I've had mine replaced late last year. All 4 were bad at 60k. While I
never took it in for service, I've known from this group that the ball
joints on our trucks are non-servicable and undersized. Hence, they wear
out. I had all 4 replaced with Spicer joints and it cost me approx $750
including labor.
With the number of attempts you have tried to get them fixed, I'd look in
your records to see what work was done on other steering/front suspension
components other than the ball joints.
Chris Reck
Bloomington, IL
'99 Dakota Sport + CC 4x4 V6 (Deep Amethyst)
Autolite 3923, 7.5mm Bosch plug wires, Jet Stage 1 Chip, Custom K&N 6x9 air
intake, Rancho RSX shocks (4), Pioneer full audio system, BF Goodrich
32x11.5r15 T/A KO tires, Spicer ball joints.
""Dan Wray"" <danwray@home.com> wrote in message
news:b5hva8$jim$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
> Hello Folks, I've been lurking here for a couple of years, found a lot of
> great info.
> Here's my problem: My Dakota is a 99 club cab with 36000 Km on it. It has
> been out of warranty for about 7 months, and now they find that the ball
> joints are shot. (not sure if both upper and lower -will find out on
> Monday). I have had my truck in for a "clunking and popping" noise in the
> front end 12 times since I bought it new. They couldn't find the problem
> (which started 2 months after I bought it), until now that it is out of
> warranty. The Service Manager talked to his Regional Rep. and came up with
a
> deal that I have to pay "only" $450.00. (canadian). He stated that the job
> would cost $1800.00 and that the Rep is supplying the parts and that all
> that I will have to pay is the labour. Now I think that all that I should
> have to pay for is the alignment - it was the dealers fault that they
didn't
> fix it before. I also talked to a Chrylser rep on the phone and she said
> that it was between me and the dealership. I know that I should have taken
> it elsewhere a long time ago -but in my stupidity I thought that they
would
> fix it .(They did change the intermediate steering shaft and steering rack
> which they said was both loose anyways .. didn't help).
> Bottom Line- Is $450.00 unreasonable after having brought up this problem
12
> times while under warranty -or is it a good deal and I should pay it and
get
> the crappy sealed Chrysler ball joints installed.
> Sorry for the long post, but I am pissed and any thoughts or opinions
would
> be appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Dan
>
>
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