Problems with 2004 Jeep Liberty SUSPENSION

Tl*- the contactwns a 2004 jeep liberty. the contact received recall o6v288000 regarding lower ball joint. the contact called the dealership in her area, and they stated that it c ould take months in order for them to set up a service repair for the recall, but could not give an estimate. the vehicle had no failures to date. the current mileage was 54,000.*ak

Dt*: the contact stated there were no problems with the vehicle. there was a nhtsa recall #06v288000 on the vehicle regarding the front lower ball joints. the parts needed to repair the vehicle were not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts were not available.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep liberty. in december of 2006, the contact received recall notice number 06v288000 (suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint). the dealer stated that they would place her name on a waiting list because they did not have the part. she spoke with them in march of 2007 and the part was still unavailable. as of july 31, 2007, the vehicle has yet to be repaired. the contact felt that the wait time was too long. the vin and engine size were unavailable. there had been no failure to date. the current mileage was 30,000.

I received a recall notice from daimler chrysler regarding my 2004 jeep liberty for a ball joint recall #f23 and have been waiting for more than seven months for the recall work to be performed. dealers in my area claim that chrysler is not providing parts in a timely manner and they will not perform the work. they cannot determine when this defect, which directly impacts the safe operation of my vehicle, can be performed. *tr

Tl* - the contacted received recall letter 06v288000 for the lower ball joints. the vehicle is a 2004 chrysler jeep liberty and has approximately 45,000 miles. the contact stated she had an appointment scheduled for 1/13/07, but the part did not come in so she has been rescheduled for 2/2/07. the contact has not experienced any failures to date. the vin was unavailable. *nm

Tl* - the contact stated that he lost control of vehicle while driving 30 mph. the vehicle has approximately 74,000 miles. the road conditions were wet. the contact was turning right on a sharp curve, and he lost control of the steering wheel. the vehicle spun around approximately three times before hitting a concrete barrier. the left back bumper came loose. the front blinkers came off of the vehicle. the front driver's side window cracked. the back passenger side window shattered. the grill came off of the vehicle. the contact stated that he would hear a cracking noise, in the tire area, every time he went through a puddle. this noise occurs when he is traveling as slow as 5 mph. the contact was able to drive the vehicle away. there was no police report filed. the front passenger was burned by the seat belt, the driver and back passenger received minor injuries. the contact received recall letter 06v288000 two-three days after the failure. the contact believes the lower ball joint failure was the cause of the crash. the vehicle has not been repaired. the contact plans to get an estimate of damages. the contact will take pictures of the vehicle.ak

I was driving my mother's jeep liberty on thursday morning and i accidentally veered over to the right and went over a sandbag on the road. the car flipped over and spun out of control and i was unable to grasp any control of the car. the car was completely totaled. however, i do feel that this loss was not a cause of hit such a small object on the road but rather that the suspension on this suv was not reinforced properly. i was not aware at the time, until after researching this vehicle that a recall was found for this make and model. *nm

Tl* - while driving a 2004 jeep liberty at 65 mph, with clear road conditions the contact lost control of the vehicle and the vehicle flipped over. before the incident contact had no warning of any malfunction to the vehicle. contact took the vehicle to discount tire on 1/04/06, and the stated that the tires were cupping, and it probably had to do with the lower ball joints wearing out and getting loose. the contact never received a recall o6v288000 , and he felt that this vehicle should be covered under the recall. contact can provide copies of the police report, repair invoice and pictures.

Tl*- the contact called in to inform nhtsa that he didn't receive recall notice 06v288000 for the lower ball joints. the contact stated that while pulling vehicle on a clear day and another vehicle flagged him down to inform him that driver's front fender came off ,and driver's front tire was damaged as well. the contact was driving about 50 mph. the contact took the vehicle to a dealership who informed the contact of the recall. the dealership informed the contact that it would cost him $100.00 for the deductible to have ball joints replaced. the contact paid the deductible. the contact contacted chrysler, and was told that he was responsible for the damage to the fender , and that they would not reimburse him for the damage or the tire.*ak

We own a 2004 jeep liberty that we purchased used in 2004 from a jeep dealer. this vehicle has a ball-joint recall. we never received a contact from jeep regarding this recall. i contacted the local jeep dealer on november 13 2006 and asked to be put on the list. i did not feel that the gentleman that took down our information really cared and it concerned me because as of today we had received no contact back from jeep. i called jeep and was told that our information had not been taken down and i was told that we would be added to the list. per the instructions in the recall your site is listed on the web to go to if you feel that jeep is not doing their job properly regarding this recall and with what i have experienced i do believe that they are in fact not handling this properly. *jb

