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Car Forum / Dodge / Dodge Cars / February 2007

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01 Straus Spindle knuckle broken

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fred - 22 Jan 2007 18:31 GMT
The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
not injured. I eventually found the drivers side rear suspension was
broken. The knuckle or spindle (whatever it's called) has a link
attached to the center or the rear to an "ear" on the spindle/knuckle.
Where it attaches is cleanly broken. Unfortunately, when it hit the curb
and fence, it was on the same corner so I don't know if it caused the
accident or was a result.
Anyone hear of anything like this for this model?
thanks,
Dan Armstrong
maxpower - 22 Jan 2007 20:29 GMT
> The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
> swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> thanks,
> Dan Armstrong

You don't state the mileage of this vehicle but to me it sounds like the
ball joint was worn out and hitting the curb made it pop out. How often do
you get this vehicle serviced or have the recommended services done on it.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech
fred - 22 Jan 2007 21:41 GMT
>>The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
>>swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Glenn Beasley
> Chrysler Tech

vehicle only has in the 51000 mile range. typical maintenace was done
get oil change every 3000 with inspection and service, but the ball
joint didn't come out, where it attaches to the spindle/knuckle broke
off. the cast steel piece broke off with the ball joint still attached.
Dan
Kawosa - 23 Jan 2007 04:48 GMT
>>>The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
>>>swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> off. the cast steel piece broke off with the ball joint still
> attached. Dan

Wow! Hard to believe the mounting broke before the ball joint. Must have
been a direct hit on the curb maybe. But then that doesn't explain the
sudden loss of control to begin with. Check the break points on the
mounting and see if there is any rust in the fracture. Could have been a
tiny fracture that has been there over time and finally gave way.
Secondly if you've had any work done on that wheel in the past you may
want to pay a visit.

---
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cavedweller - 24 Jan 2007 15:51 GMT
> The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
> swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> thanks,
> Dan Armstrong

And the weather conditions at the time of the swerving were??
fred - 28 Jan 2007 14:35 GMT
>>The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
>>swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> And the weather conditions at the time of the swerving were??

Weather was overcast, If I remember it had rained the day before but the
roads were dry and it rained later that day. After looking closer at
scene and damage, I do not believe the knucle broken on the curb. The
rim has deep scratch along the edge almost all he way around. So the rim
had to be in contact with the roadway long enough to scrap almost all
the way around. There is only light scratching on curb. After the curb
the car slid on wet grass and mud into a chainlink fence. The fence was
only slightly pushed in where front made contact. Looks like front hit
first the rear slid around and made contact. Between front and rear
contacts there is a fence post which was not bent, broken or leaning. So
it seems to me that the car had lost most of it's speed at that point.
All that leads me to believe the part was broken before it hit the cub.
BTW the is a slanted curb, much like a driveway. I'm not a accident
reconstructionist (though I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last
night) but it looks like a pretty interesting job.
Finally heard back from Dodge and they said if insurance thought the
part broke first then they would look at it otherwise they were not
interested in looking at it.
cavedweller - 29 Jan 2007 00:57 GMT
> >>The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
> >>swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> part broke first then they would look at it otherwise they were not
> interested in looking at it.

Sorry, I was leaping to the obvious mid-winter conclusion about ice.
fred - 29 Jan 2007 15:03 GMT
>>>>The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
>>>>swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
:) Don't ice on the road too often down here is Southeast Louisiana.
Don't remember for sure but prob. uper 30's low 40's.
fred - 12 Feb 2007 15:41 GMT
>>>>> The other day my wife was driving her 2001 Stratus when it began to
>>>>> swerve violently, spun her around and into a fence. Thank God she was
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
> :) Don't ice on the road too often down here is Southeast Louisiana.
> Don't remember for sure but prob. uper 30's low 40's.

Just did a search of nhtsa.dot.gov about this car one of the safety
recalls was 00V225002 some of the steering gear boxed had a loose nut
that could cause "vibration to stiff sterring, and in worse case, no
ability to turn left." The vehicle has been repaired (from accident) and
now drives fine. As far as I know they did not inspect or do any work to
steering gear box.  Could this problem be intermittent? Site says number
of affected units 2865, how do I know if it is affected? How hard is
this part to get to in order to inspect? Going to find something with
VIN on it and call dodge dealer.
 
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