BALL JOINT RECALL, WE DID IT!!!!

jpzkj · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:38 pm

Errr Ahh....Mr Crandell....there seems to be somthing wrong with your IFS......ITS MISSING !

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:30 pm

lilmatty · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:54 pm

I wonder if they'll give me some remuneration for the Moogs I put on after the second failure of their stock stuff.

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:01 pm

Quote:

I heard a rumor that if you got them replaced before the recall, DC is required to reimburse you if you provide a receipt. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

I would think that a quick call to the csr help line would confirm this.

This happened on a Camaro I had. Steering pump mount was bad, hose went after mount failed and cut hose. I had an aircraft grade hose made at the airport I worked at cheaper than buying a stock one. GM issued recall on the pump mount and reimbursed me for the new hose which wasn't even GM. Also happened when they issued a recall for the nose bodywork. Turned out it was fragile when u hit a curb and it shattered (go figure). Anyway, I had mine repaired at a body shop and again they reimbursed me.

They should reimburse you for the Moog's up to the cost of the DC LBJs. After all, if u switch to Moogs, they are absolved of further having to replace those LBJs in the future. If u stick with DC they may have to replace them again and again. I would think they'd be happy to see u use the Moogs. Maybe that's the tact we should take when talking to the dlr or DC directly. Let em know we will put on the Moogs so they never have to worry about the DC ones going if they will reimburse us for them and install em.

We may be able to purchase Moogs and get DC to reimburse us for that much of the cost as well as install the Moogs for free because of the recall. I'd start talking to the dlrs now about this.

Also, I think we ought to send an email/letter to each paper/media that printed the article and tell them the real deal about the LBJs and how it differs from DCs press release. Maybe an official LOST press release? After all, we are sanctioned by DC (or at least mentioned in thier Jeep brochure) :wink:

So we do have some cred.

nyrican52884 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:12 pm

Does anybody know what VINs are affected, does it affect the 2WD or just 4x4. I was looking foward to putting a 2.5" rusty's lift on next week and the dealership said the lift would void the recall. Is this true? Also what does movement in the LBJ feel like when your driving?

barhpr · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:35 pm

and to think I just replaced mine last thursday... :roll:

was about to loose the TIRE.

2006KJSPORT4x4 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:36 pm

a recall is for every vehicle...whether under warranty or not...thus they cannot void a recall on your KJ since your deciding to put a lift on pre or post recall...the recall is good for the life of the vehicle no matter what you do to it...at least that is what was explained to me by my dealer...

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:37 pm

allyrand wrote:

ooooh goody...can't wait to take mine in and get them replaced..can't wait to see the look on their faces JJ's Roll

They'll probly take it in, replace them for free and get you out on your way verrrryyyy promptly...

:lol:

saxdogg · **Joined:** Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:26 pm **Posts:** 199

Has anyone confirmed in writing from DC that recalls are for the life of the vehicle? What I mean is, if they perform the replacement, you are still entitled to free replacement for a second or even third time? My dealer said they do it once, it's marked as completed, and that's it.

Everyone here makes it sound like that's not the case. Now, I don't mean "life of the vehicle" as in it expires...I mean getting it done over and over on the same KJ. Thoughts?

JP

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:40 am

Why don't we all just wait until we get the notices and then discuss? Seems like that'd save a lot of guessing.

Wahoo650 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:40 am

Sax,
I know on the first recall, mine were changed, then in June the Left LBJ failed, and they replaced them both again as well as all the damage caused when it broke (wheel, fender liner) and told me that because it was a recall, that they would be covered for the life of the vehicle. I don't have it in writing, but they did do the work twice so far.

Matt

alljeep · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:13 am

corwyyn wrote:

Wahoo650 wrote:

Just remember to say "Please inpect my ball joints" every single time you have your Libby at the dealer.

Only thing I would add is don't just say it, if at all possible watch them to make sure they do it. I've heard too many stories of things not actually getting done that I'd want to make sure they do it

Spray paint them before you take them in! Neon yellow or pink!

tommudd wrote:

In an article in todays Toledo Blade they said that all KJs produced up until March 2006 will be recalled. Something like 836,000 of them. They started to use a different brand at that time...

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Anybody have an March+ '06 to crawl under and get pics of the LBJs to see if there appears to be any difference? Here is the article from August 2 of the Toledo Blade, best information yet by far:

toledoblade.com wrote:

All Toledo-made Jeep Libertys built before March are being voluntarily recalled by DaimlerChrysler AG because the sport-utility vehicle has been dogged by front suspension problems that could affect steering.

Chrysler will send notices next month to an estimated 832,500 customers with Libertys from the 2002 to 2006 model years. All of the front suspension lower ball joints will be replaced for free even if they were changed in a related 2003 recall, company spokesman Max Gates said yesterday.

The defective part was manufactured by a supplier, not the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex, he said. The part has now been fixed, but he declined to name the supplier.

