| From | Message |
wayhead
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
10:39:26
|
 Subject: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Well its official, my truck has gone in the shop to replace the ball joints on my new '04 Dak QC 4x4. The dealers are running out of stock so get yours in now while they have them and your warranty is still up.
|
eddy
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
10:56:15
|  RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Please give more specifics. What mileage, and what type of miles you got on it? Which joints failed? They still replacing them with the same junk or are they putting in better ones yet? What, if anything useful, did your dealer have to say?
|
WipLash
R/T
3/31/2004
14:02:43
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Man, what are you people doing to these trucks? I wish everyone could see the road I drive down everyday to get to work. It is 5 miles of"Bucking Bronco". If I had a video of it to play on here I would. If you drive 45mph for the whole 5 miles your head will hit the roof 4 times. I just inspected my balljoints this weekend and they are perfect. However,I do have a left front wheel bearing going out. It only has 19,000 miles on it.
|
eddy
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
15:26:13
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Ever stop to think maybe the problem is more prevalent on trucks in other configurations than yours? We've had this argument before. I came to this truck from two other vehicles that had over 100 thousand miles with no suspension problems whatsoever on roads much more rougher than what I drive the Dakota on. And now our trucks, with their supposedly heavy duty suspensions, are chewing up front end parts and spitting them out. Just because you havent had the problem on your particular truck, or in your long string of trucks that you always get rid of bedfore the warranty expires, doesn't mean that Dodge doesn't put defective ball joints in their trucks or that it absolutely has to be driving style.
|
Ian
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
17:24:11
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
I agree with Eddy. Wiplash the logic of your argument is much similar to that of a 3 year old. Here is your argument: My balljoints never failed thus everyone else's that fail must be do to something they are doing. Nevermind dakotas and durangos spit out balljoints more then any other vehicle on the market, never mind the durango ball joints, the same ones as dakotas, are being recalled, never mind all the people whose ball joints have failed on their dakota is likely the first vehicle of theirs where the ball joints have been destroyed, etc, etc. Furthermore, after mostly highway driving my dak got the infamous front end clunk after only about 10,000 miles on it. Both ball joints were replaced under warratny and now at 25,000 miles I'm just waiting for the next set or hopefully a recall. Quit being so self-absorbed, it is painfully obvious that the dak has sh!tty ball joints, yes I am sure u can find instances where they have lasted but overwhelmingly they disintegrate because they are crap.
|
Yellow99RT
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
19:43:37
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
My balljoints are still good at almost 60K, though, with these Michigan roads, it almost seems like my alignment is way off. But then, as soon as I hit a new stretch of road, I can go as far as taking my hands off the wheel and it will not deviate a degree off the lane.
|
wayhead
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
19:49:12
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
The truck only has 9050 miles and mainly driven on pavement except when doing construction inspections and going in the mud and dirt fields but not driven over 20mph in rough areas. The dealer told me they've been having trouble on alot of other trucks, said nothing more and had limited information as to what was being put back on the truck.
|
WipLash
R/T
3/31/2004
22:10:44
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
IAN,
What arguement are you refering too? All I said was I can't imagine anyone's Dakota getting punished harder than mine except for maybe someone that goes muddin on the back 40......
You can't even drive over 50mph on this road I have to travel down to get to my job or you will blow a tire out. I did that on my 93 Caprice just 2 months ago. I still have no front end squeaks, rattles, or failures on my 2000 Dakota or my 93 Caprice.
I have another tire on my Caprice with a bubble sticking out the side from where I hit a chug hole in front of my office. You all are obviously doing something more drastic to your vehicles than I am in order to destroy a set of ball joints on a brand new Dakota.
|
99DAK
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
22:56:45
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
WipLash- tell me if this statement sounds logical to you: "I'm 46 years old and never had cancer, therefore everyone with cancer must be doing something wrong."
|
eddy
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/31/2004
23:22:42
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
"You all are obviously doing something more drastic to your vehicles than I am in order to destroy a set of ball joints on a brand new Dakota."
Fine you're absolutely positively right. Because on your trucks you as one person have never had a balljoint problem, that's gotta mean that anybody who has any ball joint issues on any other truck must regulary hoist their truck 40 feet in the air with a fork lift and then drop it repeatedly right side up at least 10 times per day.
