I saw this posting on a news group and felt it may be of intrest to our DML
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim <jtjohnson@rols.com>
Newsgroups: alt.autos.dodge.trucks
Date: Wednesday, December 24, 1997 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: 97 Dodge Dakota upper arm warning!
>Nospam Please wrote:
>>
>> If you have a 97 Dodge Dakota (2-wheel drive) and you hear a rattle on
>> the front suspension when you hit a bump (even a small one) when
>> making a right or left turn, or hear your front tires squealing hard
>> when maneuvering into (or our of) a tight parking space in the mall,
>> read on.
>>
>> At 7AM this morning, I took my Dakota (7,687 miles) this morning to
>> the dealer for the above complaint. I told the service advisor that I
>> suspect the upper arm ball joints are worn or the wheel bearings are
>> worn but asked him to tell the mechanic to check all the components of
>> the front suspension including the steering system, anyway. At 10AM,
>> he called me and told me that they have to replace the right and left
>> upper control arms. The parts need to be ordered, though. I asked
>> the service advisor why this major component has gone bad within a
>> year of light use? (The only heavy load I hauled in that truck was
>> early last spring when my wife asked me to pick up 5 bags of top soil
>> and 4 bags of landscaping stones from Builders Square!) He said that
>> the arms may not have been tightened well at the factory that's why
>> they went bad this early age of the vehicle! This makes me doubt the
>> quality of the OEM parts used in Dodge vehicles.
>>
>> --
>> Carlos at "calit at ibm.net".
>>
>> --
>> Sorry, my e-mail address is spam proof.
>> Please post replies to this newsgroup.
>
>Carlos, Glad to read you were able to identify a cause for your problem.
>It is surprising that the problem occurred at such a low mileage. I
>doubt that the parts were not properly tightened at the factory. Were
>both sides giving you trouble? Let us know if new upper arms fix the
>problem.
>
>I'm up to 12,000+ miles now with no serious problems, knock on wood.<g>
>One minor problem is with the tape player. Sometimes it takes a nap for
>a couple of hours but the radio comes on when the tape player nods off so
>it is not too hard to live with.
>
>Jim
>
>
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