NHTSA Complaint #11622323 — 2003 CHEVROLET CAPRICE

The contact owns a 1979 Chevrolet Caprice. The contact stated that the vehicle was equipped with an after-market suspension ball joint by Driveworks, Part Number: DWK208. The contact stated that while in reverse there was a banging sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that the driver's side front end had lowered significantly. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the steering lever had detached from the upper control arm. The contact stated that the separation was due to the ball joint failure. The contact replaced the ball joints with the same part and part number however, the design was different. The dealer had not been contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle failure mileage was 258,000. The Driveworks suspension ball joint DWK208 failure was 33,000.