Anybody on this board who's dealt with this issue would consider your attitude a joke, same as on any other dak board.
|
WipLash
R/T
3/31/2004
23:36:43
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
eddy,
My attitude? Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black isn’t it? Your attitude is exemplified through the problems you are having with your truck. Hence, ball joint failure. Just like my burnt up rotors and wheel bearings are from the high speeds and hard braking I do. You don't hear me crying over the rotors and bearings I have to replace every 20K.
If the ball joint problem was as big a problem as the few of you that come on here and say it is, Dodge's truck sales would be going down instead of up. The fact that people like me buy these trucks and drive the hell out of them with very few and minor problems is the reason Dodge's truck sales keep climbing.
Go get you Cheby and join a Cheby forum so you can be like all the Cheby cry babies.
|
Sephiroth
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
00:04:42
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
I kind of agree with whip here, while also noting that the bearings ARE flawed. My father has a '98 CC 4x4 5.2L. At around 20k of babying the truck (and trust me, he BABIES it) his bearings needed replacement. He had to pay for it because it took him ages to get 20k on it due to babying it and using it only on special occasions, and his warranty was out. He now has 80k though, and has not had any further problems. They're still sealed bearings and cannot be greased, but we're waiting to see when they go out again, which they WILL do since you can't replenish the grease.
So while I agree with whip in the sense that to make them go out at such low mileage, something odd has to have happened, or they had no grease at ALL to begin with, I also know that the bearings ARE faulty and cannot be good indefinatly. For instance, when they replaced my father's joints, they packed them FULL of grease, which could be why he's managed another 60k on them with no problems. Maybe whip's truck came packed and he got lucky. Who knows? I'm just glad I can lube mine!
|
WipLash
R/T
4/01/2004
00:05:38
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
99DAK,
Your trying to compare human genetics to a piece of metal? That's like comparing a nuclear warhead to a firecracker. The balljoints on our 97up Daks are all the same. There are over a billion different combinations of genes that make up our bodies that will determine our chances of getting cancer. With the exception of one or two joints per every 1000 joints (standard quality control percentage used in manufacturing) having a small defect, all of these joints are alike. Therefore, if 10 Dakotas were all put through the same torcher test for 50K all 10 would show about the same amount of wear and tear.
Unless you live in the country and drive down gravel roads, farms, and construction sites everyday, no one on this forum has a rougher commute to their work and back than I do. Yet, I have had no front end problems. Knock on Wood!
Also, if it was a defect in the ball joint, you would have several trucks just needing one ball joint for the life of the truck. 99% of the owners that have replaced ball joints have replaced more than one which would indicate that it is operator related. Many of those owners have also complained of having to replace tie rods and control arm bushings.
I'm more shocked over the fact that I don't have any ball joint or tie rod failures. It amazes me every time I service my truck(s) how good of shape it stays in. After reading all these post on ball joint failures I'm begining to get paranoid. I'm constantly inspecting them now. The other day I noticed my left front wheel was loose. I immediately assumed it was the upper joint. I removed the tire in preperation of removing the joint just to find out it was the wheel bearing and not the ball joint that has gone bad.
|
eddy
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
03:31:10
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
"You don't hear me crying over the rotors and bearings I have to replace every 20K."
Wait until your rotors wear out in 7900 miles of all highway drives to work and road trips. That was enough to make me shed a tear, as it brought to mind the truck I got rid of before this one that had the original rotors at 107K when I got rid of it, which had been turned a couple times but still had plenty of life left.
"If the ball joint problem was as big a problem as the few of you that come on here and say it is,"
The few? You think only a few Dak owners have ball joint issues? EVen FUNNIER!
" The fact that people like me buy these trucks and drive the hell out of them with very few and minor problems is the reason Dodge's truck sales keep climbing."
Again, you and your cousin Cleotis don't count as a representative sampling.
Alright I dont know what you want from me, I already admitted you're right and Im wrong. And the many complaints I see on here, on other Dakota boards, and in the news pertaining to ball joint problems mean absolutely nothing when compared to the fact that you drive down a bumpy road every day and you have no problems. Like I said, that must mean every other Dak owner in the world who has had a front suspension problem absolutely MUST be doing something wrong.
|
DSW
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
03:55:47
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Has anyone taken the grease boot off a Dak ball joint??? Well I did when I replaced my 00 Dak's ball joints and there wasn't hardly any grease in there! I would have to say that it was about 25% full and there were spots on the boot and joint that had never touched grease. Hmmm, no wonder the ball joint failed. It's kind of sh1tty for DC to put on sealed ball joints and then not even fill them up with grease.
