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prowling alaska	Last night while driving w/ my son (who is visiting ). Coming to a intersection while braking the left lower joint failed .Several parts were mangled . Then I made it worse moving the cat . This after almost a year of work on the car . At least no one was hurt . Can't even look at it this am .Any suggestions as to who I should contact .Right now I'm pretty sore about this . I know there is a recall and I hope everyone gets it done. The local dealers do not have anyone capable of working on it . All for now Bruce , ALASKA
dpena	Prowlin Alaska, I have alot of info on my site regarding this ball joint. When I had mine done I decided to keep a journal. You can find alot of pictures on my site "Select Link Below" http://www.prowlerexcitement.com/CurtisProwlerTech/IntroPage.htm Here is the Service Instruction Manual http://www.prowlerexcitement.com/BallJointRecall/ServiceInstructions/Page001.htm Ball Joint Recall SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM Image capture http://www.prowlerexcitement.com/ProwlerBallJoint/ImageVersion.htm Some Animations I put together Some Ball Joint Image Renderings I did Hope this helps.. This message has been edited by dpena on 07-11-2005 at 12:05 PM
obi-wan	Great job Dan. I have personally seen the damage that NOT having the lower ball joints upgraded done can cause. Your graphics really show the story. The new ones are much larger at the base of the taper segment just before the ball segment. This extra metal(mass) keeps the fracture from taking place. I highly recommend to everyone that if you haven't had them done yet, PLEASE get them done NOW. I hope this gets through to everyone, Obi-Wan
dpena	To the extreme left and right are the old ball joints. In the center left is the old ball joint exposed and center right is the upgraded ball joint. The differences are the thickness of the neck at the ball joint.
dpena	Now here is some valuable information. The ball joint to the left of this image is the original ball joint. The ball joint to the right is the upgraded ball joint. If you notice the neck is thicker on the one on the right versus the left. So it appears the fix was to thicken the necks. All this is courtesy of Scott Curtis and Dick OsGood.
dpena
prowling alaska	Do I have any recourse w/ Chrysler ?? The joint did not Break , the ball came out of the socket . Thanx , Bruce , ALASKA
RPL	Was the recall completed on your car? Any dealer can check this with the VIN.
dpena	The ball coming out of the socket!!! OH MAN! This is a new one... I hope all the 11 thousand plus prowlers did not read this. I hate for the Prowler Borg to communicate this breakdown now. LAter...
BeWare	I hate to bring this up. Wasn't this Prowler previously wrecked? Isn't it possible that this particular and thus far unique ball joint failure was a result of same?
Gene	I am sorry you have had a problem with the ball joint.If it was due to a recall not being done ,whoes fault is this since you knew Chrysler gave everone a warning.If it was due to a accident car shouldn't be blamed.And to say Dealer does not have a mechanic that knows how to do a ball joint,how do you know that since a ball joint replacement is something that any decend mechanic can do.Sorry to come down so hard but I hate to hear people blame someone else for there own mistakes.
pumpkin	quote: Originally posted by BeWare: I hate to bring this up. Wasn't this Prowler previously wrecked? Isn't it possible that this particular and thus far unique ball joint failure was a result of same? Yes, you are right about this prowler being wrecked.Maybe it wasn't put back together right. This message has been edited by pumpkin on 07-11-2005 at 05:57 PM
Marty Usher	Bruce - sorry to hear about the accident. I guess ll you can do is have the dealer determine if the reason for the recall is the same thing that broke. I have no idea if there is a time limit on the manufacturers liability if it was the cause but doubt they will do much if the problem was the ball joint "popping out" and the recall was for the balljoint breaking.
prowling alaska	I do not mind any comments !! I just want to get @ the truth . I did not know how the part was failing and getting this education is part of the experience . Appreciate the feedback . Bruce , ALASKA I guess I'll call the guy in SC tomorrow and order parts. Will have the trashiest Cat in existence
blackcat	quote: Originally posted by Gene: I am sorry you have had a problem with the ball joint.If it was due to a recall not being done ,whoes fault is this since you knew Chrysler gave everone a warning.If it was due to a accident car shouldn't be blamed.And to say Dealer does not have a mechanic that knows how to do a ball joint,how do you know that since a ball joint replacement is something that any decend mechanic can do.Sorry to come down so hard but I hate to hear people blame someone else for there own mistakes. Gene I've got to disagree with part of your statement. Go back through some of the threads and you will find that some severe damage was done to our cats during this recall process. I'm fortunate in that I have one of the best Prowler tech's in the country and he spent over 6 hours on this recall. I don't think that just any decent mechanic can pull this off. IMHO! Blackcat
quincy	Dpena, Is there a visual way to determine if the ball joint recall was really performed. According to records on mine, it was performed in another state, but now I have my doubts. Nice presentation of the 'bad' and 'good' parts!
ed monahan	You should be able to see the reflection in the chrome on the back of your wheels. If you can see shiny brass/copper, it was probably done. That would be UNDER the ball joint, the new seal should still be shiny. Dan P, EXCELLENT work.
dpena	quincy, No I do not know of a solid it way to determine if it has changed or not. You can try checking the rubber boot color. Here is what a new ball joint boot looked like.. Here is what the old might look like..
RPL	The quickest way to determine if the recall was done was to have your local dealer run your VIN through their computer. This will show if the recall was completed or not. Because of the safety nature of the recall, no one would be stupid enough to complete the paperwork without changing the parts. The failure mode that you describe is consistent with the reason for the recall in the first place. I'm sorry that you experienced the failure but what's important now is to get your vehicle back on the road. The first step is to understand where you're beginning. Any qualified mechanic can complete the ball joint replacement. It does require some Prowler specific special tools. Your local dealer should have those tools if he ever sold a Prowler.