Mallett, Donald B wrote:
> <SNIP>Well, when I took my Dak to the local Dodge boys a few weeks ago to
> replace the worn-out ball joints, they replaced the steering box, pitman
> arm, and intermediate shaft instead.
>
> So your saying you brought it in for new balls and they gave you the shaft?
hehe, interesting observation.
> hehe You still have the old ball joints in there, What took them from the
> ball joints to the steering box etc...?
My interpretation of their diagnosis...ineptitude. They have no real
explanation other than "it was bad." They can't explain what was bad
with it or why they told me over the phone they were ordering ball
joints and wound up putting in a steering box.
They claim there is nothing wrong with the ball joints, however the
service writer was honest enough to state when he drove the truck up
into the service area the 1st time that he heard the clunking/popping
sounds. He'd have to be deaf not to.
The rest is a long story, but basically, they said I didn't know what I
was talking about when I told them about the >1/4" play in one lower
ball joint and slightly over 1/8" in the other. Ditto for the uppers.
From this statement, they "checked again" and found that the inner
tie-rod ends were bad (as I told them when I dropped it off the first
time). Two written estimates from outside alignment shops and another
visit to the dealer netted ONE lower ball joint, a dent in the fender,
one missing lug nut, five missing caps from the remaining lug nuts, and
a now ticked off customer.
Kevin
--
Kevin Sellstrom, W6KTB E-Mail:ksellstr@softcom.net
***Wilton, California***
'99 Dodge Dakota CC, 4x4, 5.2,
'69 Dodge D200, 4x2, 318,
Also: '83 Volvo 244Ti, '85 Volvo 244, '68 Volvo 122S, '98 Specialized
Rockhopper A1FS
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