This is so unusual in a vehicle this age that I’ll have to agree with Keith on this. Even thoughit’s possible it would normally be caught in an annual safety inspection before it broke, than unless there was some damage to it the failure would almost have to have a root cause in the manufacture or assembly of the joint. Proving it would be pretty much impossible without an in-depth failure analysis, but I think you’d be more than justified in writing to Chrysler,whatever’s left of them…and requesting that they pick up the repair tab as a goodwill warranty repair.