeaking sound is back, this time worse than before. Once again we are told that the ball joints need to be replaced!! Now that is insane that these joints only lasted 3months and they are direct from Dodge!! Dodge MUST be made responsible for their slack on this one... they have put the recall on the 2000 model but not the 1998 which has had the most complaints, obviously looking to save their own a**!! We must come together and make them responsible, in this economy it is not fair to the customer to have to continually replace such an item that should be put under recall. Dodge should be made responsible and they should replace their ball joints with a more susceptible type that is greaseable to avoid this problem. Why should we have to spend $650+ on ball joints every 3 months.
- Denise B., Lawrence, MA, US