Wanting to buy Durango

Im lookin at purchasing a Durnago. I dont have a specific one on mind, so im tryin to figure out what specific year/s I should look for, as I kno they have probelms with ball joints.. that are a recall certain years.. and also the sludge problem and or oil pump failure. The use of it would be semi daily driving maybee, aswell as ligh towing ( 3000 pound car on open trailor) I would like 4x4. So also im lookin at weighing gasmileage over the engine choices and 4x4. IS the powr great enough of the 360 to justify higher gas mileage if the mileage is that big of difference? Also the affect of gas mileage with 4x4. I kno its not going to be good atall but im just lookin for some input. Also do the Dakotas have the same problems as the Durangos? Thanks in advance and ill continue to search..

Just joined this forum and saw your post.

1st off, don't make a bigger deal out of the ball joint than it is... just a bad ball joint. This happens even on normal cars and you replace it with a good joint and you're done. :)

That being said, I'm a rally racer and I pull and flat bead trailer with a tire rack and the Rally Car (along with a ton of crap in the back of the truck) all over the North West... with NO trouble. I think my biggest gripe is that the Durango is a smaller vehicle than a full size truck so seing AROUND the sides of the trailer are sometimes harder than I'd like it to be. Extendo-mirrors make up the difference though.

Incidentally, I have SUPERCHARGED my Durango which makes the Pulling MUCH easier along with suspension upgrades and other engine mods. My 5.9 is a pulling maniac. LOVES to pull.

I have recently decided to try and sell it though... namely because my wife and 4 children have managed to actually out grow the thing so I', looking at a Suburban just to carry the "stuff" that comes along with 4 kids... which pains me because I absolutely LOVE my D.

I will most likely buy a Dodge Dually to handle the pulling duties from this point forward and use the 'burban for the fam.

Needless to say... I love my D and I think you'll be very happy with one if you go that route. As for the ball joint, my local Dealer's Service department had mine figured out and replaced about a YEAR before I got the recall notice. It pays to have a ZERO deductible, 100K mile bumper to bumper warranty AND good service folks. :D

All the Best,

Scott
------
www.pregrid.com

i bought my durango in december of '04, and i have had nothing but problems....my durango had 64,400 miles on it when i got it, 1st ball joints, then front shocks and rotors, 3rd muffler(no biggie, something you would exspect on all vehicles) 4th heater core and now my transmission, i am a 18 year old kid, trying to go to college, and keep up with the maintnence of this peace of shit........in the past 10 months i have lost around $500 a month ( i never exspect to make money on a vehicle, but to loose that much a month is pretty extreme) not to mention that on any other vehicle the transmission should be fine for twice the life that this one has..............i am EXTREMELY dissapointed in Dodge, and will NEVER buy a chrysler/dodge again