2004 JEEP LIBERTY — Complaint #1064778
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT filed May 14, 2014
NHTSA complaint #1064778 (ODI reference 10588269) concerns a 2004 JEEP LIBERTY and was filed on May 14, 2014. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 30, 2014. The vehicle had 53,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to North Carolina based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same JEEP LIBERTY cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:control arm:upper ball joint failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2004 JEEP LIBERTY shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 JEEP LIBERTY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD SLIGHTLY VIBRATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO STATED THAT THE FRONT UPPER BALL JOINTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS BEING REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 53,000. UPDATED 7/16/14*CN THE CONSUMER ALSO STATED, THE NEW BALL JOINT/CONTROL ARM CAUSED THE FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS TO BREAK, WHICH CAUSED THE STEERING TO WANDER AND MADE THE VEHICLE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1064778 |
| ODI Number | 10588269 |
| Date Filed | May 14, 2014 |
| Failure Date | April 30, 2014 |
| VIN | 1J4GK48K34W |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:UPPER BALL JOINT Complaints for 2004 JEEP LIBERTY
2004 JEEP LIBERTY. CONSUMER REQUESTS REIMBURSEMENT FOR TOWING AND PARTS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE UPPER AND LOWER BALL JOINTS WERE REPLACED. *JB
2004 JEEP LIBERTY. CONSUMER STATES VEHICLE FRONT END FELL TO THE GROUND WHILE STOPPED AT A LIGHT. *TGW THE CONSUMER HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED WHERE THEY REPAIRED THE LOWER BALL JOINT AND UPPER CONTROL AR
BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT UPPER BALL JOINTS HAVE FAILED AND REQUIRE REPLACEMENT. THE CONDITION WAS ORIGINALLY EVIDENT BY FRONT END SUSPENSION NOISE AND LOOSE STEERING. THE JOINTS EXHIBIT SEVERE WEAR AND C
I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR A SAFETY INSPECTION AND FOUND THAT THE RIGHT UPPER BALL JOINT WAS 'VERY LOOSE' AND THE LEFT UPPER BALL JOINT WAS 'LOOSE'. MY 2004 JEEP LIBERTY ONLY HAS 51,761 MILES AND THERE
I OWN A 2004 JEEP LIBERTY, 46,000 MILES. I PREEMPTED AN INCIDENT. BUT, I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR REALIGNMENT AND DISCOVERED THAT THE UPPER RIGHT BALL JOINT IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE. RECEIVED TWO OPINIONS. BOTH
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.