Upper ball joints wore out prematurly.

- West Nanticoke, PA, USA

While driving, the consumer heard a noise coming from the front end of the vehicle. The consumer took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who replaced the upper ball joints due to deterioration. The ball joints were worn.

- Starkville, MS, USA

Have a 1997 Dodge Dakota 4 wheel drive, 5.2L V8. Heard knocking sporadic noises in front suspension. Took it to Dodge dealership who informed me that ball joints need to be replaced. In doing some research this seems to be a serious and dangerous problem with Dakotas. If I wouldn't have taken mine in to be looked at, it could have resulted in a serious accident. I have ask Dodge for my old ball joints so that I can have them as evidence. Dodge is charging about $600 for the repair. It doesn't seem fair that Dodge is making money of the repair of a ball joint that shouldn't have needed it in the first place. Dodge should issue a service advisory and this type of repair should be handled free of charge.

- Richardson, TX, USA

1997 Dodge Dakota upper and lower balljoints have failed pre-maturely. I currently am experiencing loud noises from the front of the vehicle when riding over small bumps. My mechanic stated that the upper and lower balljoints need to be replace on both sides of the vehicle. I am the orginal owner of this vehicle and it has never been used off paved roads.

- Underhill, VT, USA

I own a 1997' Dodge Dakota V8 long bed standard cab pick-up with only 32000 origional miles. The ball joints are bad and I have to have them replaced. I went to look up how to replace them and discovered the problem is wide spread. Sears mechanics were suprised that the ball joints were so worn with so few miles on the vehicle.

- Ft Pierce, FL, USA

The front tires experienced uneven tread wear. Dealership was unable to perform a front end alignment because all 4 ball joints wore out prematurely.

- Vienna, WV, USA

I had to replace the lower ball joints in my 1997 Dodge Dakota @ 72,000 miles. I believe this failure was premature.

- Wilmington, NC, USA

My 1997 Dodge Dakota has had to have both upper and lower ball joints replaced on both sides, twice since I bought the truck in 1999.

- Appleton, WI, USA

Failure of upper ball joints at approx. 80000 miles. Failure identified because ofsevere front tire wear. Had upper ball joints replaced, but this did not correct tire wear. Took truck to another dealer, and they explained that I had to have the lower ball joints replaced also because "you never just replace the upper, you have to replace the lower one's also" this corrected the tire wear problems. The dates are estimates, I would have to search thru my records or the records of the Dodge dealers for exact dates. I keep all the paper work, so a search is available if needed. VIN is available, I just don't have it here at work.

- Bloomington, IN, USA

Vehicle vibrated while driving. Dealer replaced the left upper ball joint twice.

- Amherst, WI, USA

Replace both sides of upper and lower ball joints at 60K and 120K despite using the best grease in them synthetic. I've complained about the seat back before since new it falls back. Front bucket.

- Meade, KS, USA

Lower ball joints had to be reply at 40000 miles also all rubber seals on top and on all steering arms are gone, truck had extended warranty but they would only reply the lower joints because they were ready to fail, warranty company would not replace upper ball joints or any of the steering assembly even though they are dry and will probably fail with-in the next 5000 miles/ truck had only 100 miles left on warranty... also have had to have the catalitic converter repl 3 times.

- Tampa, FL, USA

We had to replace the ball joints on our '97 Dodge Dakota after 49,000 miles because it became dangerous to drive our truck. This also affected the wear of our tires which we had to replace at the same time. Also, the brakes have never worked right, they were replaced at just over 30,000 miles. We would like to be reimbursed for the defective ball joints we had replaced. Ideally, we'd like to also be compensated for the premature wear on the tires, but realize that might be asking too much. How do we find out how to become part of the class action suit against daimler-Chrysler? (it was still Dodge when we bought the Dakota) fortunately, my husband was aware of the danger the ball joints created and we had them replaced before an accident occurred. Help! thanks for your time.

- Niles, MI, USA

1997 Dodge Dakota, VIN#[xxx]: defective ball joints for the second time in 8000 miles. The first replacement was needed @ 30,000mi, but not done until 55,668mi. 2nd set wore beyond.19" 8000mi later. Lithia Dodge's remarks: Not life threatening, just keep them greased. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Anchorage, AK, USA

Upper and lower ball joints have worn prematurely (36000 miles) and are very expensive to fix. Unfortunately, it's not safe to continue driving without replacing them. Dodge needs to get a handle on this before any accidents occur.

- Maxwell, IA, USA

While driving steering wheel is very loose. When riding over bumps in the road there is a rattling noise in the front end. Mechanic says there is excessive wear in the ball joints. The rubber boot on top of the ball joints were busted.

- Olive Branch, MS, USA

While driving at low or high speeds a noise could be heard coming from the front of the vehicle. Dealer determined that the upper ball joints must be replaced.

- Free Soil, MI, USA

While driving at low or high speeds, a noise could be heard coming from the front of the vehicle. The dealer determined that the upper ball joints must be replaced.

- Free Soil, MI, USA

Dealer replaced upper control arm and ball joints at 35000 miles, again was replaced at 80000. Dealer knew about the problems of the ball joints, but claimed they were still good and consumer could still drive although the ball joints were worn out prematurely.

- Birdsboro, PA, USA

Upper ball joint wore out prematurely and needed replacement, per dealership. Vehicle was kept in the garage with only 50K miles and the consumer didn't understand why he had expensive failures.

- Manchester, MD, USA