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Sephiroth
Dodge Dakota
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12/19/2003
06:45:44
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 Subject: RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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This is why my two Daks are prior to Daimler taking over Chrysler. My father has a '98 Dak though, and he had to replace all those ball-joints and his front brakes. I am DEFINATLY emailing him this thread link, because it cost him over $900. My '92 Dak is at 128k with original equipent that I just grease regularly, and my '95 is at 103k with original eq, greased regularly.
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jmagsho
Dodge Dakota
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12/20/2003
09:49:08
|  RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Apparently Madmac is missing the point here. The new design for the ball joints has no grease fitting. There is nothing to maintain with regard to the front ends on the newer trucks. I am a professional auto tech and I check the ball joints on my truck every time I change the oil. They are already getting loose and the stupid truck only has 28k on it!
The lawsuit isn't going to do anything except maybe get them to redesign the part or use on with a grease fitting. They won't pay anything out unless the government forces them to. Look at GM - they have gotten away with lousy ball joint design for years - Every GM S series truck/SUV on the road has a front end that can only be described in one word - JUNK! I have a customer who has a '93 S15 Blazer that has 100k on it now. The ball joints have been replaced 6 times!
Madmac does have one point though - if DC is forced to pay out on this, we will be the ones paying for it through higher prices on parts and increased prices on new DC vehicles. I love my Dak, but I doubt I'll buy another one. My next truck will either be a 2500 Hemi or a F250 Super Duty...
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Rob454
Dodge Dakota
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12/20/2003
14:55:29
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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My wife has a S15 Jimmy. her front end is perfectly fine. 92 000 miles on it and its all good. My last GMC has 320 000 miles on the original front end. Yeah its a little worn but nothing is loose and it still steers tight.
Im sure some ball joints are going bad from off road abuse or improper lifting and lowering of the truck and possibly other bad components in the suspension system. There is NO way to maintain the ball joints on the dakota. Im having mine replaced next week
ROb
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Sephiroth
Dodge Dakota
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12/20/2003
20:43:49
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Yeah, that's what happens when youhave a foreign company who knows nothing of quality take over a good company. Yes, the new design is attractive, but it has several draw-backs.
1) While the hood-design rocks, you have a cramped compartment to work on the engine and less room to add things.
2) Places you cannot maintain so you HAVE to go back to DC for replacements. This includes the obvious front-end ball-joints, driveshaft, and other locations, and I've heard rumors on newer Daks of the steering-linkage not having grease-nipples. I can't say anything on the rumor though.
3) Unless you buy the chrome-package Dak, the bumper (both??) aren't worth a dang. I don't think they're the plastic type with foam behind them like in cars, but they still suck.
4) Plastic grills?! Come on, I like my Daks because even though most of the grill is plastic, it isn't the entire front of my truck!
I'm not bashing Dodge, Chrysler, or the Dakota here, because I love them all, but I am bashing Daimler. My dad can't grease the drive-shaft on his '98 Dak, and that worries me. Will he be driving down the road one day and lose the shaft?? I mean he's got 4WD and can lock in the front and move it off the road and all, but that'd still suck. I worry about people I see using newer Daks, even though I do like the new design.
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Bernie42
Dodge Dakota
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12/21/2003
15:03:27
| RE: Ball Joint
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I own a 2002 4.7L 2x4 quad cabI have 83000Kilometer and I was wondering if I should be concern by what is on the news.
I just noticed a sweat on my rear diff. but that's about it.
I would appreciate some feedbacks
Sincerely
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Bernie42
Dodge Dakota
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12/21/2003
17:11:39
| RE: Cold air intake
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I own a 2002 dakota quad cab 4.7L and I am looking for the best cold air intake for my truck any suggestion on what site I should go?
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Darkhorse
Dodge Dakota
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12/23/2003
17:04:16
|  RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Had a '94 Ext Cab Dakota, 318ci, 2whl drive and over 150k when I traded for the 2000 Dakota Quad Cab, 4.7L, 2whl dr. Had the rear end replaced for excessive noise on warranty at 75k on my '94. Everything else was perfect. Excellent engine and no front end problems.
