all avengers suffer from premature lower balljoint failure on the control arms. i had this same problem on my 99 es. when the control arms were installed on the car at the factory the rubber boots were damaged allowing water and contaminants to enter the balljoint socket. and since the balljoints arent greaseable they rust and wear out. jack the front end up underneath the control arms and with the tire off the ground check for slop up and down and side to side. if there is any slop at all the ball joint is bad. if it is i would take it to a dodge dealer since there is a recall on them. also check the tie rod ball joint as well. to see the recall go to
www.autosite.com. good luck.