The lower ball joint in some Libertys could experience excessive wear and looseness, Chrysler said. The part may separate in extreme cases, resulting in a loss of steering control, it added.

"This is a safety issue and really needs to be addressed," Mr. Gates said.

Libertys have not been built with defective ball joints since March, but Chrysler had to wait to issue the recall until it had enough of the parts in supply to replace them, the spokesman said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January started looking into alleged defects. It has received 495 complaints about separation of the Liberty's front suspension ball joint, three allegations of incidents resulting in injuries, and one non-injury crash, the government agency said of its ongoing investigation.

Three years ago, Chrysler recalled 438,000 Libertys to inspect and, in some cases, replace the same part.

Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.

Link:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... ARCHIVES30

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:32 am

I'm sorta worried about what happens AFTER the recall is done. Everybody has a brand spanking newly designed balljoint ready to rock. Dealerships have a giant stock of old ball joints and new old-design balljoints. When the new-design balljoints start to fail (balljoints do wear out normally), they will replace them. But what if they replace them with the old-design? Is there any recourse? I mean, lets say the new balljoint lasts 80k miles instead of 15. What if at 80k miles they put in one of those 15k joints and it failes at 95k miles. Warranty wouldn't cover that, and they'd just be like "oh well, it failed, and you had the recall done, so it's not covered".

I'm hoping that there will be an easy way to identify new vs old, but I fear that there won't be without taking the boot off.

MoladoGuy · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:45 am

Well the ball joints removed will not just be stashed away in the back room of the dealership. In fact there may be hundreds, if not thousands used for engineering studies.

Because the new ball joints are manufactured, their part # will now be updated. This part # will be the constant part # that will be used for future products.

To give an example:

My work builds the door trim panels for the Grand Cherokee / Commander. They assemble the entire trim including all the switches, wire harnesses, module boxes on the doors. We recently had a problem where thousands of Module boxes were not allowing the wire harness to correctly function (due to milli Amperage differences). Because they caught this in a timely fashion they re-engineered the module boxes to correctly dispense the mAmps. We received the new module box, which *had a new part #* and rebuilt over 2000 doors in 1 week. They were then sent out to Chrysler (and Austria) to replace those doors that had the problem Module Box. If a future problem occurs where one needs to be replaced, they will be replaced with the correct engineered part (not an old part that was known to have failed).

I feel confident that Chrysler will continue building the newly manufactured ball joints, and disperse those as needed for service vehicles.

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:47 am

Wahoo650 wrote:

Sax,
I know on the first recall, mine were changed, then in June the Left LBJ failed, and they replaced them both again as well as all the damage caused when it broke (wheel, fender liner) and told me that because it was a recall, that they would be covered for the life of the vehicle. I don't have it in writing, but they did do the work twice so far.

Matt

That sure didn't happen to me. I had the recall at 5000 and another failure at 30,000 that they wouldn't touch, claiming the recall had already been done. I ended up with Moogs anyhow, just to be on the safe side.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:11 am

Matty,
That stinks. I had mine done twice under the recall. I think the first time they just installed the heat shield, but I'm not positive. But the second time, the BJ's were worns badly and they replaced them without question under the recall.

I think each dealer is different!

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:26 am

AdamIsAdam wrote:

Matty,
That stinks. I had mine done twice under the recall. I think the first time they just installed the heat shield, but I'm not positive. But the second time, the BJ's were worns badly and they replaced them without question under the recall.

I think each dealer is different!

On the bright side, I knew that even if I won my argument with them, they'd put the old style BJs in there again. That prompted my decision to get the Moogs from Jeepin Al and do the swap myself. I saved the old stuff because I was pretty sure somewhere along the way there'd be a recall.

But I even called and argued with DC's Customer One folks.

dirtykj · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:33 am

KJ-BOL wrote:

allyrand wrote:

ooooh goody...can't wait to take mine in and get them replaced..can't wait to see the look on their faces JJ's Roll

They'll probly take it in, replace them for free and get you out on your way verrrryyyy promptly...

:lol:

Duct-tape them to the solid axle or something?

shadow · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:02 am

alljeep wrote:

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Anybody have an March+ '06 to crawl under and get pics of the LBJs to see if there appears to be any difference?

I have an 06 Renny which was produced in April this year... Factory order that was placed March 31 so I would think that qualifies as after March...

I'd be willing to crawl around and take some pictures but I am not entirely clear of what I need to take pictures of... :roll:

Someone send me a PM with some instructions and I'll see what I can do!

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:19 am

take pics of the LBJ. That's the attachment point on the lower A arm just under the wheel.

Also, see if there's a part number that you can read on that part. I don't know where it is located. Maybe on the bottom?

Do you have the heat shields? That's the small tin part bent at a 90* angle and mounted on the A arm, between the ball joint and the brake rotor.

BALL JOINT RECALL, WE DID IT!!!!

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