The people who have had long service life out of the sealed ball joints must have lucked out and had ball joints with a full load of grease in them.
The Dak front end problems can be compared to a bushel of apples, one bad part (or rotten apple) can cause the others to go bad. If you have a ball joint flopping around and putting a significant stress on the rest of the suspension parts in common with the ball joint, they are going to fail from the beating. Warped rotors can also cause significant stress to the tie rods and wheel bearings since these parts were not designed to handle the load of a warped rotor vibrating the he11 out of them.
|
Max
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
06:50:35
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
I have an 02 cc 4x4 with 67,000 miles on it. Just had both upper and lower ball joints replaced on mine with Moog. And I did take the boots off my old one. (NO GREASE). When I took my truck in for the work the Mechanic said I was razy for wanting them replaced because there was no visable play. Well once he tore it down he had a heart attach because all 4 were bad. Played it safe,still cheaper than boby work repair.
|
JES
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
09:10:25
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Wip ... you need to take a refresher course in Statistics. You got lucky plain and simple. You are not the rule ... you are the exception to the rule. My truck -- '02 QC AWD Auto 4.7L ... never off-roaded, never turned to locks, only traveled on decent roads .... driver's upper balljoint gone at 27,000 miles. Great ... now I'm gonna get cancer. :oP
Eric -- http://photos.yahoo.com/jes_96
|
99DAK
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
10:55:24
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
WipLash- I made an analogy - and go look up the definition before attempting to argue with me about it.
You seem to be someone who sees things in extremes - black or white, all or nothing, etc. Few things in the real world work that way.
All things mass produced will occasionally contain a defective part. What we have here is a part with an exceptionally high failure (or wear) rate. That doesn't automatically mean that some of them won't have a normal performance/life span.
Not all people get cancer, not all Dakota/Durango ball joints fail prematurely, and not all people are capable of grasping the concept.
|
Yellow99RT
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
12:51:01
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Sorry guys, I am with Wiplash on this one. It has to be owner induced, or maybe environmentally induced. I am pretty close to five other Dakota owners (two 1998 3.9L's, one 1998 5.2L, one 2000 5.9L R/T and a 2002 3.9L, all 2 wheel drive) and not a single one of them has ever had a balljoint problem on their trucks. The only problem with anything related to the front end or steering was in the 2000 R/T and that was a faulty power steering unit. From the numbers that everyone posts, at least 3 of those 5 should've had some problem by now. Another fact is everytime I go to my Dodge service shop, I usually never see a Dakota there, and if there is one, they are not working on the front end.
|
Wiplash
R/T
4/01/2004
13:36:29
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
First of all, there is no grease inside the boot. The boot is there to seal off contaminents not to retain grease. Once grease works it's way up to the boot it is no longer lubricating the joint. The grease is inside the ball socket of the joint. It takes a very small amount of grease to lubricate a round ball that's approximately 1.25" in diameter.
Stick the tip of your finger in some grease and pull it out. What addhears to your finger is more than the grease needed to lubricate a ball joint. Anything more than that will go unused and work its way up to the boot.
Therefore, if anyone finds grease inside the boot of their ball joint means there is a problem. This is one of the reasons the manufacture quit putting grease fittings in the ball joints. Everyone has the tendency to pump grease into the joint until they see the boot swell up. This causes more harm by putting pressure on the boot. When the suspension flexes the boot ruptures and then contaminants get into the joint. Therefore, most manufacturers have quit putting grease fittings on ball joints.
|
JES
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
4/01/2004
13:59:28
| RE: Ball joints failed on an 04!
IP: Logged
Message:
Frankly ... I don't really care about the why's and wherefor's. Go to www.nhtsa.org and compare the balljoint failures for Dakota, Durango, Ranger, F-150, Explorer, S-10, et cetera. That pretty much tells the tale. The DAK/DUR balljoints fail at a rate that is ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE greater than other trucks. Why? I don't really give a sh!t why!!!!! They do .... and the mfr should own up to their shoddy quality .... PERIOD!!!!
Eric
|
| | P 1 Next Page>> |
