I brought my 99 D 5.9L to a dealership some time ago because of front end play (a significant amount of over steer). After a few hours they generated a report stating that I need the following things done…

Replacement of - Idler Arm, Inner Tie-Rods, Outer Tie-Rods, Upper and Lower Ball Joints. Then they need to Modify control arm and perform front end alignment.

They said ‘Modification of the control arm’ is part of the alignment for camber adjustment.

Attached is the exact repair order:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f77/mattd860/DurangoDiagnosis2-18-08.jpg

I am very mechanically inclined and fix all my vehicles. I only brought the D in for diagnosis because I figured the 1 or 2 hour charge would be worth my time because lately time is very short.

What I need advice on is this: Is this something any of you would perform in your own garage? Can I possibly do all this in 1 weekend? Is it even possible for a simple gear head to do the above repairs (i.e. do I need special tools for the ball joints, etc)? I know when I did the ball joints on my BMW that I had to take the control arms off and bring them to a shop to have the joints pressed in and out. Obviously I cannot do the alignment and this vague control arm modification but I want to do the rest if possible.

I know some of the questions are fairly relative to each individual’s mechanical knowledge and speed but just general answers would be great. If you need to know more please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks

 

You should be able to do the Idler and tie-rods by yourself with some regular tools. Ball Joints are special tools and you'd need an air gun and compressor. If you don't know what you're doing, I wouldn't start to learn now. If a ball joint isn't in right, it will cause major damage, especially when driving.


Most Ball Joint jobs are worth paying the money for to have a mechanic do them.

I've never heard of having to modify a control arm for camber.

 

I smell BULL ****.

This dealer is tring to get some $

It could be that you just need a steering box adjustment. I had to do this for the same reason. $30 bucks at a fire stone. Now you could need some other work but all that?

 

Hydrashocker - I'm with you except that I do hear nasty squeaking when going over bumps. Even when entering and exiting the D I can car squeaking from the front. In addition to the squeaking, I can also feel slight clunking fromthe front end when going over bumps.

There are definitely *some* bad bushings and/or ball joints but in an effort save time diagnosing myself, I just brought it in to the stealership. Obviously I’m not going to pay them the 2 grand they’re asking for but I was planning on buying everything on their list and doing it myself if possible. I also had a local garage quote me $1300 to do everything that the dealer wanted to do just in case I don’t have time or the capability of doing things myself.

I personally took a look at the tie rods and ball joints but couldn’t find anything noticeable. I shook the wheels holding them at 3 and 9 o-clock and 12 and 6 o-clock but they were solid. The front end is from the factory so it hasn’t been touched in 135000 miles so I was more or less willing to just take the dealerships word for it on the parts needed.

 

Take the weight off the front and let the wheel just hang there. (Lift it by the frame) Then shake the wheel side to side up and down tilt and tilt all the way around and check for unwanted movement.

I bet the ball joints are gone. Uppers are cake. Lowers are an SOB. Tie rods are cake. I bet it's theball joints and maybe sway bar bushings lubrication.

Lets start here first.

 

Matt860:

+3 or so on doing a least some of this on your own. At 135k, your front suspension is bound to have some worn parts. Our Durangos are well known for ball joint issues. I especially wonder about the quality of work this place does by the misspelled words on your quote.

Not very professional for a business in my opinion.

Don

 

Thanks for all your advice. I priced everything on the list Dodge gave me from www.napaonline.com including a pitman arm, all 4 shocks, and sway bar bushings and the grand total is about $600. I've also been examining what you said, my Haynes manual, and other write-ups I've found on the web and this whole project seems fairly doable and even straightforward. The only 'real' difficult part is going to be the lower ball joints but like you all said, the tool rental from Autozone should be fine. However, even if it doesn't work out, can I just remove the whole control arm and bring it to a shop that has the appropriate press? Or is removing the lower control arm too difficult to make this feasible?

I highly doubt all the above parts all worn and perhaps, the leading cause for the sloppy steering is the steering box adjustment or even the u-joint on the steering shaft between the box and the steering wheel, however, at 135,000miles and for only $600, I figure it’s a good idea just to replace them anyways. Does that sound logical?

 

You can remove the control arm and have a shop do a swap for you. A friend of mine had that done. Saves alot of money.


Might as well just replace what you want while you're down there. If you do one thing, two things with go.

 

Well today I replaced everything on the list above except the Pitman Arm. I just couldn't get the stupid thing off and even if I were able to free the nut, the puller would not even fit because of the clearance between the steering box and frame below. However I checked it over good and it was solid.

I did find lots of free play in the steering box. When I was testing the pitman arm, I could move it about 2mm either way but it was actually the free play in the box, not the pitman arm itself. I tightened the adjuster on the steering boxabout 1/4 turn but I didn't want to go beyond that. After taking the truck for a spin it feels a lot tighter however I badly need an alignment so I will know more after that.

Couple questions... Should I take it to a 'Joe Shmoe' shop (or tire shop) or take it to the dealer for the alignment? And secondly, should I adjust the steering box more or leave it to the dealership?
Thanks

 

A few months ago when I was installing the lower ball joints I tore one of the boots. So I purchased an after market boot of correct size. Well, yesterday I went to re-grease everything and noticed the boot actually ripped in half and needs replacing.

Are there any polyurethane or high performance lower ball joint boots I can get? I don't want to go with the 3 dollar special and have them rip again.