My 2000 with 75k had the rear end replaced at 35k under warranty and right outer tie rod went bad and replaced at 70k, my cost. Sounds like some noise in the steering now. Shop manual says to lube the ball joints, starting at 22.5k and every 22.5k after that. I guess someone forgot the grease fittings.
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MBoot
Dodge Dakota
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12/28/2003
15:01:43
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Just my input....
1997 Dodge Dakota Sport 4x4
36,000 miles...new balljoints
65,000 miles...new balljoints
84,000 miles...3 different shops have told me they need replacement again, and they won't pass state inspection in current condition.
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Dodge1
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
09:28:41
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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I have a 01 Dakota Sport Quadcab, had one balljoint replaced in 02 after 20K, than had the other replaced at 50K in 03. Looks like every year will be replacing balljoints as I drive 450 miles a week and that is just to work and back. Time for DC to fix the problem properly.
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James Wilson
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
11:23:04
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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I have a 98 Durango, it just has 50K miles on it. I went to NTW to have my front end aligned but the said that it could not aligned because the ball joint upper and lower were bad. I took to the dealer who saud they had to knowlege of ball joint problems with the Durango or Dakotas. That was McKinney Dodge in TX. After see this report I will stop driving the junker.
Does anyone know about any after market Ball Joints.
Thanks
Jim
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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
13:13:02
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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"Yeah, that's what happens when youhave a foreign company who knows nothing of quality take over a good company. Yes, the new design is attractive, but it has several draw-backs."
That statement shows how ignorant you really are about how the business really works and that you just wanted an excuse to bash a foreign company.
Most of the things you talk about were either in the Dakota design before Daimler came along or have to do with independent parts suppliers, not Daimler Quality. I make that last statement specifically in reference to the balljoint problems. PErsonally, I'm PRAYING that the Mercedes Benz influence starts to be felt in Crhysler's trucks because contrary to what some Dodge truck fans bitter with the Daimler takeover might tell you, this is company known for anything BUT shoddy worksmanship.
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Chet
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
17:27:48
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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I dunno, eddy, I think Sephiroth has a point. Maybe you haven't been keeping up on what daimler has been doing to Chrysler, but they're running it into the ground. The fact of the matter is that, even though Daimler does have an extraordinary reputation for quality, they saw Chrysler as an "investment", and a merger only on paper. People here in Detroit could tell you a thing or two about what really goes on at DCX.
BUT, I would also agree with you that the ball joint design had been in place proir to the merger, and it was more than likely an oversight that kept going and going. With a 5-speed tranny that needed rebuilding, caliper bolts that shear off at 30 ft.-lbs., I sure do hope the better quality rubs off on the Dakotas. I sure do hope.
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Kowalski
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
18:09:33
|  RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Eddy's right, Sepiroth is blaming a forign company for a design that took place before they were involved. That kind of foreign company bashing seems to go on quite often here.
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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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3/04/2004
18:12:10
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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dunno, eddy, I think Sephiroth has a point. Maybe you haven't been keeping up on what daimler has been doing to Chrysler, but they're running it into the ground."
I completely disassociate Daimler's inability to run Chrysler as a business from their countribution to the parts bin. Their influence is only JUST NOW starting to be felt in cars. The trucks are still an American design, and it just seems like some of these diehard Dodge fans are jumping on Daimler as a scapegoat for quality problems while forgetting Chrysler wasn't exactly the standard of the world in worksmanship before that takeover.
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WipLash
R/T
3/04/2004
21:19:41
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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First of all, there was no "take over". Daimler and Chrysler "merged". Chrysler wants a larger market share in Europe. Daimler saw this as an opportunity to get a stronger hold on the American market. Since Mercedes are made in Germany, they are inherently more expensive. Daimler felt that it could sell its cars in America cheaper and be more profitable if they were made in America. Both Daimler and Chrysler had the same objective. Mercedes doesn't have the largest market share in Germany and they have a very small market share in North America. Chrysler doesn't have the largest market share in the U.S. and they are just as small in Europe/Germany as Mercedes is here. It only made sense for these 2 companies to merger. Both companies have similar design and quality standards that are higher than their competitors and this made the 2 companies a PERFECT MATCH. No one was bought out......
