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JimiBudah
Dodge Dakota
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7/13/2004
06:50:31
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 Subject: Need some input
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I have an 01 CC V6 2WD. I'm about to replace yet another set of balljoints. Well actually the dealer is. When I took it in this time I flipped on the guy behind the counter. I point out asked him why Dodge would sell a truck they know is defective? Then I said my next truck will be anything but a Dodge.
So far I have gone through 3 sets of pads and rotors and 2 sets of upper control arms. Of the 20 or so vehicles I have owned in my life I have never had one that ate so many front end parts. I'm looking at Nissan, Toyota and Ford. I'm leaning toward Toyota.
What's every ones thoughts. Our trucks are pretty to look at but they are poorly designed crap.
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chuckohio
Dodge Dakota
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7/13/2004
07:47:35
| RE: Need some input
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customerassist@daimlerchrysler.com
Michael Fairo
Senior Staff Representative
DaimlerChrysler Customer Assistance Center
THIS GUY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
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JimiBudah
Dodge Dakota
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7/13/2004
15:16:25
| RE: Need some input
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I've already bitched about it to DC. I even told them how many Chrysler products I've bought brand new and I still got the "these are considered normal wear items and are not covered by warranty" BS. Everybody and their uncle knows the Dakota has some serious design issues. It was on CBS news twice, FCS!!
When my wifes Caravan dies she wants a Saturn Vue Redline and I think I'll get a Tundra. It's a bit of an ugly duckling but if it doesn't butt rape my wallet every 6 months, who cares. It's sad to have to leave the Dodge fraternity after 22 years but if they treat their long term customers this way it doesn't say much about the brotherhood of Dodge.
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jjj
Dodge Dakota
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7/13/2004
20:23:39
| RE: Need some input
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Unfortunately since Benz bought Chyrsler their quality has gone down hill :(
In fact just had to dump a 00 Concorde with the finely designed 2.7 engine because the engine was on its way out. Stayed American though and bought a Gran Prix, I will keep the Dak as far as I can see into the future though.
Try greasing the ball joints, and on my 01 Dak the calipers were hanging and had to be replaced. Just hanging slightly but enough to warp rotors.
Jeff
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another mark
Dodge Dakota
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7/14/2004
01:20:36
| RE: Need some input
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My two cents... don't go to Dodge, get Moog ball joints from rockauto.com and replace them yourself or take to a competent shop to do. You don't need to replace the entire control arm when you do it this way. Stupid Dodge rivets the ball joints in and is extra lazy and sells it all as one unit.
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Kowalski
GenIII
7/14/2004
15:27:50
|  RE: Need some input
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Jeff- the Dodge balljoints aren't greasable; and Benz had nothing to do with the '00 Concorde...
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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wtf?
Dodge Dakota
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7/14/2004
23:48:44
| RE: Need some input
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For one thing Jimibudah, you flipped out on the wrong guy! Why the hell would you attack a person who has absolutly nothing to do with building your truck?? All dealership employees work for the owner of the dealership NOT Chrysler! They are there to help. If they are reluctant to help you, it is most likely due to the way you present yourself. Whould you help someone who flipped out on you for someone elses faulty engineering? As for jjj, the quality of DCX vehicles have become a lot BETTER in recent years! Not fallen off. In fact the concorde, intrepid and 300M vehicles were rated a #1 in reliability for the large passenger car market according to the J.D. Power vehicle dependability surveys. Due to the fact that it takes about 5-6 years for a vehicle to make it from design to dealership, Diamler has not had much to do with any of the vehicles up to the 05 model year. The ball joint problems stem from the manufacturer (TRW) who provided poorly lubricated ball joints. DCX has changed suppliers for these parts. Mopar sells the upper ball joints separately and the dealer is the one that is being "lazy" while selling you the upper control arms. I do agree with the complaints of faulty ball joints and poorly designed (at best) brakes, but do not fault an entire vehicle brand for a couple weak points because EVERY brand has a few. Especially Saturn and Pontiac! The busies service departments in my area are the Chevy and GM dealers. I might add that our shop has 10 techs that are somewhat busy and both the Chevy and GM dealers combined have nearly 40 techs and are booked out for two weeks! Combined, they sell about twice as many vehicles as we do but do the math and you will find where the true dependability is. Sorry for the long post.
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Thanks
Dodge Dakota
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7/15/2004
14:36:56
| RE: Need some input
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Thanks for the great rebuttal. I haven't had any issues with my dak. (except for the sh!tty brakes) LOL
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F150
Dodge Dakota
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7/15/2004
15:31:33
| RE: Need some input
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to wtf:
blah, blah, blah. You're just a fukcing DC cheerleader so your words mean shlt. Maybe the GM service department is busy because they sell 20 times more vehicles than DC does. Ever consider that one?
DC, the NHSTA and everybody who bothers to look knows the Dakota has serious problems with the fron end. It's poorly designed and poorly built from the cheapest parts.
