Triple Recall for Dodge Affects Over 144,000 Journey and Ram Vehicles

The Chrysler Group is recalling certain Dodge Journey crossovers and Ram trucks in three separate actions to repair defective steering wheels, airbags and noisy rear axles.

The largest of Chrysler's recalls involves 65,180 Dodge Journey vehicles manufactured from November 1, 2007, through September 7, 2008. According to a posting on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], the wires within the front door wire harnesses may fatigue and break. If this happens, the side-impact sensors may not work resulting in inoperative side airbags. Chrysler said it will replace the left and right door wiring harnesses free of charge.

The second recall affects a total of 22,274 Model Year 2008-2011 Dodge Ram 4500 and 5500 trucks to address a problem with the steering system. NHSTA said these vehicles may experience a weakening and fracture of the left ball stud on the tie rod resulting in the potential loss of steering. The Detroit automaker will fix the aforementioned issue by replacing the left outer tie rod free of charge.

Finally, the Chrysler Group is recalling 56,611 Ram 1500 trucks manufactured from September 2009 through December 2010 to fix components within the rear axle. "Some vehicles may experience a noise (growl, grind) coming from the rear axle bearing which could eventually seize," said the NHTSA posting.

All three recalls are expected to begin in February 2011.

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Dodge Journey to be Sold as the Fiat Freemont in Europe

The Fiat Group, which currently owns a 20 per cent controlling stake in Chrysler, is planning to rebrand the Dodge Journey crossover to the Fiat Freemont in Europe, according to a report from Autoweek citing inside sources from the Italian company. The sources said the American automaker will stop selling the Journey in Europe and that the Fiat version, will get its world premiere at the upcoming Geneva Salon in March 2011 with sales set to start in June of the same year.

The styling changes over the recently refreshed Dodge Journey are believed to be kept to a minimum, however, the Freemont will get Fiat's 2.0-liter turbo diesel unit with 170HP in place of the Journey's VW-sourced 140HP 2.0-liter diesel engine.

It is reported that the Freemont will also act as a replacement to the Fiat Ulysse, which ended production this month.

According to data provided by JATA, Dodge sold some 8,400 Journeys in Europe last year. Fiat believes that the recent updates along with the more powerful diesel engine and more importantly, the Italian firm's 5,000-strong European sales network which is significantly larger than Chrysler's, will help boost sales of the 5+2 seater crossover wagon.

The Fiat Freemont will be manufactured alongside the Dodge Journey at Chrysler's Toluca, Mexico plant.

Source: Autoweek

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