posted 05-01-2003 01:40 PM         

Reading all of the other posts regarding damage to control arms, I am beginning to think we should group together and contact Chrysler to request a review of the procedure. All of us have spent a large amount of money to fund our "passion" of owning a Prowler. They need to recognize that fact and that owners of Prowlers take great care of their cars, and do not accept a procedure that has potential damage results that can be seen to the naked eye, and consequently has room for improvement.

I am in the automotive engineering field for nearly 30 years now and know how the process works. I believe that Chrysler has tested the procedure numerous times in their engineering garages, and they also needed to keep an eye on costs and consequently developed a procedure that saves them labor money by minimizing the amount of disassembly to replace the joints, but by my estimation, the procedure is flawed, as there are far too many incidents of damage to control arms. I cannot believe that EVERY mechanic who has damaged an arm is careless. Come on everyone, how many of you have caused some type of damage to a part on your car being as CAREFUL as possible? I know I have at times, sometimes it can't be helped. So I do believe the procedure, and the tool used, has room for improvement.

In my opinion Chrysler should have paid enough labor to have the tech remove the control arm from the car, and press the joints out on a table press, using special press bits to avoid damage. The hand press they recommend in the procedure is just to cumbersome to avoid any possible damage. Every dealer should own a press as part of their machine shop equipment, and would have only required a set of press tools specified to do the job. This would have also been far less costly to the dealer than purchasing the hand press tool Chrysler designated.

So enough of my thoughts, I propose the following: Since I am in the business and have some idea of how the system works, and there is STRENGTH IN NUMBERS, I would be willing to be the contact person (unless someone else has already established relations within Chrysler) to request a review of the ball joint procedure. I am thinking that out group should include not only people who have already experienced damage, but also those of us (myself included) who are concerned about taking our cars in for the recall repair due to the excessive numbers of people already affected by this procedure and the resultant damage.

If one guy or gal complains to Chrysler, they try to satisfy you with some double talk, but if a large group gets together and voices concern, we MAY get some attention. So I am open to suggestions / comments. Tell me what you think about this idea? Would you be willing to place your name on a sheet as a concerned owner? I will take this on for the group if enough of you are willing to back me up on the request. No guarantees, but it may be a shot...Jim (aka prowlrman)

posted 05-01-2003 02:38 PM         

Problem is...The car means the world to us. BUT To DC it is just another car they discontinued. Do you think DC cares we enter the car in shows? they are in the business of making money, and nothing short of a NHTSA forced recall gets them off thier arses to remedy any problems.

They found the absolute cheapest way to perform the recall, and that's how it was done.

I am more interested in an official word from DC about what truly happens when the ball joint was overtorqued due to thier inept instructions.

posted 05-01-2003 03:43 PM         

JMO

posted 05-01-2003 09:50 PM         

My recall work went flawlessly - the problem being the tech followed the original instructions - which meant over tourquing (sp?).

I must second the thoughts of BT 161: SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS FROM DRIVING ON OVER-TOURQUED WHEELS FOR 2 WEEKS!

In some respects it's a good thing that DC treats Neon owners as well as Prowler owners. In theory, if I buy a stripped down PT or a hot Viper or any other product, I should expect to receive competent, courteous service. If something's not right by the customer (that's us, folks) then it should be fixed.

DC makes fine products and has a network of superb dealers. I'm a satisfied customer who will certainly buy from them again.

I'm not ignorant enough to think that mistakes don't happen. I only wish they didn't happen to anyone here. For those of you who are experiencing problems - I feel your pain. My Prowler is a HUGE investment and a dream come true. I sincerely hope all this gets worked out sooner than later.

Thanks for listening,

Kevin

posted 05-02-2003 07:37 AM         

Prowler: I feel each individual dealer was not given enough support for the recall procedure. My dealer had one C-Clamp they loaned around all their sister dealerships. that should have been an included tool. The result is a lot of frustrated dealers and customers who are on a waiting list. Poor planning!

idive: the percentage of botched recall procedures is dissapointing, but I feel even if we filed a petition with 11,600 signatures, it still would get no reaction from DC. Only NHTSA or a Class action suit would get any response. Bottom line: they are in the business of making money!

Kraut: A cool service dept. will let you hang with the car. Most mechanics don't know the unique things IE: lift points, wheel covers breaking, and to look for leaking shocks while up on the lift...LOL. I spotted those.

ken: That is why I give my service dept. the highest marks whenever I can. they can be the difference between getting some warrantied items replaced or not! I truly feel a Prowler owner is screwed without the support of their local service dept. the best is having Hot Rodders work at your dealer...they love the car!

AC: I could not agree more with you!!!!

Jerry: The C-Clamp is a very old tool that a lot of dealers no longer have....That explains the rarity. I also checked to see if they still had the Prowler tool kit, which they do.

jkburns: I agree...DC in the last 10 years have made some incredibly impressive cars! I was impressed enough with the 300M to buy it. Great car! They really worked hard to erase the memories of the horrid K-Cars, etc. they have a great image and put out great products. But they are still a car manufacturer in the business of making money. We may never see an official statement from DC about the repercussions of the overtorquing damage. Right now, I can only go by the word of my tech who looked very carefully for damage and found none on my particular car. I just cannot go by what a mechanic found on someone else's Prowler.

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