Tl* - on december 10, 2006, the contact stated she lost control of her 2004 chrysler jeep liberty twice in one day. the first time, the contact was driving at 45 mph, and the road conditions were dry. the contact lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle spun around. the contact was able to regain control of the vehicle. the second incident also happened on december 10th ,2006 the vehicle was being driven in wet conditions for approximately 4 hours. the contact lost control of the vehicle causing her to barely hit the vehicle in front of her. the chrysler jeep flipped landing on its wheels. the contact does not know the details of the vehicle flipping, but said there was a witness. the airbags did not deploy. the vehicle was destroyed. the contact was injured. there was a police report filed. the vehicle had 70,000 miles at the time of the failure. the contact received recall letter 06v288000 on december 28, 2006. *nm

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep liberty. the contact received a recall notice for the suspension: front: control arm: lower ball joint (nhtsa campaign id number 06v288000) in november of 2006. the dealer stated that they would put her name on the waiting list. as of january 2, 2008, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. the contact felt that the wait time for the recall repair was excessive. there had been no failure to date. the current mileage was 64,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep liberty. the contact received recall notice in november 2006 for the lower ball joints. the contact spoke with the dealer on four occasions ,and they did not have the parts. the current and failure mileage were 16,000.*ak

I brought my 2004 jeep liberty into milford jeep for safety recall f23. the recall was to replace the lower ball joints. when i asked if a wheel alignment was going to be done, they said it would not be done. in checking with daimlerchrysler, i found out that they do not approve a wheel alignment and, if one is done, it would be at the owner's expense. i know the alignment was good prior to the ball joint replacement as my tire wear was even. but,now i will have to have a wheel alignment done as there is indications in my steering that suggest it needs an alignment. i can not believe that a ball joint replacement shouldn't include a wheel alignment. even if i was experiencing the problem that the safety recall addressed, it would be because of the defective ball joint assemblies that were in the jeep liberty. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated no problem had occurred with the vehicle. there was a nhtsa recall, # 06v288000, regarding the front lower ball joint. the parts needed to repair the vehicle were not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts were not available.

Saw recall notice in newspaper for jeep liberty concerning front suspension lower ball joints. i called my dealer two months ago and was told i would be placed on a waiting list of about sixty persons. i recently received a written notice about this recall with instruction to call my dealer. the dealer now says i am about 12 or so on list, but can give me no firm date for service. my recall notice says that ball joint separation can result in a loss of steering control. i tried calling the contact phone # at daimler chrysler, but only heard a fuzzy, long message with no options. my complaint has to do with daimler chrysler. according to my dealer, daimler chrysler is slow to supply the parts to the dealers for this repair. this seems to me to be too long to wait to repair a potentially dangerous part. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated on october 17, 2006, the lower ball joint fractured while the vehicle was traveling 40 mph. the vehicle was towed to the service dealer and both lower ball joints were replaced according to recall # 06v288000 regarding, suspension: front: control arm: lower ball joint. the manufacturer was notified.

While driving the 2004 jeep liberty and shopping at home depot the right side tire completely fell off while finding a parking spot. had car towed for repair. had to have upper and lower ball joints replaced, and sustained fender damage. submitted request for reimbursement to chrysler/jeep, and they only paid for half of the replacement of the lower ball joints only. did not reimburse for towing or fender damage. *ak

Dt*: the contact stated that conflicting information was received regarding the status of the vehicle and whether or not the vin was included in recall# 06v288000 pertaining to the lower ball joint. the manufacturer notified the contact that the vin was not included, however another staff member at the manufacturer was contacted, and stated that the vin was included. a service dealer was also contacted, who stated that the vin was included. no recall notice was sent to the contact. updated 12/15/06. *jb

I have gotten numerous notices regarding the lower ball joints on my 2004 jeep liberty saying they can corrode or separate and result in loss of steering. i've been calling the dealer i use (mancari's of orland hills) since november 2006 to get this fixed and i keep getting told the parts are backordered, or they are only getting a couple in at a time and i am on a waiting list! this has been going on for 3 months!! if this can cause a crash why are the parts not being made available? *nm

Tl*- the contact has a 2004 jeep liberty that is involved in ball joint recall. he has contacted his dealership on several occasions to no avail. the dealer still does not have the part in. he has contacted chrysler hot-line asking if he can take his jeep to an outside mechanic. chrysler hot-line has advised him against this. he took the vehicle to have it looked at and was informed he definitely needs new ball joints. his wife drives this vehicle about 20 miles a day and he is very concerned about getting the problem corrected.

