Prematurely worn upper ball joint for 1998 Dodge Dakota sport truck (2W) with 55,000 miles. Severe squeaking and grinding noise along with obvious irratic braking problems.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

The front suspension of my '98 2wd Dodge Dakota makes a loud 'popping' noise during sharp lowspeed turns - a check of the message boards revealed that this is a common proble with Dakotas and durangos resulting from improperly engineered or manufactured ball joints constituting an obvious driver safety issue should these parts fail prematurely as they have in many low mileage vehicles.

- Paradise, CA, USA

On two separate occasions upper and lower ball joints needed to be replaced because of premature wear.

- Chesterfield, VA, USA

Lower driver's sider ball joint failure.

- Miami, FL, USA

Lower passenger side ball joint failure.

- Miami, FL, USA

Upper ball joint failure.

- Miami, FL, USA

The upper ball joints were replaced under warranty at approximately 30,000 miles. They were making a thumping noise when simultaneously turning a corner and going over a bump. The problem reappeared and the ball joints were replaced again approximately 25,000 miles later with aftermarket units. Upon close examination of the oe units there was excessive play and the grease was hard.

- Wichita, KS, USA

During a routine inspection mechanic informed the consumer that front ball joints were wearing out.

- Pine Island, MN, USA

1998 Dodge Dakota, upper arm ball joint defect. A story on cbs news last night has prompted me to submit this complaint. September 2000, noise on the right front side of truck prompted me to stop at a Dodge dealer to check it out, found the right upper arm ball joint was so bad that the service manager said I could have lost the wheel on the highway at the speed limit causing potentially serious accident. The arm was replaced under warranty (34853 miles). I recently purchased 4 new tires for the truck and asked the dealer to do a front end alignment (59423), he tried and said he could not because the ball joints were defective. I had no indication at this time there was a problem with the ball joints until I tried to get an alignment to protect the new tires, I got a second opinion with the same response. I went to the Dodge dealer and confirms that all 4 ball joints in the front end were bad, lower and upper. Dealer said it happens occasionally, but I have less than 60,000 miles on the truck and it is my third ball joint on the upper front. This time there was no indication of a problem and it cost me over $1100 to fix as it was no longer under warranty was lucky since the there was no accidents, the problem was caught in time. There is no doubt in my mind that the ball joints used on the Dodge Dakota are defective and do not last, in my case the replaced ball joint in September 2000 lasted less than 24,000 miles understand there is a class action law suit in progress, can you provide any information on this, Chrysler/daimler needs to stand up and fix the problem before there is a tragedy.

- Portland, CT, USA

During inspection it was determined that the upper and lower ball joints were warped and must be replaced.

- Feeding Hills, MA, USA

Worn front wheel bearing & excessive wear on upper & lower ball joints.

- Washington, NJ, USA

Failure of upper ball joints on my 1998 Dodge Dakota pickup truck at 49052 miles.ould get no satisfaction from dealer.

- Fallston Md., MD, USA

Upper ball joint premature wear.

- Youngsville, NC, USA

While turn a corner in my 1998 Dodge Dakota I heard a bang. Looked around under the truck I did not see anything broken. Took truck to tire shop to have front tires rplaced and they told me that the ball joints need to be replaced. I have found out that there is an ongoing investigation by your staff intop the Dodge durango (PE03032). The durango and dakaota have the same front ends underneath them. If there is a finding of defective parts in the durango is should also apply to the Dakota.

- Milton, FL, USA

Front ball joint early failure on 1998 Dakota. Front upper ball joints are experincing early failures. Same suspension components as durango.

- Lone Rock, WI, USA

Advised by authorized Chrysler service to replace both left and right, upper and lower ball joints and left and right lower control arms for excessive wear at 46059 miles. Cost $1478 plus tax. One mechanic said this is same premature problem experienced on ddodge durango.

- Naugatuck, CT, USA

While traveling on the highway without prior warning the right control arm bolt became loose. The dealership is aware of the problem. Nlm consumer compalined of a noise on numerous occasions before the incident occured.

- Texarkana, TX, USA