Chrysler strut mount fiasco

[doitmyself]

My sibling's 2004 Dodge Stratus needed new rear struts. The garage told her that the ALUMINUM rear upper strut mounts/plates had disintegrated and broken.

With a bit of internet and telephone searching, I found out this is a very common problem in the rust belt and is just now rearing it's ugly head.

The real crime is that replacement parts (now steel) are non-existent and dealers throughout my state claim that they are back ordered by the THOUSANDS. It may be months before the parts become available.

Someone should be shot.

 

[MGregoir]

KYB part number SM5263.

 

[MrCritical]

Can you say "class action lawsuit"?.

 

[doitmyself]

Quote:
KYB part number SM5263.



Thanks for the try, but if you go to the KYB site and pull up an image of that part number, you will see only the rubber bushing assembly.

The part in question is the plate (called a strut mount) that I believe holds those bushings and connects the strut to the trunk/tower.

A Carquest guy told me that the MOOG "strut mount" is the same bushing set. I need to investigate more.

 

[bdcardinal]

see if you can find a shop that has one in stock and have them look at it and tell you whats included. i know we have to do that a lot at my job when we need clarification on what a part number includes. i would see if Chrysler can get you an off of backorder date. sometimes they can do an emergency order for a bit more, sometimes the manufacturer will release a part off of backorder to a specific dealer.

 

[Rabbler]

If it's that bad, you would think there would be a recall.

 

[oilyriser]

If its a flat plate with a bunch of holes it should not be hard to make one.

 

[Merkava_4]

There's different strut mounts shown on this page; do any of them match up?

http://www.racepages.com/parts/strut_mount.html

 

[AcuraTech]

Originally Posted By: oilyriser
If its a flat plate with a bunch of holes it should not be hard to make one.


We say that often about stupid parts that go on back order. It happens all the time. A lot of times it's out of the manufacturers hands, because so many parts are made by other companies. Whoever made the problem part probably never anticipated having issues, so probably only made a few extra. I imagine it takes time to re-tool the machines, start stamping them out, get them packaged and shipped across the USA. Especially when demand is so high.