tanderson2002us

Recently I noticed a faint whining in my drivers side front wheel that in many respects sounded line the bearing/hub assembly. Brought it into the dealer this morning and left the truck. Got a call and here was the bad news.

Worn components/labor….the labor does not make sense but here is what is on sheet

1. Hub bearing- $306.00, Labor 1.6 (531)
2. Drag link inner- $134.00, Labor 1.3 (360.00)
3. Tie rod inner- $121.00, Labor 1.0 (214.00)
4. Track bar - (new one installed last summer)$309.00, Labor 0.8 (402.00)
5. U-joint – $63.24, Labor 0.9 (145.00)
6. Ball joints (2)- $500.00, Labor 2.1 (466.00)


Worst part, I have the 7yr, 70K Powertrain warranty and am at 3.5 years and 61K……the service manager said “If I submit the warranty claim Dodge will reject it because you have a lift”.

I am going to pursue every possible avenue I can to get the warranty service. I cannot afford this and will have to replace the bearing/hub assembly only. I just got a new track bar last summer, should it be bad by now? I understand that DC has to prove that a modification caused the failure to void the warranty. Has anyone dealt with this? Bottom line is that I know if raise enough hell with DC and the dealership I will get somewhere at least…maybe not all the stuff listed above but somewhere.

1. Does any of the above usually not get covered under warranty?

2. Has anyone been denied warranty service due to a lift?

I am only trying to get an honest return for the new truck I bought 3.5 years ago that had an MSRP of 37k plus. I also am not in a position to pay the money for everything listed above. At worst, I would buy the parts and do the work myself where I could. I have read so much about us who have bought a new vehicle and had to fight to get warranty service. Finally, can someone give me a quick checklist of who to call and start the process of complaining?

Any input/feedback appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

P.J

I think thery're gonna have you here. Not hard for them to deny on a modified from stock suspension. Even done right, with top of the line parts, when you lift a truck, the geometery changes, things can wear at a faster rate.
The track bar? Was that dealer installed? Might get them to replace that if it has been less than 12 months/12,000 miles.

HotRod82

the only way DC will honor your warranty is if they installed the lift when the truck was new. ( at least to my personal experience) If it were me, I'd replace the hub assy myself then take the truck to REPUTABLE front end shop and have them check it out...you may not need all or ANY of the other parts. Dealerships are known to replace lots of stuff that has life left in it. Good luck.

BigBlue

I agree. Take it to a reputable front end shop first and let them look at it then go from there. The hub assemblies are easy to replace, just time consuming and frustrating. I got lucky with my ball joints being warrantied after I lifted it. Granted the lift was 2 days old and was still nice and shiny so that helped but I still got lucky.

Lary Ellis (Top)

ANYTIME you change the parameters of the vehicle from stock you become your OWN warranty station. They did not build that truck to run with a lift kit and large tires, hence you can not reasonably expect them to pay for any damages because of your changes.

Lift kits, larger tires and wheels all add to the stress on the suspension system that is designed to work within certain parameters, which they warranty within those parameters. Go outside those parameters and you pay, not them.

I know that is not what you want to hear, but it is fair.

singleturnout

heres a good site for parts,there prices are good too.
http://quad4x4.com/Dodge%20Frt%20Axl...ng.htm#OPTIONS

tanderson2002us

Respectfully sir, you speak the truth. I think that it is unfortunate however that as much as I baby my truck, that adding the minor modifications that I did caused the parts mentioned to fail. I know that by the time I get my 200k miles out of my truck I would like before trading it in I will incur many expenses like this. I don’t pull anything, don’t have a 5th wheel, never even loaded the bed. They just don’t make ‘em like they use to. It’s sad that these 35K+ rigs have such weak links but they do. I lifted my truck for looks, not performance. You would think that even a non-modified Dodge CTD front end would last longer than they do but that’s not the case, just a fact of life. It’s a shame that a 5” lift and 315s can trash a front end (quicker). They just don’t make ‘em like they use to

phox_mulder

No way do I expect Dodge to warrany any of those items on my truck.

Now, if they tried to void the warranty on my injection pump because of the lift, that would be another story entirely.
Bigger tires would in no way stress it more than pulling an 8K 5th wheel every weekend.


phox

J Double

I see you're no stranger to "wheeling" your rig. The front end on these 2nd gens are bad enough with out the added stress banging ditches. I know you don't want to hear it but, Lary said it best when he said you are your OWN warranty station. Heck, my truck has only seen a few gravel roads in it's entire life time and I replaced virtually the entire front end. You may just have to bite the bullet this time around... as much as you would like to "stick it to the man", I don't think it'll happen this go around. It sucks I know.

tanderson2002us

There are two extremes if you think about it that probably don’t help this whole warranty situation…those like us who want to customize, even improve our trucks with what we can afford and take the best care we can of them to get the most for our return. Then there are those (of whom I know a few) who buy a new truck, don’t do a single mod (for a good reason) and dog the heck out of it while under warranty and claim everything from a squeaky window roller to a new tranny. Then trade in a new one every two years. Does not make sense huh?

torquefan

You make a good point.

J BODY

Here's my score so far on 4x4 bearings on DR trucks: Stock: 0 Lifted huge offset wheel worthless showpony: 5 I'm starting to see a pattern.

....by the way the engine score still stands at stock: 1 BoMbEd: 7

HotRod82

Its too bad about the newer 4X4's being so wimpy. I had a 74 chevy 3/4 ton 4X with a HD dana 44 front end and that truck got worked HARD. Many, Many heavily loaded Mexico trips down nearly impassable roads. The front end went 200K before I had to replace one of the tie rod ends...nothing else! Ball joints, knuckles everything else was still going strong when I sold it at 280K Of course it had a gutless 350 that got about 6MPG, but thats another story.

Tmc243

Not that this helps much but of all the items you have listed that they said you needed the only one that would be covered by a powertrain warranty would be the u-joint.

tanderson2002us

Actually it does help.

I am in the process of inspecting my front end with a buddy who has a shop at his place and works on cars alot. As I said, the track bar was replaced last summer. It seems to be fine by checking for movement. The sound coming from my front end IS the u-joint.....not the wheel bearing/hub assembly, will verify this weekend. The bearing/hub makes a completely different sound when it goes than what I experiencing. I believe the two ball joints need replacement as I knew they were going. The tie rod and drag link inner, we will check this weekend. Let me also mention that I have literally NO slop or wander in steering.

O.k....the bottom line, I still agree that my lift may have accelerated things....that was my choosing and I will deal with that for years to come (maybe some suspension BOMBs are in order!). However, if all I need to fix the faint noise I am hearing is a u-joint well that's another story. It's starting to sound like I was charged $85.00 to be told that I need 2k dollars worth of work, and that my warranty is void. I can replace the ball joints. Dodge can replace the u-joint (63.00 part + 145.00 labor) under warranty and we can forget about my 85.00 (which I was told would not be charged for warranty work).

I don't like being lied too if that is what may have happened.