OK, I have to vent my experiences. This has happened to other off-roading
buddies of mine as well.
I recently had an alignment done at a dealer nearby and with the alignment,
they replaced the two lower ball joints. (I grease them religiously, but
they wore out anyway causing the truck to wander) This last weekend, I
installed my Tuff Country 5.5" lift and took it to a local shop for an
alignment and they noticed my upper joints were worn (why the dealer didn't
replace them 4,000 miles ago is beyond me). He said that this is a very
common problem with Dakota/Durangos and was surprised that my lowers weren't
worn out as well, until I told him they were just replaced. Anyway, instead
of having him replace them, I took the truck to the dealer to have them
replaced under warranty. At this point I'm sure can all tell where this is
going. Naturally, the dealer doesn't want to cover it because of the lift.
I explained that the lift was on the truck for 1 day and about 20 miles. He
then said that if Chrysler wanted to see the part back, they would reject
the claim (they don't replace the joint, they replace the whole control
arm). I asked why and he said because it had been modified. Now anyone who
has installed this kit knows that the control arm is not modified, but he
was too lazy to look. He then said that the lift voids my warranty (it does
not). I asked to speak to the service manager and the sales manager. Once
both arrived I asked "I just want to be very clear, are you denying me
warranty coverage?" Service mgr replied yes. I then asked for their
business cards so I could get the names right on my complaint to the Better
Businees Bureau. This made them back off a bit. I asked on what basis they
were denying coverage. The response was that the suspension had been
modified. I explained that all the geometry was the same, simply spaced
down on the vehicle. He said "How do I know that? I'm not going to measure
all of that" This is when I knew I had him. Best part is there were
several customers in the service area at the time, including some
prospective buyers. "Yes you are if you think you're going to deny
coverage. We have a legally binding contract and if you believe that is
void, then you have the burden of proof as to why." So we put my truck next
to a stock one in the shop (getting ball joints replaced and don't think I
let that go unnoticed) and proceeded to take measurements. Well low and
behold, the geometry was the same. So I have two new upper control arms
under warranty but it should not have taken that much work. I'm still going
to have the original shop I went to check the alignment because I would be
suspicious of the dealer really doing a half-assed job at this point.
Now, just so this is clear, I'm not trying to screw the system. If the
joint was worn with 20,000 miles on it with the kit, I would have asked and
I'm sure the dealer would deny it, and I would understand their position.
However, the joint was worn out before the kit was installed. I just don't
believe it was fine until I drove a grand total of 20 miles to the alignment
shop with the kit on.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that some dealers will try to
weasal out of warranty work any way possible, but if you know you're in the
right, don't back down. Otherwise, they'll just walk all over us.
BTW, as for the kit, the install went very smoothly, about 8 hours with
three guys (2 with IFS kit experience). Haven't really formed any
impressions yet, haven't driven it enough. Looks very cool, though. In
about two months, I see how it does off road.
Jason
'99 CC, SLT, 318, Auto
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