Right tire fell completely off while driving due to ball joint failure. had car repaired and found remaining ball joints were on verge of failure. daimler chrysler covered less than 1/2 of cost to repair. *tr

The front passenger side ball joint separated from the steering knuckle. my tire then crashed into the pavement while i was driving causing my tire to blow out & break my wheel (rim). no repairs have been done to my vehicle as of yet. daimler chrysler is denying that my vehicle is part of the recall. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while braking at various speeds, there was a violent shaking in the steering column and the brake pedal caused a moderate loss of control. the vehicle was taken to a private repair shop who determined that both lower ball joints were worn to the point of separation. there were no immediate repairs made. there was a nhtsa recall # 06v288000 pertaining to the lower ball joints that was due to begin in september of 2006. updated 09/13/06. 8jb

Bad transmission and lower ball joint recall

I recently brought the recall information up to my dealer, bertera metro jeep, during a routine oil change. they told me there was no such recall. on 8/22/06, i was driving my 2004 jeep liberty when all of a sudden my whole car just stopped and my front suspension dropped. i contacted bertera metro jeep and they still stated there was no such recall. i was shaken up and scared not to mention the damage to my vehicle. now they are telling me that they will only fix the ball joint and are not responsible for my tire damage or any other damage. what should i do? *jb

From a parking spot i was pulling forward and to the right. after about three feet the right front tire of the vehicle separated from the lower control arm. i stopped the vehicle in place and called for a tow truck. i believe this incident is related to nhtsa campaign number: 06v288000 involving jeep liberties of my year, make and model. pictures are available upon request. *jb

Tl*-in august of this year the drivers ball joint ruptured causing the driver to loose control of the vehicle. when driver contacted daimler-chrysler she was informed that a recall letter would be coming out soon, they were waiting for parts to be stocked in there national warehouse. the customer is upset that she is just received recall letter in december. the contact also stated that her front bumper fell off the vehicle.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 jeep liberty. the contact received a recall notice for the lower ball joints (nhtsa campaign id 06v288000). as of january 16, 2008, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. the current mileage was 42,000 and there had been no failure to date.

On august 16th, 2006 my wife and i were on our way home when her 2004 jeep liberty came to a abrupt stop while in traffic (about 20-25 mph to 0 mph in a flash of a second, thrusting us both forward). the road conditions were not good (heavy rain, low visibility), however, our trip was uneventful up to this point. the vehicle was towed to the nearest dealership thereafter. my complaint stems from the earlier conversation my wife had with a local chrysler-dodge-jeep dealership (baxter auto group). upon calling them on monday august 14th, 2006 to reserve an appointment she was asked to describe the problem. she noted that there seemed to be problems with the steering... and that the wheels seemed to "grind" when turning the vehicle. we had heard on from her father that certain jeeps were being recalled for steering and or front suspension problems. when she asked the service person whether or not she should be concerned he noted that, "if the problem is not occurring all of the time then she should wait until the recall begins in september." the dealership was definitely not proactive in helping us with this problem. i could only imagine what would have happened to the two of us if this vehicle failure happened one to two minutes earlier on the freeway driving 60 mph (in heavy rain with moderate traffic). though the recall on the 2003-2006 model year jeep liberty does not start until september i would really like to see chrysler become more proactive. if someone has the same problems as we did... then the dealerships should waste no time at all and remind the driver that they are now driving at their own risk. or a better idea would be to no longer drive the vehicle. please feel free to contact me for any other information. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle's front suspension ball joint separated while driving 5 mph under normal road conditions. the vehicle drove down a driveway, made a quick right turn, when the right front end suddenly collapsed making a loud metallic sound. the vehicle would not move. a towing service was contacted and the left front end collapsed when the vehicle was put in reverse while attempting to place it on the tow truck. the vehicle was towed to the service dealer who determined that this problem may be related to an upcoming recall that was currently under investigation. prior to the failure, the contact experienced resistance in steering. the nature of the failure was permanent.

