Feds urge recall of 600,000 Dodge trucks
From Jennifer Westhoven
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal safety regulators Thursday demanded that DaimlerChrysler recall up to 600,000 vehicles from two of the most popular lines on the road, the 4x4 Dodge Durango and the four-wheel drive Dodge Dakota pickup, due to problems with front-end ball joints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recommended recall covers Durangos and Dakotas built from 2000 to 2003, a spokesman confirmed.
CBS News has reported that some Durango drivers were put in dangerous driving situations when ball joints failed.
Ball joints are part of an automobile's front-end suspension system, attaching the trucks' wheel assemblies to the vehicle. CBS reported that NHTSA found defective ball joints in nearly a third of the vehicles it investigated, and almost all were made at a plant in Indiana.
Recalls are very expensive for car companies, and the costs could rise if DaimlerChrysler is hit with lawsuits as a result of the vehicle problems. The company has until Monday to respond to the government's recall request.
An NHTSA spokesman said that some companies do not comply with its requests for recalls. If that is the case, he said, the agency would fight for a recall.
