NHTSA Complaint #10862449 — 2012 DODGE DURANGO

MY DURANGO STARTED MAKING NOISE IN THE BACK END, AND SEEMED UNSTABLE AT TIMES HANDLING, AND EVEN WORSE WHEN TOWING. THE NOISE WAS MOST PRONOUNCED GOING SLOW OVER BUMPY ROADS, LIKE A CLUNKING NOISE. UPON RESEARCHING I DISCOVERED THAT THESE VEHICLES ARE KNOWN FOR HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE REAR SELF-LEVELING SHOCKS. THESE SHOCKS ARE NOT A CHEAP FIX, BUT KNOWING I HAD NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO REPLACE THEM WITH THE SAME PROBLEMATIC SHOCKS, I REPLACED THEM. THE DURANGO WAS SILENT FOR A COUPLE DAYS, THEN A NOISE AGAIN APPEARED IN THE BACK END OF THE VEHICLE. ISSUES WITH THE REAR SHOCKS ARE DESCRIBED IN CHRYSLER TSB 17-005-13 AS WELL AS TSB 17-002-14, BUT SINCE MINE IS A 2012 DURANGO AND NOT CALLED OUT FOR THE TSB 17-002-14. THE SHOCKS THAT WERE INSTALLED ARE THE NEW SERIES AH SHOCKS (FROM AA THAT WAS ON THE VEHICLE) THE AH SERIES PURCHASED CAME WITH MOUNTS PREINSTALLED. THE VEHICLE HAS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF NOISE IN THE BACK END, AND CLUNKING GOING ON THAT IS DEFINITELY SHOCK RELATED, IT MAY BE A DIFFERENT NOISE THEN BEFORE, BUT NOW IT IS EVEN WORSE WITH THE NEW SHOCKS. SINCE REPLACING THE SHOCKS IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN WHEN THE NOISES/CLUNKING WILL HAPPEN ' IT USE TO HAPPEN CONSISTENTLY WHEN GOING SLOW OVER A BUMPY ROAD, NO THAT IS NOT THE CASE ' SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS WHEN GOING SLOW, SOMETIMES FASTER, SOMETIMES JUST AROUND A CORNER, THERE SEEMS TO BE NOTHING COMMON ABOUT WHEN THE SHOCKS ARE GOING TO START MAKING NOISE JUST THAT THEY WILL, AND THEY WILL MAKE NOISE OFTEN. IT JUST SEEMS THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG, AND NOT SAFE IN THE REAR SUSPENSION.