Opinions on 2001 & 2002 Durangos

From : Annonymous

Q: ball joints were replaced under a recall. the previous owner should have taken care of that if theyre at all competent. i have heard about any other issues. my 02 has been great. no probs. hello i am looking real close at a 2001 slt plus with 24000mi and a 2002 r/t with 36000mi. i am hearing alot about ball joint rear end transmission ac and brake problems with these suvs is there any truth or are they just internet rumors. can anyone let me know what i should look for before i step up and buy one. thanks .

Replies:

From : joe

burning fuel efficiently means its burning correctly which also means its at optimum power output for the amount of fuel input. say thats sounds like a performance objective.....maybe the engine is tuned to pass a sniffer and its making its best power okay - but if the sniff test is done at idle what about engines with big lopey cams that are most efficient at 4000-5000rpm or so and run super-rich at idle if left tuned for best top-end performance theyll surely fail the sniff test. thus - the owners lean the snot out of them get a pass sticker pull over two blocks from the center richen it back up and light em up for 2 city blocks .

From : j

the grab handle on the a pillar on my 03 2500 pulled off yesterday. only the top though. today i intended to take the handle off and effect repairs. after turning the bolt cc for ever i could see the bolt was never gonna come out. i looked behind the plastic at the top bolt hole and saw the bolt was still in the pillar but torn loose from the plastic. i tore the other one loose and now i have a twice busted plastic a pillar cover laying in the back seat. i then tried to remove the bolts from the pillar. no success. the insert the bolt screws into spins just as much as the bolt. there is very little clearance between the bolt head and the insert. the portion of the insert that is on the surface of the pillar is very thin. i tried to hold it with needle nose pliers while attempting to loosen the bolt. no success. i tried prying under it to jam it in place while i try to loosen the bolt. no success. anybody have any suggestions besides dont tighten it too much to begin with ya heres my sign -- fmb only one b in fmb .