You'll be out of work you stunned little turd because everybody is flocking to other makers, especially the Japs, in droves. If you want to make statements like "all vehicles have weak points", post some links.
Brakes failing and wheels flying off is pretty major stuff, not just some "weak points".
Dodge is crap and always will be.
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Kowalski
GenIII
7/15/2004
15:45:18
| RE: Need some input
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F150 - you might want to reread wtf's post: he did consider that GM sells more; he quite cleary states they sell twice as much and need 4 times the techs to try to keep up. I crunched the #s for you since you seemed to be struggling to grasp the idea. Just what we'd expect from someone who identifies with Ford.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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jjj
Dodge Dakota
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7/15/2004
17:49:03
| RE: Need some input
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They are greaseable if you use the needle on the grease gun :)
That is how I do mine, yeah eventually you may ruin the boot, but who cares if the ball joint last years longer.
Didn't say Benz built the 2.7, it was a Mitsu design, All I am saying is the quality since the buyout has gone down hill. It has been plenty long enough since the buyout for DC to address quality issues. Heck the 2.7 is the same today as it was 4 yrs ago, well except for a couple of stronger timing chain parts. The sad part is I am an ex-Chrysler tech and do the maintenance.
The same with balljoints and brakes, those issues SHOULD have been taken care of by 99 at the latest.
Jeff
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Kowalski
GenIII
7/15/2004
18:36:08
| RE: Need some input
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I don't believe you'll get your ball joints to last years longer that way - you're only surrounding the joint with grease, not actually getting grease into the joint. To be truely greasable, a ball joint requires a zerk fitting. Good luck.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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jjj
Dodge Dakota
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7/16/2004
20:58:13
| RE: Need some input
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I agree, a truly greaseable joint is better but so far a 01 with about 65k on it and still original.
We will see how it goes and go from there :)
Jeff
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dakvader
Dodge Dakota
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7/16/2004
23:03:51
| RE: Need some input
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Ford guy talking about wheels flying off?!?
HAAAAA
HMMMMMM remember this famous word??
FIRESTONE.
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Kowalski
GenIII
7/17/2004
08:32:37
|  RE: Need some input
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Ridiculous, eh ? Last month I saw a late model F150 by the side of the road with the right front steering linkage on the ground; still got all the wheels on my truck !
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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deerridge
GenIII
7/17/2004
10:12:47
| RE: Need some input
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I've put a little over 40k on my 03 RC AWD and keep waiting for the pads, rotors and ball joints to fail any minute and my 4.7 to sludge up and quit. Sorry, but my brakes work great and the suspension is super up the gravel roads and around the curves at speed. The little olde 4.7 runs like a rolex on steriods pulling my trailers with 6 to 8k loads. I'll keep looking for the first failure, it has to happen with this piece of crap Dakota. The A/C drain did plug up. That's a major design flaw for sure. Class action suite anyone?
Real Horsepower
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deerridge
GenIII
7/17/2004
10:19:54
| RE: Need some input
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I forgot to mention the gravel chipped a spot on the hood and ya, my Goodyears only have about 10000 left on them and dirt sticks to it too.
Real Horsepower
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Ms. Scooter
Dodge Dakota
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7/17/2004
14:55:06
| RE: Need some input
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Oh, Yes, I want to complain about my Dak too. Those darn ball joints, brakes, pads and rotors, peices of garbage are still going strong, what's up with that? Why, I have almost 44k on my '03 4x4 4.7 QC, and Good Lord, it looks as if I'll get another 15k off these original tires, too, but I cannot keep the dirt off them, my white letters won't stay clean. Stupid Goodyears, and I'm just a dumb female driver, who doesn't know any better, so I'll just put the same brand right back on. OMG, how come I've never had problems with alignment, steering, brakes, and how come I don't have any water under the passenger floor mat. MY TRUCK IS BORING... Why, my top mpg empty was 25mpg (speed limit 65), average 19+ mpg, and towing average on 4800lbs is 13mpg. and when my horse trailer is hooked up, my truck doesn't even squat, what horrible suspension. I got a stone chip on the windshield, and now I think my truck leans to the side, and my horse scraped her teeth on the paint and it came off! Oh, and one of my '4's on the 4x4 decal has a little scrape on it. Where's my lawyer? No sludginess in my engine (damn Amsoil), no whiney transmission (damn Amsoil), and never a problem with the differentials (damn Amsoil), no clunky turns. I can't pick a fight with my dealer and service dept., they like me too much, They just pull the records and see all this regular maintainance, the manager was looking at my brakes when one day when the wheels were off, and he want over to see the file on my truck, because he couldn't believe they were in that good a condition. I told him, that's because I don't use them! I have a very boring truck, nothing is wrong, nothing has been wrong, and I don't have anything to complain about Heck, even my Line-X won't fade. - Waaaaaaa!
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Kelly
Dodge Dakota
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7/19/2004
01:30:47
| RE: Need some input
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You go girl ! i have a 2000 quad cab with over a 100,000 kms on it still with the original tires and never had anything like what i read on this site happen to me.
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