This is not my Durango, but it looks just like it. We have a 2001 Dodge Durango that we use to cart the kids around. It is nice to have a decent sized SUV for this. However, since acquiring this vehicle it has been a drain on my wallet and vehicle repair knowledge. I thought that I was a super expert after replacing the transmission in my '89 Mustang, this Durango is trying my patience. Within a week of getting it we had a tire blow out. A week later the alternator died and killed the battery with it. About a month after that I tried turning left and had something physically blocking the wheel from turning, I took it to Big O Tires at 51st Ave and Peoria (they have been taking care of my dad's cars for a long time so I trust them)
I was told that the entire front suspension was destroyed and needed to be rebuilt. So $1500 later I had a new front suspension. We intended to use the Durango on our honeymoon to go to Las Vegas. A day before the wedding all the idiot lights suddenly came on and the steering became very stiff. This usually means the belt came off. Well it did, because one of the pulleys had torqued itself off track and would need to be replaced, along with the spacer plate it uses and the bolt that holds it in. We took my truck to Vegas and I fixed it after we got back. A couple months later it was time for emissions, should have been easy but the check engine light came on. I took it to Pepboys because they do free scanning to tell you what your trouble code is. Wouldn't you know it, the code came back as "undefined". How can I fix something if the car itself doesn't know what to fix? I gave it a tune up and hoped for the best. One morning the check engine light went off and I rushed over to the emissions check station, right when it was my turn to go in the light came back on. At this point I didn't know what to do. We began praying that the light would go off and we would be able to go through emissions. Two temporary tags later we were able to do just that. The code given was a 1710. When I researched it online I learned that usually it means something is up with the transmission, particularly with the torque converter. I checked the fluid in the tranny and it was low, so I filled it back up but this was to no effect, the light was still on. And now the transmission has been acting up, nothing serious though.
The new bane of my existence is drum brakes. The secondary return spring broke in the passenger side drum causing a couple of parts to spin around the wheel and be ground to dust, as well as destroy the usability of the brakes. I have had to order parts from Dodge, and when they got here I started to put the brakes back together and had another part break. Now I am waiting until Thursday for the new part to get here. What I need now is the adjuster lever for any of you who know what that is. At least the front brakes were done when the front suspension was done. When this part gets here I will have almost a completely new car. Except that the transmission is going to need work in the near future. And while doing the brakes I noticed an exhaust leak in the muffler (maybe this is an excuse to get an aftermarket muffler?). But this car is almost brand new now. Dad had just rebuilt the engine before selling it to us.
Drum brakes really are a bad design, even 60 years ago when they were first thought up. Bicycles had been using the theory behind disc brakes for years and yet cars needed to have this drum system? I think not. I believe they were more of a play to get people to bring their cars into the dealer shop for service instead of doing it themselves. I hate drums. From now on I will only do rear disc conversion when I need to do rear brakes.