2004 jeep liberty. ball joint failed while driving. *jb

Driving 25 miles per hour in a 2004 jeep liberty and the right front lower ball joint broke off. there was no warning. the suspension fell and the tire fell in. the car had to be flatbeded to the repair shop where it was fixed under warranty but they did not replace the driver side which they should of because there is a recall in 2 weeks. *nm

Ball joint broke going 25 miles per hour. only 35,0000 miles on car. there was no warning. very violent stop. only replacing broken part with same part. the car is a jeep liberty 2004. *nm

2004 jeep liberty poor / sloppy steering... service station observed more than 1/4 inch play in lower left ball joint at 48,000 miles of mostly highway driving repairs not yet performed but ball joint must be replaced. *nm

My 2004 jeep liberty was recently checked for severe steering noise at brown's jeep dealership in medford ny and i was advised there was nothing wrong with it. well on 8/5/06 the front passenger side lower ball collapsed while operating the vehicle with my family inside causing the front end to slam down and i lost full steering control. according to the nhtsa site as well as jeep owner internet sites, daimler/chrysler should have know about this potentially catastrophic defect and yet did nothing until a recall that is supposedly being issued in sept 06'. one minute prior and it would've occurred at highway speed as i had just gotten off the palisades pkwy in ny with potentially tragic results to my family. please do not operate your 2002-2006 jeep liberty until you have had this situation corrected immediately! *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the dealer and manufacturer were called about a possible recall to be issued; nhtsa action #ea06008 . the manufacturer stated that the recall would not be issued until september. soon afterwards, while backing out of a parking space traveling 3 mph on normal road conditions, the front lower ball joints separated and the connections fell out. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the dealer determined the ball joint would be replaced with the same defective part and recommended that the contact call the manufacturer for further assistance. the manufacturer was contacted however additional assistance was denied.

Vehicle was diagnosed after only 50k miles that ball joints and sway bar was "bad". vehicle was in reverse, going less than 5 mph when the vehicle suddenly dropped on the front passenger side with a loud thud and a grinding. upon observation, the ball joint had come loose from the wheel, dropping the axle to the ground. this caused the wheel to push up on the fender, bending it out of place. ball joint and lower control arms was replaced. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 15mph across the railroad tracks, the left front lower ball joint fractured without warning. the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop who replaced the lower ball joints. the manufacturer was not contacted.

Dt*: the contact stated that while driving 10 mph, control of the vehicle was lost. since the vehicle was traveling at a low speed the vehicle could be stopped. the service dealer determined that the front ball joint separated from the steering knuckle.

1)loud noise in the front 2) then a jerk of the car to the right 3)loud bang, sounded as if something just dropped to the ground 4) could not control the vehicle. *nm

On sunday morning, i noticed that the car was pulling oddly to the left. while driving home from dinner in the evening, i stopped at a store and when leaving heard a loud thump and scraping noise. the right passenger side tire was rubbing up against the steering well. a tow truck was called to tow the vehicle to the local jeep dealer and in the process he mentioned that this was a ball joint issue. in speaking with the dealership today, they have determined that this was a failure of the right ball joint which caused separation from the steering column. this vehicle has only 41,000 miles on it. the vehicle has not yet been fixed but it has been recommended that both the right and left ball joints be replaced in the car. this vehicle is 5,000 miles from factory warranty and therefore i'm told that this will not be covered by the manufacturer. it was also mentioned to me that a recall was conducted for the 2002 and 2003 models of this same vehicle but nothing for 2004. chrysler is still investigating the situation with the dealer but they have already told me that this was not an issue that i could have prevented and was not caused by normal wear and tear. we were 5 minutes from getting on the highway where, if this failure had occurred at that high rate of speed, would have caused a rather major incident. chrysler, at best, has told me that they will investigate with the dealer further but that they are not fully liable because this vehicle is outside of the manufacturer's warranty. *nm

I have a 2004 jeep liberty. it is still covered under warranty. first i had trouble with the transmission. it is not shifting properly. i took it to two dealers who told me that there was nothing wrong with it. i then found out from my local mechanic that my ball joints were bad. he took me right under the car and showed them to me...they are loose. i took it to one dealer for this, and once again i was told that there was nothing wrong with it. i was told that it met their "factory specs". i now suspect that this is why my transmission was deemed o.k...it met their "factory specs". why bother having a warranty if your not going to take care of problems with the vehicle??? i now find out that my vehicle is included in a recall for....surprise, surprise....bad ball joints!!! only problem is, i have to wait (and drive around with bad ball joints) until they get around to sending me the notice. totally unsafe and not good for my tires. this could of been taken care of 3 months ago when i originally took it in. *nm

While leaving a parking area the ball joint dropped off. nothing led up to this major problem. a tow truck was called to deliver the jeep liberty 2004 to the local jeep dealer in wilmington, nc (neumirth jeep) dealer states it is not a warranty item. we will pursue legal action if necessary. a very dangerous crash could have happened if it was on a major highway. *nm

Put 2004 jeep liberty with less than 29000 miles on it in reverse and heard loud noise. the ball joint had broken and wheel was falling off. towed to dealer where it was replaced under warranty and hopefully with a good ball joint, but dealer refused to replace left ball joint until a recall is issued by daimler chrysler for the 2004 jeep liberty's. *jb

right front ball joint broke on my 2004 jeep liberty. fortunately we were travelling at a slow speed. service manager at dealer reported no corrosion.

