1998 Dodge Avenger Suspension Problems

“I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden it felt like I had a blowout. I began to slow down and pull over and front driver side tire broke. I skidded to a stop on the side of the road. I got out of the car, looked at the wheel, and it was facing toward the sky. Lucky for me this happened on a sunday morning with very limited traffic, or it could have be fatal. I had the car towed to a shop, and they said the ball joint and axle broke, the front tires were ruined, and the driver's side wheel needed to be replaced. The total cost of repairs was about $1500. …”

“I experienced 2 failures of the control arm lower ball joint on my 1998 Dodge Avenger. The right side failed on 4/18/04 - I had vehicle towed to dealer for repairs, dealer denied failure was caused by recalled ball joint issue and dealer performed recall inspection on the left side at that time also. The left side then failed on 4/25, only 5 days after the dealer inspected the ball joint in compliance with the recall - unbelievable! This time the left wheel came off which had the potential for a severe if not fatal accident! …”

“I recently had my front-end ball joints replaced on my 1998 Dodge Avenger at ken nelson auto plaza in dixon, il. This problem was a recall I had done already in may of 2001. Recall #967 from NHTSA. They were suppose to put newly designed lateral arm ball joints on my vehicle at that time. The new ball joints didn't last one year and 8 months. I was told I had to pay for the repair this time, for which I did. The cost was $312.60. I do not believe I should be paying for the material defects that were under the original recall work which failed in such a short time.”

“Dt: when applying brake pressure there was a surging effect as if the brakes were pulsating. The contact determined the rotors warped. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer for confirmation of the warped rotors. The rotors were replaced, but the contact was unaware if these were actual chrysler parts or after market replacements. After the repairs the problem returned. The contact's father consulted a service center that noted that this was a common problem. This has not corrected the problem. No further repairs. …”

“While driving consumer heard a loud noise coming from the front end. Dealership mechanic informed consumer that front lower arm ball joint wore out. But the problem was not yet resolved.”