All,
Below is an email I received from a Kyle Bowker who works for the NHTSA. He
is doing a fact finding mission into premature ball joint wear with the
hopes of finding someone who's joints have failed. I urge everyone who has a
97+ Dakota or Durango to email or call this guy ASAP. Let's get the ball
rolling into making DC get us some better front suspension components.
BTW, I located the mysterious rattle coming from my drivers side front end
when I'm on a trail. The pitman arm is worn out. This was the only joint
that was not replaced when I had the ball joints (upper and lower), tie rod
ends and idler arm replaced at 21K miles. Total miles to date. 33200.
John
98 Dak 4X4 CC, Sport, 5.2L, Auto, Mopar headers, F&B TB, DDBC, DML sticker,
mostly rebuilt front suspension.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bowker, Kyle <NHTSA> <Kyle.Bowker@nhtsa.dot.gov>
To: IPM Return requested (Receipt notification requested)
<jndneff@texas.NET>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 7:05 PM
Subject: Dodge Dakota Ball Joints
I found your thread regarding the front suspension on your Dodge Dakota at
the
Dakota Mailing List Archives
(http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/WWW/DAKOTA
/ARCHIVES/9905/0800.html). It turns out that you have already filed a
complai
nt with the NHTSA. My name is Kyle Bowker and I work in the Office Of
Defects
Investigation in NHTSA at the Department of Transportation. I have seen
seve
ral complaints dealing with the issue of premature ball joint failure. I am
c
urrently doing follow up reports on Dodge Dakota/Durango VOQ's to see if a
tre
nd is developing. If we can get the right kind of evidence the NHTSA will
ope
n up an investigation that can lead to a recall on the part(s).
Unfortunately
, although the part in question is wearing out far too quickly, it will be
ver
y difficult to push this issue much further without some hard evidence
(broken
parts, accident reports, etc.). I was hoping you know of people
experiencing
similar problems on their 1997-1998 Dodge Dakota/Durango's. If so, please
as
k them to fill out an online VOQ at www.nhtsa.dot.gov or call the DOT safety
h
otline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT and be as specific about the incident(s) as
possibl
e. What we've seen so far is a progressive worsensing or wearing out of the
b
all joint. As far as doing a recall, the problem isn't a serious safety
issue
until a catastrophic (sudden) failure occurs or there is a motor vehicle
acci
dent as far as the manufacturers and the government are concerned. If you
can
provide any help or know of any who can, I can be reached at
(202)366-2748
FAX (202)366-1767
coop5@nhtsa.dot.gov
Kyle Bowker
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:46:41 EDT