[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

was at my dealer today for a tranny flush (67K miles)

the tech called me over to show me that my upper and lower ball joints are cracked and leaking..

all covered under my extended service contract.. no big deal and no out of pocket cost..


just curious at 67K anyone else have this issue..


car is a early build (04-04) Hemi C..

I was also shown (already knew it though) where my steering cradle is out of alignment by almost 1 1/2 inches.

there is a TSB so the dealer is gonna do it all for me next week..

the lower ball joint and strut tension bar are a single part.. as are the upper ball and upper A (control) arm..

so bascially everything except the steering knuckle is getting replaced...

for the record I have SRT suspension on the car, and have had for 15K miles, prior to that was the stock C suspension.

 

[RTP SRT8]

was at my dealer today for a tranny flush (67K miles)

the tech called me over to show me that my upper and lower ball joints are cracked and leaking..

all covered under my extended service contract.. no big deal and no out of pocket cost..


just curious at 67K anyone else have this issue..


car is a early build (04-04) Hemi C..

I was also shown (already knew it though) where my steering cradle is out of alignment by almost 1 1/2 inches.

there is a TSB so the dealer is gonna do it all for me next week..

the lower ball joint and strut tension bar are a single part.. as are the upper ball and upper A (control) arm..

so bascially everything except the steering knuckle is getting replaced...

for the record I have SRT suspension on the car, and have had for 15K miles, prior to that was the stock C suspension.

So are they replacing the SRT suspension with SRT parts on your 300C? I would think my dealership would charge me extra for that seeing that the car originally came with the stock C suspension.
They would have told me that the steering cradle being out 1 1/2 inches was due to the non stock suspension. I'm surprised they are doing it for you for nothing outta pocket.
Good for you!

 

[CUEBALL]

Heard a couple of folks here over the last 6 months describe ball joint problems when looking for suspension help... don't think they came back with a completed diagnosis of ball joint failure. Do you have a Chrysler extended service, or an aftermarket one Marc, I can't remember.


Anyone else? I imagine one of the pedders folks might have seen it...

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

So are they replacing the SRT suspension with SRT parts on your 300C? I would think my dealership would charge me extra for that seeing that the car originally came with the stock C suspension.
They would have told me that the steering cradle being out 1 1/2 inches was due to the non stock suspension. I'm surprised they are doing it for you for nothing outta pocket.
Good for you!

No they are not replacing the struts or springs. though they installed them for me at my request..

they are replacing the upper control and lower control arms and the tension struts...

as for the cradle being out of whack, that is an issue on the early builds, it is very labor intensive to fix and I have been advised about it twice before, but there was no reason to monkey with it until now, since they will have the whole thing a part anyway, do both at the same time..

when my tie rods failed about 15K miles ago, they replaced my steering rack with a SRT rack at my request and covered it as a warranty (service contract) item..

My dealer is very well aware of all my mods, I am very straight forward with them and have a very good relationship with my service manager, service writer and several of the techs.. I don't get crap for my mods.. and they don't bounce my warranty because of them, they know damn well that the ball joint failure is not related to the shocks being SRT vs C model..

Heard a couple of folks here over the last 6 months describe ball joint problems when looking for suspension help... don't think they came back with a completed diagnosis of ball joint failure. Do you have a Chrysler extended service, or an aftermarket one Marc, I can't remember.


Anyone else? I imagine one of the pedders folks might have seen it...

I have a Chrysler 7/85 zero deductible SC Cueball....

 

[bund]

how can you tell if the cradle is out of wack?

 

[RTP SRT8]

That's awesome! I wish more people had relationships with the dealership like you do. I have read many horror stories in this forum of the "Stealership" trying to get out of paying for things that should be covered under warranty.

I still say good for you and congrats on getting your car fixed up again.

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

how can you tell if the cradle is out of wack?

measure your front wheels from the edge of the front of the wheel to the inner fender wall

mine is obvious, drivers side gap is like 6 inches, passenger side like 3 inches

no need to even measure you can plainly see it.. the passenger wheel sits further forward than the drivers side

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

That's awesome! I wish more people had relationships with the dealership like you do. I have read many horror stories in this forum of the "Stealership" trying to get out of paying for things that should be covered under warranty.

I still say good for you and congrats on getting your car fixed up again.

thank you, believe me I went thru my fair share of crappy service and dealerships (9 in total) before finding this one..

the service is great to begin with, and it is a small shop, only 2 service writers, and 8 techs.. not real busy and very personal service.. down to the smallest details, (like they wear gloves as not to get finger smudges on my Matte Paint..

 

[robaustin]

So I take it that it is the rubber boots that cover the ball joints that is cracked and leaking? When I got my oil changed last time by the independent down the street, the guy said that my passenger side ball joint boot was cracked. I can't see it without removing the wheel but i can reach around in there and feel it. Maybe I should get serious and have the suspension Pedderized and any suspicious components replaced. The car is also an early build like Mr. iMCREDIBLE'S.

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

So I take it that it is the rubber boots that cover the ball joints that is cracked and leaking? When I got my oil changed last time by the independent down the street, the guy said that my passenger side ball joint boot was cracked. I can't see it without removing the wheel but i can reach around in there and feel it. Maybe I should get serious and have the suspension Pedderized and any suspicious components replaced. The car is also an early build like Mr. iMCREDIBLE'S.

correct the rubber boot is cracked and the leaking is the bearing grease..

 

[joey]

measure your front wheels from the edge of the front of the wheel to the inner fender wall

mine is obvious, drivers side gap is like 6 inches, passenger side like 3 inches

no need to even measure you can plainly see it.. the passenger wheel sits further forward than the drivers side

Man, I am jealous about your dream dealer. Wish they could clone dealers. I just measured my wheels from the rocker panel to the wheel and it is about 3" on the drivers side and 3 1/2" on the passenger side. I have 255/45/20's, which makes the distance a little smaller compared to a stock tire.

 

[Tork Monster]

I had to replace both upper ball joints before I headed down to Irvine. I didn't even ask for warrantee coverage considering I was pressed for time and I was at a suspension shop, had installed coilovers and was wearing 22" rims.

The car had 12k on it. :sour:

 

[stevesrt8]

too bad

what's really sad is that they don't make a replacement dust cover.

There's nothing wrong with the ball joint, just the rubber boot broke, thus all the lube leaks out and the joint will rapidly wear.