Nine problems related to front suspension upper arm have been reported for the 1999 Dodge Durango. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Suspension fron control arm upper ball joint and control arm - failure.
Vehicle vibrated while driving 20 mph or more and a knocking noise was heard when turning. Vehicle was taken to a repair shop, and mechanic determined that the upper ball joint and the upper control arm on driver's side needed to be replaced.
While making a right turn a loud noise was heard coming from the passenger side wheel. Consumer was able to drive the vehicle home, and will take the vehicle to repair shop for inspection in the near future.
Right upper control arm was out of spec and needed to be replaced. Left is also going out. Cost over $400 for each side! I understand this to be a common problem on this vehicle, which is well documented. Dodge needs to suck it up and pay for these repairs due to manufacturer defect!.
We have been detetecting frontend noises for some time now in our 1999 Dodge Durango(VIN# 1b4hs28z7xf625124). On Friday morning, Nov 28,2003, they suddenly became much worse. The sudden increase came while we were visiting family for thanksgiving some 350 miles from home. I promptly telephoned my service person at home and asked him about the problem. He and I have had multiple conversations regarding niose in the front end and he has continually reassured me that no problem of any serious nature is detectable. On this occasion, he told me that he could refer me to another dealer in NJ or I could bring it in to him when I got home with the truck. I described the noise in detail, a metal on metal grating noise with squeaking that worsened over bumps in the road or on right turns. At no time did the service person inform me of a potentially dangerous condition and discourage me from driving the truck at either high speed or low speed. Later in the day the noise worsened even to a greater degree. At this point it even seemed that there was some drag on the truck's forward progress. We phoned a local Dodge dealership and began to make the 5 mile journey. Approximately 1 mile from our starting point, the front end of the vehicle collapsed. I had to get a tow to the dealer. The front wheels were completely splayed out and I no longer had control of the vehicle.
1999 Durango, am being told by mechanic that ball joints are bad and need replacing at 60,000 miles. This vehicle gets only highway miles, no rough stuff at all. Mechanic says front end shimmy (experienced for past 10,000 miles) is result of ball joint and tie rods failing. There is no way a correctly designed suspension system will fail in 50-60,000 highway miles. Chrysler needs to fix their error.
While driving at any speed consumer heard a squeaking sound coming from the front end. Consumer noticed that the front wheels were tilted inward . Vehicle was taken to dealer for a front end alignment. Dealer replaced the right upper control arm, but squeaking still persisted.
-upper control arm ball joints have been diagnosed as bad. This vehicle has only 52,000 miles and is driven primarily on the highway and is not subjected to abuse. The dealership has admitted that this is a common problem with these vehicles. The dealership & manufacturer refuse to replace components under warranty because the vehicle is beyond the covered warranty mileage of 32,000 miles. Having done searches on the internet I have found that this is a very common problem that has very serious safety implications.
Consumer stated there was a clunking noise when a turn was made. Took vehicle to a mechanic, and the mechanic stated the right and left upper control arms needed to be replaced.