Dropped kids at the movies after traveling on the saw mill parkway at 50 mph. went to a shopping plaza and parked. returned an hour and a half later and when i tried to put my jeep liberty in reverse and move out from the spot my front drivers side wheel fell forward while making a very loud grinding sound at the same time. i had the vehicle towed to the nearest dealership and the tow truck operator said he sees a lot of this with the 2003 and 2004 jeep liberty's. since i am under warranty they are fixing the problem. i investigated this online and there has been recalls on the 2002 and 2003 jeep liberty's but nothing on the 2004's. i found a site online where people have had the very same problem. just by typing in the search box "problems with 2004 jeep liberty's." my concern is that there may be people driving this model and may have a wheel come off. i was lucky since mine occurred after i parked. the dealer called me today and said my jeep is ready to be picked up and that the ball joint and the axle was replaced and that i shouldn't worry because they replaced it with an updated ball joint -- the best that they have and the same type that was used on the recalls for the 2002's and 2003's. so i guess they will replace if the warranty is still valid and if not, people will have to pay out of pocket. i want to know why they are not putting into place a recall for the owners of 2004 vehicles? someone may be seriously injured or even killed due to lack of knowledge of this faulty ball joint problem. as a result of the ball joint breaking - the axle broke and the brake line was punctured. *jb

While exiting a parking lot at about 10 mph the 2004 jeep liberty i was driving made a loud banging noise and then a grinding noise. i stopped the vehicle and got out to inspect the problem. i found that the lower ball joint had separated and was shocked to see that on a vehicle with 40,000 miles. i had the vehicle in the shop at 35,000 miles complaining of a creaking noise while turning and a clunking noise over bumps and they said they could not duplicate the problem and did not see anything wrong. i would highly suggest that this be a recall or at least a technical service bulletin for the mechanics. if nothing is done to worn the owners of these vehicles more people will be killed!!!!! i know the 2002 and 03 models were recalled and reading all these problems with the 04's it is painfully obvious that the problem was not corrected by the engineering dept. at dm. i just had the vehicle towed to my local dealer and if this problem (and the torn cv boot, trans seal and rim) are not repaired under warranty i feel there is a lawsuit in order. i think it should be an auto manufactures primary goal to keep there customers safety priority #1. *nm

I noticed that the steering was becoming a little vague on the vehicle so i checked the lower ball joints for wear as i had heard that there were problems with them. i found that they were very loose with almost a half inch of play in them. i took the vehicle to the dealer since it was still under warranty. the dealership tech said that nothing was wrong with the ball joints. i then showed him that there was play and looseness. it turned out that he was not checking them by the service manual procedures. the vehicle has been at the dealer for over a week and a half and assuming that they still have the bad parts i will be sending them to d.c. to be examined. *jb

I own a 2004 jeep liberty sport. i love it! i bought it from a jeep dealership & get all the service work done at the dealership as well. there have been no troubles with my jeep until recently. while i was backing out of a parking space i heard a noise and the front passenger side seemed to drop. i parked the jeep into my parking space with a terrible grinding noise as to not get hit since i was blocking the drive. i called for road side assistance to have it towed as it was not drivable. the front passenger side was sitting much lower than the driver side. when the tow truck arrived, the driver couldn't believe what he saw. the lower front ball joint had completely separated from the control arm and the tire was on the line of completely falling off. he was not equipped to remove it from the parking space without causing more damage to it at that time, so i had to have a different tow truck dispatched that would be able to raise it on a dolly and remove it from the parking space to tow it. the next day i spoke to my dealership & they said the 2002 & 2003 models had been recalled for this exact same problem. thank goodness that this happen while i was just backing out of a parking space! i drive 35 miles one way to work on the highway at 55-65 miles per hour every single day. this would have been deadly if the ball joint had broken while i was driving on the highway! my factory warranty had expired since my jeep has over the standard 36,000 miles so i had to pay for the expensive repairs on my own. the dealership suggested that i contact chrysler customer service to pursue reimbursement of this repair bill that totaled over $2,000 for the new lower ball joints on both front tires, replacement of the axel and a new wheel as it was damaged when the ball joint broke. i have called chrysler customer service and they have not said they won't reimburse me for the repairs, but contacting the dealership for more details before they decide. *jb