Furthermore, the design of the ball joints on our Gen3 was completed long before the merger. The merger took place in 1998. The Gen3 was here in 1997. The Gen3's design took place in 1996. The design of your gen3 ball joints was already complete 2 years prior to the merger. Therefore, if Daimler had any influence on the design of your gen3's ball joints, it had to be with "TELEPOTHY".
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Chet
Dodge Dakota
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3/05/2004
09:08:57
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Eddy, I'm with you on the ball joint design being well in place prior to the Daimler purchase, and regardless of a merger or whatever, it was an inferior design. Ball joints ought to be pretty sturdy after all. Point recieved and taken.
Wiplash, I do't want to start an online flaming, but there are two sides to the two companies becoming one. One is that Chrysler needed to be taken over since they were not doing well, losing money continually, and needed a partner, as you say, to strengthen themselves globally. BUT, here are a few quotes taken directly from the takeover trial: Grube's notes from a meeting of Daimler executives contain the handwritten phrase, "financial it is a takeover," jotted months before the companies agreed to the combination in May 1998. And, "We had to go a roundabout way but it had to be done for psychological reasons," Schrempp is quoted as saying. Schrempp countered in court papers that he was "misunderstood" by the Financial Times. He never asked the paper to retract or correct the report about the interview, Schrempp said in a December deposition in the case. "To my knowledge, there is no generally fixed definition of a merger of equals," Schrempp said. "What we defined in the Business Combination Agreement as a merger of equals was precisely complied with and done."
Just FYI. It's still a muddy definition.
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Curis
Dodge Dakota
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3/07/2004
12:41:16
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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The ball joints changed in the 2000 year, I know! '99 had grease fittings and the 2000's did not and they are not interchangeage, I tried! The 2000 yr had a completely different ball joint on the a frame, will not fit and I don't mean just the rivets or bolts.
I had to change mine at 30K, I heard a popping noise and I checked, damn thing was ready to fall off!
'00 4.7 Dak SLT auto
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B1owner
Dodge Dakota
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3/07/2004
13:26:33
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Curis, just put upper joints out of a 97-99 in my 2001 dakota and they DO work fine
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Sephiroth
Dodge Dakota
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3/08/2004
16:13:58
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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Well if Benz is so dang good, why do the mechanics I hang with tell me they'd never own a Benz. And no, I am not talking shade-tree bumpkins with no education, I am talking actual Mercedes mechanics! That's right, I've talked with numerous mechanics about Benz cars and they despise them for the most part. None have said the cars are not EXTREMELY nice inside, but I've heard stories fromt he mechanics, of new cars being in the shop as often as they're on the road, and we have a LOT of Benz drivers around here. This isn't a few idiots who rag on their cars, this is the population at large. I'll see if I can actually tape a coversation or two (with permission) after I buy my camcorder, then post the results online. Benz knows cars DANG good, but they don't know a thing about an SUV or a truck. Heck, look how UGLY the new Durango is! So what if it's got a HEMI, I'd sooner drop a HEMI into an older Durango!!
You can argue it all you want, but while the design WAS in place before Daimler took over, since they took over, things have gotten worse. Look at the new crappy designs for instance. As much as I like the Ram trucks, it looks like somebody stole the dang loghts off a Benz and slapped them into the Ram. That isn't too bad, but I canot get over the extreme ugliness of the new Durangos. It looks like a fat pig leaning down and sticking out it's bottom lip! Who cares if it's HEMI!? You can drop a HEMI into a Dakota if you have the right stuff!
Then there's the fact that even after numerous accidents and complaints, no fix has been made for the ball-joints in new models, and the old models are not covered, so you have to pay every time the things go bad! At the very LEAST, DC should allow owners (or maybe original owners) of models affected with the problem to have the crappy joints swapped with good ones, even if it's the ones made by third-parties.
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WipLash
R/T
3/08/2004
22:09:11
| RE: Ball Joint Class Action
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I never said Dodges or Mercedes were good looking. The best looking Dodge truck ever made was the gen3 Dakota and that's not saying much. I always thought Mercedes were butt-f^ckin-ugly!!
Like I said, it's a "PERFECT MATCH". These two companies were meant for each other.
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